Director, Implementation Science

Director, US Policy Evidence
Location: Wilmington, DE
About AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca is a global, innovation-driven BioPharmaceuticals business that focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of prescription medicines for some of the world’s most serious diseases. But we’re more than one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies. At AstraZeneca we’re dedicated to being a Great Place to Work, where you are empowered to push the boundaries of science and unleash your entrepreneurial spirit. There’s no better place to make a difference to medicine, patients, and society. An inclusive culture that champions diversity and collaboration. Always committed to lifelong learning, growth, and development.
The Role
The Director, US Policy Evidence is a strategic leadership role within the US Medical Affairs, Implementation Science and Policy team. The role is accountable for building and operationalizing a policy evidence ecosystem that strengthens AstraZeneca's position as a practice-defining innovator and thought leader across priority therapeutic areas. The role advances the generation and dissemination of policy-relevant evidence that accelerates access and drives measurable improvements in care quality and patient outcomes.
Reporting to the Senior Director, Implementation Science & Policy, and partnering closely with therapeutic area (TA)-aligned implementation science leads, real world evidence directors, and federal and state government affairs teams, the Director develops and executes a policy evidence planning framework aligned to brand and Medical strategy, ensuring cross-functional integration across US Medical, Government Affairs & Policy, Market Access, and Commercial teams. The Director translates data-driven insights into policy-enabling evidence that positions Medical Affairs as a strategic partner in policy advocacy.
This role requires deep expertise in health policy, payer strategy, and quality and value-based care ecosystems, combined with strong business acumen and excellent interpersonal skills. The Director maintains current awareness of the evolving US legislative, regulatory, and reimbursement landscape, and applies AI-enabled tools responsibly to support narrative generation, evidence customization, and policy brief development.
Key Responsibilities
Policy Evidence Strategy
Lead the development, socialization, and operationalization of a policy evidence planning framework aligned to brand and Medical strategy, ensuring consistent application and cross-functional integration across teams.
In partnership with Real World Evidence & Implementation Science Directors, design and generate practice-defining evidence with clear clinical, economic, and policy impact.
Drive broad dissemination of policy-relevant models to priority states with multi-stakeholder audiences including payers, employers, and policymakers, and extend approaches to additional therapeutic areas and international markets where feasible.
Government Affairs & Cross-Functional Partnership
Partner with Government Affairs & Policy teams to identify, prioritize, and advance policy initiatives by providing data-enabled insights that strengthen AstraZeneca's policy positions and market-shaping efforts.
Co-lead care delivery policy shaping workstreams and coordinate joint Medical-Government Affairs briefings to align internal stakeholders and inform external engagement.
Collaborate with US Market Access, Commercial Insights, and Brand teams to translate the product value proposition into policy-enabling strategies with tangible, measurable outcomes.
Policy Education & Medical Team Capability Building
Develop and deliver policy education content to build capability across medical teams and leadership, covering the quality and value-based care (VBC) ecosystem, payer landscape, and guideline development.
Participate in global policy evidence workstreams and relevant steering committees, ensuring US learnings inform and align with global evidence strategy.
External Partnerships & US Healthcare Landscape
Cultivate partnerships with health systems, ACOs/IDNs, payers, academic collaborators, patient advocacy groups, and quality-measure bodies to co-design and scale policy-relevant evidence initiatives.
Maintain current awareness of the US payer and policy landscape, quality measures, value-based care models, reimbursement dynamics, and guideline development, translating it into evidence priorities that anticipate emerging decision-maker needs.
Scientific Rigor, Responsible AI & Governance
Maintain deep expertise in assigned disease areas and evolving guidelines, keeping policy evidence initiatives anchored in current standards of care and quality measures.
Apply AI tools responsibly across evidence generation workflows, including LLM-enabled narrative generation for customized payer/policy briefs, proclamations, and related materials in support of Government Affairs and Medical teams.
Ensure adherence to AstraZeneca's research governance processes, data privacy (HIPAA), and internal SOPs, and contribute to methods development and peer review.
Preferred Qualifications
Education. Advanced degree in a relevant field is required (e.g., health policy, health services research, behavioral economics, epidemiology, or related fields); Doctoral degree preferred (PhD, PharmD, MD, JD with health policy focus).
Experience. Minimum of seven years of relevant experience (academia, consulting, government, and/or industry), including meaningful experience in health policy research, payer strategy, economic modeling, outcomes research, and/or policy shaping.
Leadership & Problem Solving. Well-developed leadership and problem-solving skills with the capability to access internal and external resources for advice and to navigate complex, multi-stakeholder environments.
Cross-Functional Collaboration. Ability to work collaboratively across multiple cross-functional teams including US Medical, Government Affairs & Policy, Market Access, and Commercial at country, regional, or global levels.
Policy & Payer Expertise. Comprehensive, current understanding of the US healthcare system, including the legislative and regulatory landscape, payer and reimbursement dynamics, quality measures, value-based care models, and guideline development processes.
RWD Application. Direct experience using Real-World Data / secondary data and its application to policy and outcomes evidence is highly desired.
External Engagement. Track record of building productive external partnerships with health systems, payers, patient advocacy organizations, quality-measure bodies, government affairs stakeholders, and/or academic collaborators.
AI Literacy. Familiarity with applying AI tools in policy evidence and communications settings; able to evaluate validity, limitations, and bias.
Health Equity. Experience integrating health equity principles into evidence generation and policy strategy, including use of geospatial or population-level data tools.
Communication. Excellent written and verbal co