Senior Director – EUIT Data & AI Forward Engineering Lead

Overview

Senior Director leading EUIT Data & AI Forward Engineering, connecting data, AI and forward engineering with Finance, HR, GBS, Legal, Compliance, M&A and EUIT to turn business opportunities into trusted data products, AI solutions and measurable value.

What you'll do

• Define and deliver the EUIT Data & AI Forward Engineering strategy, connecting technology investment to business priorities.
• Partner with senior leaders across Finance and enabling functions to identify opportunities where data, AI and automation can improve decisions, simplify work and create measurable value.
• Bring relevant external perspectives on AI, data and engineering into AstraZeneca as practical opportunities.
• Build a forward engineering model where multidisciplinary teams work with business colleagues to understand problems, test ideas and rapidly develop solutions.
• Develop trusted, reusable data products and AI capabilities that support analytics, automation and decision-making.
• Establish engineering, architecture, security and governance practices, with privacy, responsible AI and data quality incorporated from the beginning.
• Shape how AI agents are developed, deployed, managed and improved across EUIT, including ownership, human oversight, observability, evaluation and cost management.
• Create practical ways for teams to experiment with new technology and scale solutions that deliver value, establishing proof of value with clear baselines and measures with Finance and business partners.
• Help colleagues across EUIT build confidence and capability with AI through hackathons, demonstrations, speaker sessions, communities of practice and role-based learning.
• Build and develop a diverse team of forward engineers, data product leaders, AI specialists and technology leaders, with a significant talent base in India.
• Evolve EUIT towards persistent, product-focused teams accountable for outcomes, adoption and continuous improvement, and shape future skills and career pathways.
• Work with strategic partners and managed service providers to strengthen operational performance, resilience and cost effectiveness, encouraging automation and self-healing operations.
• Promote strong commercial and FinOps practices across data, cloud and AI investment.

What you'll need

• Significant leadership experience in data, analytics, AI, engineering or digital transformation, with evidence of building and developing technology teams.
• Experience in several of the following: leading enterprise Data & AI platforms, products or engineering capabilities; moving AI, automation or advanced analytics from experimentation into scaled business use; working with generative AI, agentic AI or comparable intelligent automation; building trusted partnerships with senior business and technology leaders; leading technology or operating-model transformation; managing strategic technology partners or outsourced services; improving productivity and demonstrating measurable business outcomes from technology investment; leading geographically distributed teams and developing future leaders.
• Understanding of modern data and AI ecosystems, able to engage with both technical teams and business leaders.
• Ability to bring together business, product, engineering and technology perspectives to make sound decisions and enable teams to succeed.
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders, navigate complexity and make decisions when the path is not obvious.

Nice to have

• Experience working with Finance, HR, Legal, Compliance, shared services or M&A.
• A bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, Information Technology or a related subject area.
• A master's degree or MBA.
• Experience across industries including pharmaceuticals, consumer goods or technology.
• External engagement with Data, AI, engineering or technology communities.

Details

• Location: Chennai or Bangalore, India.
• Reports to: Head of Enabling Units IT.
• Collaborate with talent in India and the UK.