Director, Senior Product Owner

About the job

Are you ready to shape the future of Quality through technology and digital innovation? We are looking for a Director, Senior Product Owner to join our Quality IT team in Södertälje, Sweden. In this role, you will combine your IT expertise and biopharma experience to help transform how we develop and deliver life-changing medicines.

About the Operations IT Team:

AstraZeneca Operations IT is a global IT capability supporting the Global Operations organisation. We partner with Operations Business capability areas: Pharmaceutical Technology Development, Manufacturing & Global Engineering, Quality, Sustainability, Supply Chain, Logistics and Global External Sourcing and Procurement. We operate out of Operations hubs sites including in the UK, Sweden, US, and China; and out of our Global Technology Centres in India and Mexico.

Here our work has a direct impact on patients – transforming our ability to develop life-changing medicines. We empower the business to perform at its peak and lead a new way of working, combining pioneering science with leading digital technology platforms and data. All with a passion to impact lives through data, analytics, AI, machine learning and more.

It’s a dynamic and challenging environment to work in – but that’s why we like it. There are countless opportunities to learn and grow, whether that’s exploring new technologies in hackathons, or transforming the roles and work of colleagues, forever. This is your chance to be part of a team that has the backing to innovate, disrupt an industry and change lives.

What you’ll do:

The Director, Senior Product Owner, will use their IT expertise, bio-pharma industry trends/experience and in-depth understanding of AZ business priorities to lead the functional/capability IT/Digital strategy development, investment planning, and delivery. The role will develop and own strategic relationships with key parts of the AZ Global Quality aligned Business Process Owners identifying ways for IT to partner with the in achieving and exceeding their business objectives with regard to corporate quality assurance (PQS, QMS) and laboratory based IT processes and systems (i.e. Laboratory Information Management (LIMS), Laboratory Execution (LES), Chromatography (CDS), Environmental Monitoring (EM), Data Management (SDMS), etc…). This role will drive the development and own of the capability global strategy roadmap, sequencing, prioritization, and backlogs. The strategy will look at all aspects of IT/Digital for the capability area including the foundational and transformational solutions required to create maximum competitive advantage. The role will be accountable for the successful delivery of programs, projects, and products working with a multi-functional matrix team.

This role will focus on partnership with the AZ Global Quality Control function, and work across key Quality business process – initially focusing on Quality Control and Laboratory processes and systems (although portfolio focus may change). This will cover all aspects of the technology used to support this process including foundational and transformational solutions to meet the business strategy.

Key Accountabilities will include:

• Be responsible for the strategic relationship with Operations Senior Leadership Team (OSLT-1) (or similar) senior leaders, Global Business Process Owners, and actively contribute to the functional leadership team (where applicable)
• Partner with relevant IT Teams to ensure that all IT services used by the function meet the agreed performance outcomes and drive continuous improvement initiatives as required
• Provide thought leadership to develop the business strategy, define the technology direction, and own the IT/Digital strategy and roadmap
• Drive end-to-end IT satisfaction, return on investment and TCO improvements for the functional area
• Main point of contact for the function to resolve and manage significant service issues/problems/incidents
• Partner with the business to develop clear business cases linked to business and IT outcomes
• Support the collation and own the prioritization of portfolio, balancing priorities and IT/Operations strategic principles and governance
• Lead Ideation, Innovation, and MVPs to continually improve and/or transform capability area, including working with the Data, Analytics and AI team on relevant uses cases aligned to the strategic roadmap
• Prioritisation of platform/product feature backlogs working closely with scaled delivery and external partners
• Drive the collation of information from relevant sources for analysis and trends for informed decision making, using a high degree of domain area knowledge and expertise
• Communicate, influence, and provide advice to relevant stakeholders to drive strategy and projects
• Manage and inspire a multi-functional matrix team setting clear direction for the team and removing barriers
• Develop strategic relationships with AZ IT Business Technology Groups (BTGs) and Centers for Enablement (C4E) colleagues, together with external partners to identify and deliver solutions that enable business objectives
• Leadership, planning, coordination, and delivery of projects using both traditional and agile delivery approaches
• Accountable for the delivery of Quality IT portfolio projects and programs including resolving issues, escalations, and identify ways to mitigate risks

Essential requirements for the role:

• Rich experience of bio-pharma industry with strong knowledge and background in Quality Assurance, Quality Control and Laboratory systems
• Strong background of partnering across IT and Business stakeholders, building trustworthy relationships and establishing common objectives
• Strong experience in IT solution delivery to global functions in support of GxP business processes
• Experience of identification and implementation of innovative technology solutions
• A proven track record of delivering results
• Experience of building high value business cases & mobilising high value investments
• Experience of leading teams with a demonstrable track record of motivational and achievement oriented leadership
• Experience of managing third party suppliers and have strong network and consulting skills
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Strong influencing, networking and team working skills
• High level awareness of developments in the Information Technology marketplace
• Demonstrate strong relationship building skills with the ability to influence others to achieve objectives
• Proficiency in planning, change management and problem solving and able to resolve issues of a highly complex and strategic nature
• Demonstrable ability to relate and respond to business needs in an IT environment
• Ability to manage negotiations, expectations and solutions across complex groups
• Bachelor Degree or equivalent level

Why join us:

Here our work has a direct impact on patients – transforming our ability to develop life-changing medicines. We empower the business to perform at its peak and lead a new way of working, combining cutting-edge science with leading digital technology platforms and data. All with a passion to impact lives through data, analytics, AI, machine learning and more. Join us at a crucial stage of our journey in becoming a digital and data-led enterprise. Make the impossible possible by building partnerships and ecosystems, creating new ways of working and driving scale and speed to deliver exponential growth. Focused and committed, and backed with the investment to succeed, we’re driving cross-company change to disrupt the entire industry.

Work policy:

When we put people in the same room, we unleash 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. This role is located in Södertälje, Sweden and is not available for remote work or with travel or commuting support.

Why AstraZeneca: