Overview
Senior Director, Head of AI for Clinical Development, Early BPRD — Cambridge, United Kingdom. Company: AstraZeneca.
What you'll do
* Lead AstraZeneca's AI R&D for Phase I/II programs across BPRD, leveraging and integrating AI solutions across the early development program, leading a team of AI researchers and engineers.
* Develop and evaluate reusable AI methods for early phase trials e.g., innovative early phase trial design, dose finding and optimization, biomarker discovery, digital twins/predictive modeling for early phase decisions, early efficacy and safety signal detection.
* Partner with the Early BPRD Clinical Development and Study Teams to embed AI and AI Strategy into study design and decision-making.
* Partner with Regulatory teams to develop AI-enabled development standards and evidence that meet regulatory and compliance requirements.
* Work closely with the Head of AI for Clinical Development, Early Oncology and the Heads of AI for Clinical Development, Late Oncology and BPRD to develop innovative and reusable strategies to guide early-to-late-phase decision-making and end-to-end evaluation strategies.
* Contribute to developing the AI for Clinical Development team's unified, reusable, and end-to-end strategies for AI method development, evaluation, monitoring, and oversight.
* Contribute the AI evidence component to regulatory submission packages and the AI scientific and methodological voice on early-phase regulatory engagements.
* Represent AstraZeneca externally in industry forums, scientific consortia, and peer-reviewed venues.
* Serve as a thought partner for AISI and AI for Clinical Development leadership.
* Recruit, mentor, and lead a team of approximately five AI scientists and engineers as a player-coach who is hands-on with code, models, and submission-relevant analyses while building a high-performing team that keeps up-to-date with the latest advances in frontier AI models and agents.
Essential for the role
* Minimum degree requirements: PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Computational Biomedical Sciences, Biomedical Informatics, Biostatistics, or a closely related computational discipline — with a strong, hands-on computational track record. Alternatively, MD (or equivalent clinical degree) with significant demonstrated hands-on and leadership experience in computer science/machine learning, preferably with post-doctoral training or other advanced training in computer science, informatics, or data science.
* Minimum 8+ years of combined experience across AI/ML method development and clinical development research, with demonstrated impact on early phase trial design and/or decision-making.
* Strong knowledge and direct experience with early phase trial design and conduct, and the evidentiary bar that AI in pivotal evidence must clear for phase I/II decision-making.
* Strong software engineering skills: Python, PyTorch, Hugging Face, cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP), and modern LLM tooling.
* Peer-reviewed publications in top-tier conferences and journals and shipped code in clinical development, clinical AI, computational drug development, and/or biomedical machine learning. Comfort writing code, reviewing model implementations, and reproducing results.
* Strong experience in generative and non-generative AI benchmarking and evaluation across clinical and/or biomedical settings.
* Deep familiarity with modern AI methods: foundation models (including clinical and multimodal), agentic systems, generative patient models / digital twins, longitudinal/time-series modelling, causal inference, predictive and prognostic modeling.
* Strong knowledge of early phase trial design and conduct, and the evidentiary bar that AI in pivotal evidence must clear.
* Demonstrated track record of translating AI methods into applications that inform clinical and/or biomedical decisions, including prospective evaluation, deployment, or contribution to submission-relevant evidence.
* Demonstrated scientific leadership: mentoring trainees, leading multi-author projects, and running a small team overseeing multiple projects.
* Excellent written and verbal communication, able to translate technical findings for clinical, regulatory, and executive audiences.
Desirable for the role
* Direct industry experience in early-phase Oncology, late-phase BPRD, or confirmatory clinical development within a pharmaceutical or biotech R&D environment.
* Direct experience contributing to FDA, EMA, PMDA, or MHRA submissions, especially submissions involving AI/ML methods or innovative trial designs.
* Prior FDA, EMA, or PMDA engagement on AI methodology, complex innovative trial design, or AI/ML qualification opinions.
* First- or last-author publications at top ML venues (NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, etc.) and/or top clinical and biomedical journals.
* Open-source contributions, workshop organisation, or standards-body participation.
Work style and location
When we put unexpected teams in the same room, we ignite bold thinking with the power to inspire life-changing medicines. In-person working gives us the platform we need to connect, work at pace and challenge perceptions. That’s why we work, on average, a minimum of three days per week from the office. We balance office presence with flexibility. Join us in our unique and ambitious world.
Why AstraZeneca
Here, technology and science meet to change what’s possible for patients. You will join a company investing boldly in digital and data to become truly data-led, where unexpected teams come together to address problems that have never been solved before. We empower engineers to experiment through hackathons and real-world pilots, build at enterprise scale with modern platforms, and learn continuously in a supportive, high-standards culture that values kindness alongside ambition. Your contribution will unlock the potential of our science, streamline how we work, and help bring medicines to people faster. Step into this role to design and ship AI systems that matter—bring your expertise to Cambridge and help turn pioneering ideas into real-world impact today!
Our 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.
#J-18808-Ljbffr