Associate Director, Operational Resilience Oncology R&D

Introduction to role:
Are you ready to build a resilient organization that protects breakthrough science and keeps life-changing medicines moving to patients? In this role, you will shape how our research and development teams anticipate disruption, respond with confidence, and accelerate recovery—so discovery never slows and critical studies stay on track.
You will lead a modern, integrated approach to Business Continuity and Crisis Management across the Oncology R&D function that blends regulatory rigor with innovation, including the practical use of artificial intelligence in resilience and risk practice. Working shoulder-to-shoulder with senior leaders, you will set the agenda, test it under pressure, and translate insights into decisive action across sites, functions, and therapy areas. How will you ensure our most critical activities are always protected and ready?
Accountabilities:
Operational Resilience Leadership: Serve as the subject matter expert and technical authority for operational resilience, owning Business Continuity and Crisis Management as an integrated discipline and acting as the primary point of contact for resilience and risk queries.
Strategy and Alignment: Set and lead the operational resilience strategy in close collaboration with enterprise Business Continuity and Crisis Management leadership and counterpart functions, ensuring initiatives align to enterprise goals and the global resilience agenda.
Emerging Risk and AI Integration: Develop and maintain a forward-looking emerging-risk assessment; provide expert review and guidance on mitigation plans; lead the integration of artificial intelligence into resilience and risk management, advising cross-functional teams on how AI can enhance risk management and exercising.
Audit and Assurance Interface: Act as the key resilience and risk interface for strategic audits and assurance activity, leading the preparation and delivery of Business Continuity and Risk Management audit requirements.
Supply Chain Resilience: Provide strategic oversight of supply-chain resilience, leading assessments of nth-tier supplier visibility to strengthen long-term operational resilience and protect critical dependencies.
Crisis Readiness and Exercising: Design and lead advanced, high-visibility crisis management exercises for site and executive Crisis Management Teams; orchestrate complex scenarios that build confidence and expose improvement opportunities.
Framework Governance: Own and govern the Business Continuity and Crisis Management framework—plans, Business Impact Analyses (BIAs), risk registers, tools, and the exercise/validation program—driving continuous improvement and ensuring critical activities, dependencies, and vulnerabilities are understood and protected.
Training and Capability: Lead the delivery of the exercise and training program; ensure colleagues with critical roles understand their responsibilities, are appropriately trained, and conduct after-action reviews to capture learning and improve plans.
Executive Reporting and Escalation: Develop executive-level reporting and insight from resilience and risk analysis, identifying major threats and opportunities and ensuring key risks are escalated and linked to enterprise-level active risks.
Standards and Regulatory Compliance: Ensure Business Continuity, Crisis Management and Risk Management remain compliant with AstraZeneca Global Standards and Procedures and external regulatory requirements (e.g., NIS2 or comparable resilience regulation).
Enterprise Collaboration: Operate in close collaboration with internal partners across safety, operations, enabling functions, enterprise risk, procurement/supply chain, and internal audit, as well as external auditors and industry groups, to embed best practice and raise the bar for resilience.
Essential Skills/Experience:
Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Business, Safety or a related field
5 or more years of experience in business continuity, crisis management and/or risk management
Proven ability to design and lead executive-level crisis management and continuity exercises and to lead incident response involving senior leadership
Demonstrated track record of working with wide-ranging teams at different levels of maturity for crisis management and business continuity
Experience working with and managing third party suppliers
Experience developing and applying policies, procedures, standards and regulatory frameworks (e.g., NIS2 or comparable resilience regulation)
Professional qualifications in business continuity/crisis management, including CBCP, MBCP and/or CEM
Experience applying artificial intelligence or emerging technology to resilience, risk management or exercises
Experience of working in a global organization with complex/geographical context
Experience of managing ambiguity while navigating through it
Desirable Skills/Experience:
Experience with implementing business continuity software
Experience working in the pharmaceutical/biotech industry
When we put unexpected teams 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. But that doesn't mean we're not flexible. We balance the expectation of being in the office while respecting individual flexibility. Join us in our unique and ambitious world.
Why AstraZeneca:
Here, resilience fuels discovery. You will work in a fast-moving, empowered environment where bold decisions are encouraged, smart risks are supported by data, and unexpected teams come together to solve complex problems. We combine cutting-edge science with advanced technology to accelerate breakthroughs for patients, and we value kindness alongside ambition. When urgent public health challenges emerged, our teams mobilized within weeks from concept to clinical evaluation—proof that pace and purpose can coexist. In this setting, your leadership will safeguard critical science, sharpen enterprise decision-making, and directly contribute to delivering new medicines to people who need them most.
Call to Action:
If you are ready to lead with clarity under pressure and build an operational resilience capability that protects breakthrough science, step into this role and help shape how AstraZeneca stays strong for patients and science alike!
Date Posted
29-set.-2026
Closing Date
13-out.-2026
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.