Statistical Science Director- Early BioPharmaceuticals

At AstraZeneca, we pride ourselves on crafting a collaborative culture that champions knowledge-sharing, ambitious thinking, and innovation – ultimately providing employees with the opportunity to work across teams, functions, and even the globe.

Recognizing the importance of individualized flexibility, our ways of working allow employees to balance personal and work commitments while ensuring we continue to create a strong culture of collaboration and teamwork by engaging face-to-face in our offices 3 days a week.

Our head office and BlueSky Hub in downtown Toronto are purposely designed with collaboration in mind, providing space where teams can come together to strategize, brainstorm, and connect on key projects.

Our dedication to sustainability is also central to our culture and part of what makes AstraZeneca a great place to work. We know the health of people, the planet, and our business are interconnected, which is why we’re taking ambitious action to tackle some of the biggest challenges of our time, from climate change to access to healthcare and disease prevention.

We are currently recruiting for Statisticians at Associate Director or Senior level depending on your previous experience to join our growing team supporting the Early Clinical - Cardiovascular, Renal, and Metabolism (CVRM) portfolio, or our growing team supporting the Early Clinical - Respiratory & Immunology (R&I) portfolio.

At AstraZeneca, we’re applying leading-edge approaches to science across many business areas – within CVRM Biometrics or R&I Biometrics that you’ll be a part of, our data-centric focus helps us work efficiently and creatively to bring the right medicines to the right patients. Our teams use their expertise in statistics and programming to address drug development objectives and reduce uncertainty in product development, driving better business decisions with quantitative reasoning.

What you will do:

1. Take a leadership role and drive statistical thinking in cross-functional team projects, within an international environment.
2. Contribute to strategic planning and quantitative decision making in early clinical development programmes.
3. Lead the delivery and oversight on drug project(s) and/or studies to time, quality, and standards, including partnering with CROs and Programming.
4. Participate in applying, adapting and/or developing statistical methodology.
5. Contribute to the development of new procedures and standards to increase quality, efficiency, and effectiveness.
6. Interactions to influence key collaborators and governance.
7. Acting as a technical expert in interactions with external providers and collaborators.
8. Mentoring and coaching junior staff and supporting them with education and training in statistics.
9. Working with regulatory agencies, attending meetings, answering questions.

We offer the chance to influence drug development and the opportunity to gain experience across a range of challenging and exciting projects.

Essential in the role:

1. MSc/PhD in Statistics or Mathematics (containing a substantial statistical component) with experience in pharma/healthcare or other relevant area.
2. Knowledge of the technical and regulatory requirements related to the role.
3. Leadership capabilities to be able to lead and direct project work.
4. Experience of data analysis and interpretation in a relevant area.
5. Solid understanding of programming in R and/or SAS.
6. Excellent written and spoken English. Excellent communication skills (including communicating with non-statisticians) and ability to build positive relationships.
7. Excellent collaboration skills required – the energy to work across global & functional boundaries, both internally and externally.
8. Ability to apply statistical expertise to sophisticated problems, problem solving, and quality focus.

Desirable in the role, dependent on experience:

1. Experience of programme and study design.
2. Experience in the relevant therapeutic area.
3. Experience of regulatory interactions.

Great People want to Work with us! Find out why:
Are you interested in working at AZ, apply today!

AstraZeneca is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion and providing a workplace that is free from discrimination. AstraZeneca is committed to accommodating persons with disabilities. Such accommodation is available on request in respect of all aspects of the recruitment, assessment, and selection process and may be requested by emailing.

Date Posted: 19-Jun-2024
Closing Date: 04-Jul-2024