Senior Director, Global Policy & Advocacy

As Senior Director, Global Oncology Policy & Advocacy (GI Cancers), you will lead healthcare system policy shaping and partnerships with patient advocacy organizations for AstraZeneca across gastrointestinal cancers.

AstraZeneca is leading a revolution in cancer care, with the ambition to provide cures for cancer in every form, following the science to understand cancer and all its complexities to discover, develop and deliver life-changing medicines to patients.

In GI cancers, we are committed to improving outcomes in gastric, liver, biliary tract, esophageal, pancreatic and colorectal cancers – through both our medicines and supporting efforts to upgrade healthcare systems and services.

In this role, you will direct our strategy and resources, working closely with country offices and external partners to help health systems and AstraZeneca succeed in redefining oncology care. Based in Gaithersburg, you'll be part of our global oncology corporate affairs group, where every person plays a part in our story.

In particular, this role will focus on:

• Supporting healthcare system strengthening: Expanding relationships with key patient advocacy and policy-related organizations to accelerate initiatives that address priority challenges in the patient pathway for GI cancers, including early detection and access to innovation. This work will focus on establishing new consensus amongst the GI cancer community on care gaps, developing impactful evidence, managing provision of external funding and supporting political engagement for service reform.

• Highlighting the voice and lived experience of patients: Working with individual patients, caregivers and advocacy organizations, you will develop and share compelling patient stories in support of efforts to transform GI-related care services. You will also work to ensure that quantitative and qualitative patient insights are reflected back into the work of the organization.

• Market and regional partnership: You will work closely with the government affairs, patient advocacy and wider business leadership in our key regions and markets. For GI cancers, this will include close working with our team across the international who are leading exciting new efforts to enable earlier detection, diagnosis and intervention for liver cancer in countries of major unmet need.

• Cross-functional collaboration across our GI cancers organization: You'll work with the oncology medical, commercial, diganostics, and market access teams to develop and advance tumor-specific public policy shaping & advocacy strategies that improve equitable access to early detection and treatment. This will include acting as counsel to business leadership on political and patient-related topics.

To excel in this position, you should possess the following skills and capabilities:

• Work optimally in a matrix organization

• Strategic problem solver with the ability to comprehend sophisticated matters and chart a clear path forward

• Leadership capability with strong self-awareness

• Self-starting, independent, entrepreneurial demeanor

• Eagerness and ability to collaborate with and mobilize different people and organizations

• Ability to communicate optimally with senior leadership, peers, and various partners

• Profound knowledge in the field of oncology, patient advocacy and understanding of how health systems operate

REQUIREMENTS:

• Bachelors degree with 5-10 years experience in the pharmaceutical or related industry; 5 years relevant experience preferably in areas of oncology

• Deep understanding of healthcare systems and how to drive healthcare policy change at country level

• Experience/track record of successful policy & advocacy projects realized across diverse range of regions or countries

• Leadership capability with strong self-awareness and ability to identify winning strategies and solutions for multiple stakeholders and AstraZeneca

• Strategic thinker and ability to comprehend complex matters and chart a clear path forward

• Self-starting, independent, entrepreneurial attitude – a smart risk-taker who thrives on new challenges and on seeing things through to completion

• Eagerness and ability to collaborate with and mobilize different people and organizations; work effectively in a matrix organization and ability to prioritize effectively

• Ability to communicate highly effectively with senior leadership, peers, as well as with a variety of stakeholders