Senior Director – EUIT Data & AI Forward Engineering Lead

Senior Director – EUIT Data & AI Forward Engineering Lead

Location: Chennai or Bangalore, India

Reports to: Head of Enabling Units IT

The Opportunity

Intelligent data solutions and machine learning are changing how we work, make decisions and deliver value across AstraZeneca. We seek a Senior Director, Enabling Units IT Data & AI Forward Engineering Lead to help build that change.

You will guide and manage a team that brings data, AI and forward engineering closer to the business. Working across Finance, HR, GBS, Legal, Compliance, M&A and EUIT, your team will turn business opportunities into trusted data products, AI solutions and measurable improvements in productivity, cost, speed and decision-making.

This is a broad technology leadership role combining strategy for data and AI, engineering, product leadership, transformation and operational excellence. You will collaborate with senior business and technology leaders and develop talent in India and the UK. You will invent an environment where teams can experiment, learn, and turn promising ideas into solutions that make a difference.

What You’ll Do

Shape Data & AI strategy

You will define and deliver the EUIT Data & AI Forward Engineering strategy, connecting technology investment to business priorities.

You will 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.

You will also bring relevant external perspectives into AstraZeneca, translating developments in AI, data and engineering into practical opportunities for the organisation.

Build Forward Engineering and Data Products

You will build a forward engineering model where multidisciplinary teams work closely with business colleagues to understand problems, test ideas and rapidly develop solutions.

Your organisation will develop trusted, reusable data products and AI capabilities that support analytics, automation and decision-making.

You will work with enterprise teams to establish strong engineering, architecture, security and governance practices, with privacy, responsible AI and data quality incorporated from the beginning.

Scale AI and Agentic Solutions

You will shape how AI agents are developed, deployed, managed and improved across EUIT.

Working with technology, security and governance teams, you will establish clear approaches for ownership, human oversight, observability, evaluation and cost management.

You will encourage reuse and interoperability while reducing unnecessary duplication. Solutions will be measured against clear outcomes including productivity, quality, adoption and cost.

Turn Innovation into Business Value

You will create practical ways for teams to experiment with new technology, quickly test promising ideas and scale solutions that deliver value.

Rather than focusing only on proofs of concept, you will help teams establish proof of value, linking investments to measurable improvements in productivity, cost, speed, risk reduction and decision-making.

You will establish clear baselines and measures with Finance and business partners so that the impact of technology investment is visible and understood.

Build AI Capability Across EUIT

A significant part of the role will be helping colleagues across EUIT build confidence and capability with AI.

You will develop learning opportunities that bring AI to life through hackathons, demonstrations, speaker sessions, communities of practice and role-based learning.

You will create opportunities for colleagues to experiment safely and help promising ideas progress from demonstrations into useful products, tools and AI agents.

Lead Talent and Organisation Development

You will build and develop a diverse team of forward engineers, data product leaders, AI specialists and technology leaders, with a significant talent base in India.

You will help evolve EUIT towards persistent, product-focused teams that are accountable for outcomes, adoption and continuous improvement.

You will also shape future skills and career pathways across forward engineering, data products, AI and agent engineering, platform architecture and value management.

Strengthen Managed Services and Resilience

You will work with strategic partners and managed service providers to strengthen operational performance, resilience and cost effectiveness.

You will encourage greater automation and increasingly self-healing operations while maintaining business continuity across critical EUIT services and delivery locations.

You will also promote strong commercial and FinOps practices across data, cloud and AI investment.

What Success Could Look Like

Success in this role means:

• Business teams can demonstrate measurable productivity improvements from data and AI.
• Trusted data products are increasingly reused across Finance and enabling functions.
• AI agents deliver measurable value and operate within clear governance and oversight.
• Strong ideas move efficiently from experimentation to adoption.
• Technology investment is connected to transparent business outcomes.
• Managed services continue to improve in resilience, automation and cost efficiency.
• EUIT colleagues build practical confidence using AI in their work.
• AstraZeneca develops a strong pipeline of Data & AI and forward engineering talent in India and the UK.

Essential Experience

We are looking for a senior technology leader who has operated in a complex, global organisation and can connect technology strategy with business outcomes.

You will bring significant leadership experience in data, analytics, AI, engineering or digital transformation, with evidence of building and developing technology teams.

You should also have experience in several of the following areas:

• 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.

Experience working with Finance, HR, Legal, Compliance, shared services or M&A would be valuable.

Technology & Business Expertise

You understand modern data and AI ecosystems and can engage effectively with both technical teams and business leaders.

Your expertise may include:

• Modern cloud data platforms and ecosystems, including technologies such as Snowflake.
• Data engineering, data products, analytics and governance.
• Generative AI, agentic AI, machine learning and automation.
• Responsible AI, privacy, security and risk management.
• Cloud economics and FinOps.
• Product-centric technology operating models.
• Building business cases and connecting technology investment with measurable outcomes.

You do not need to be the deepest technical specialist in every area. You should be able to bring together business, product, engineering and technology perspectives to make sound decisions and enable teams to succeed.

Leadership

We value leaders who combine strategic thinking with curiosity, collaboration and a willingness to challenge assumptions.

You will be comfortable influencing senior stakeholders, navigating complexity and making decisions when the path is not always obvious.

You will create an environment where people can contribute different perspectives, experiment responsibly, learn quickly and grow their careers.

Most importantly, you will keep teams focused on the people and business outcomes technology is intended to serve.

Education and Additional Experience

A bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, Information Technology or a related subject area would be valuable. A master's degree or MBA may also be beneficial.

Experience across different industries, including pharmaceuticals, consumer goods or technology, can bring useful perspective.

External engagement with Data, AI, engineering or technology communities would also be welcomed.

Why Join Us?

This role offers an opportunity to shape how Data & AI is used across some of AstraZeneca's most important global business functions.

You will have the opportunity to:

• Build a major Data & AI and forward engineering capability.
• Shape how AI agents are used responsibly across EUIT.
• Develop technology talent and future leaders in India and the UK.
• Work directly with senior business and technology leaders.
• Turn emerging technology into measurable improvements for colleagues and the business.
• Help create an inclusive environment where people can experiment, learn and build new capabilities.

At AstraZeneca, different perspectives help us innovate. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment where people can contribute, develop and succeed. We welcome applications from people with different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives and provide reasonable accommodations throughout the recruitment process.

Date Posted

Closing Date

AstraZeneca embraces diversity and equality of opportunity.  We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse team representing all backgrounds, with as wide a range of perspectives as possible, and harnessing industry-leading skills.  We believe that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be.  We welcome and consider applications to join our team from all qualified candidates, regardless of their characteristics.  We comply with all applicable laws and regulations on non-discrimination in employment (and recruitment), as well as work authorization and employment eligibility verification requirements.