AstraZenecahasinvestedheavily inourstrategicsynthetic drugmodalityITplatformas wedeliver better, differentiatedcandidatedrugs into trials, faster,expeditingthe benefit for patients. We have made great strides in creatingan ecosystemenablingoperationaland experimentaldata capture,andin developinganalytics,AI,and MLservicesforbothtraditionalsmall molecules andcomplexmodalities that will pave the way for this transformation. The nextstageof this journey involvesevolving and building outunified scientific dataandAI platformcompatible withstate-of-the-artalgorithmsandagenticapproachesthat willaccelerate the ability of scientists toproduceinnovativeand novel medicines.
We are seeking an exceptionalProductDirector-SyntheticModalityDrugDiscoveryto join our platform leadership team. This role combines deep domainexpertisein chemistryand cheminformaticswith product leadership, team management, and strategic partnership across R&D and IT organizations.
In Early Science, we have highly skilled scientists generating ideas and performing experiments supportingcomplex drug discovery projects. Our environment is driven by scientific and technical innovation with a high degree of diversity in workflows, data, vendorsolutionsand in-house builds.
As the Product Lead within Augmented Design Make Test Analyse (A-DMTA), you willbe responsible fortranslating R&D scientific needs into valuable technology solutions,line-managingmulti-disciplinary teams, and driving the adoption of novel AI and agentic approaches to drug discovery.Working alongside R&D scientists, software engineers, informaticians, ML engineers, analysts andarchitects, this roleplaces you at theintersection of chemistry, data science, and engineering, with the aim oftransforminghow AstraZeneca discovers new medicines.
Whatyou’lldo:
You willleada global team ofcheminformaticiansandscientificsoftware engineers in ourSyntheticDrug Discovery ITplatformand perform the following:
1. Working with globally distributed R&D teams, understand and translate R&D needs and objectives into a clearly defined roadmap and backlog.
2. Shape demand with R&D business partners and R&D product owners, matching platform capabilities with R&D need to optimise delivery times and value.
3. Convert demand and backlog into clearly defined multi-quarter roadmaps that are backed by R&D and IT stakeholders
4. Ensure successful delivery of initiatives through close collaboration with platform engineering directors and team leads.
5. Manage, mentor, and coach a high performing team building cutting edge cheminformatics, modelling and scientific software solutions.
6. Own the drug discovery product and data product implementation roadmap.
7. Raise awareness, knowledge and effectiveness, and advocate our platform’s solutions - facilitate adoption and value realised from their development.
8. Develop a sound understanding of and oversee the development of enterprise AI-ready drug discovery data products derived from transactional systems and sources.
9. As a platform leadership team member, ensure that the platform joins up into a connected interoperable capability offering a consistent and unified experience for scientific users.
10. Stay at the forefront of drug discovery and cheminformatics trends and innovations, bringing external insights from conferences and other sources into the capability.
11. Propose technical solutions for complex drug discovery workflows, leading proof of concept efforts with successful high-value selected for production scale.
Essential Requirements:
12. PhD or several years’ experience working in a drug discovery informatics environment.
13. Demonstrable understanding of drug discovery processes and software applications
14. Excellent leadership skills in a matrixed environment
15. Line management experience of technical and scientific teams
16. Expertise in Cheminformatics, ML, or a related field and experience working with one of the cheminformatics toolkits
17. Expertise in one or more languages like Python, Java,
18. Proficiency in data structures and design patterns
19. Experience working with relational and/or NoSQL databases and knowledge query optimization techniques
20. Excellent teamworking, verbal, and written communication skills
21. Excellent system-level design and platform thinking
22. Knowledge of agile and scrum delivery methodologies
Desirable Requirements:
23. Experience in chemistry data transformation and harmonization to create chemistry data products and services.
24. Familiar with coding best practices including testing, code review, and version control
25. Experience with cloud services and tools
26. Experience ETL tools either generic or cheminformatics-specific ones
27. Basic understanding of Machine Learning concepts and MLOps
28. Experience with Docker and Kubernetes
29. Experience with GitOps
30. CI/CD experience with some automation tooling like Jenkins, TravisCI, Github actions, etc.
Why AstraZeneca?
Make a meaningful impact that brings real benefits to society. By applying your knowledge of data, you will help to redefine our industry and ultimately save lives. Work with experts who share a common goal: to accelerate the potential of medicines and the science of tomorrow.
Location: Cambridge UK
Salary: Competitive + Excellent Benefits
Next Steps:
Are you already imagining yourself joining our team? Good, because wecan’twait to hear from you!
Where can I find out more?
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Date Posted
06-Feb-2026
Closing Date
27-Feb-2026Our mission is to build an inclusive and equitable environment. We want people to feel they belong at AstraZeneca and Alexion, starting with our recruitment process. We welcome and consider applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of characteristics. We offer reasonable adjustments/accommodations to help all candidates to perform at their best. If you have a need for any adjustments/accommodations, please complete the section in the application form.