Associate Director, Patient Safety

AstraZeneca is a global, science-led, patient-focused biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the discovery, development and commercialisation 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 are pioneering new frontiers by identifying and treating patients earlier, working towards the aim of eliminating cancer as a cause of death.

Come and join our AZ team where you will play a pivotal role in this exciting period of development!!

Join us as an Associate Director, Patient Safety, driving country-level strategy and execution while contributing to global initiatives. This role may be managerial, leading local teams and operations or technical—owning specialised projects within larger international programs. You’ll use expert judgement to lead complex risk, ensure compliance with local regulations and global PS requirements, and coordinate end-to-end safety activities. Expect to advise on process and strategy, analyse and trend data with stakeholders, implement local improvements aligned to business objectives, influence key decisions across local/multi-country projects, and potentially lead junior colleagues.

• Act as deputy national contact person (NCP) for pharmacovigilance UK.
• Maintaining an in-depth knowledge of the local health authority regulations and updating regional lead, Cluster lead and local teams with any new changes in legislation/guidance for discussion and escalation to relevant stakeholders in global Patient Safety as required.
• Maintain local procedural documents associated with patient safety activities are up to date.
• Ensure local information relating to pharmacovigilance activities is reflected accurately in the Pharmacovigilance System Master File (PSMF)
• Maintain oversight of all safety-related processes, issues, and brand activities within their country, including product risk management plans and associated activities.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of the marketed status of products in the local country and reference documents (such as Product Information/ core data sheet) in addition to maintaining up-to-date knowledge related to the global PS procedures/ Guidance.
• Lead Health Authority interactions and queries, such as for ICSR-related products, related safety concerns, and educational materials associated with the Risk Management Plan (RMP).
• Fully trained on different global PS systems.
• Support local safety management agreements and clinical study protocols to fulfil AstraZeneca and local regulatory safety reporting requirements.
• Support external patient safety service providers to meet AstraZeneca and local regulatory pharmacovigilance requirements.
• Acting as GVP Lead, implementing all elements of Quality management systems related to patient safety (Change Management, Continuous Improvement plan, Issues, Root Cause Analysis, CAPAs, Risks, Self-assessment, Management review meetings, Vendor quality review, PS Agreements, Training & etc.)
• Support delivery of PS training to local staff and locally engaged vendors including annual refresher training.
• Ensures corrective and preventative actions are taken in the event of local non-compliance.
• Management of the PV aspects relating to Organised Data Collection Programmes, Digital and Social Media activities, and other arrangements with external parties (such as Externally Sponsored Research (ESR), health authorities’ partnerships, or other collaborations).
• Support audit & inspection process & respond to all related queries and handle the identified gaps as per GVP.

• Degree in Pharmacy/ Medical/ Science
• Excellent Pharmacovigilance Knowledge
• Deep knowledge of Good Pharmacovigilance Practice
• Deep knowledge of health authority's regulations
• Experience in cross function collaboration
• Leadership skills & act as a role model for the local PS team.
• Project management & experience on above-market PS projects.
• Effective thinking & problem solving
• Vendor management
• Patient Safety systems management.
• Audit & Inspection experience
• Excellent attention to detail
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

• Advanced scientific degree or equivalent experience
• Extensive Pharmacovigilance Knowledge
• Problem-solving, Influencing, and Conflict Resolution skills.
• Understanding of multiple aspects of Medical Affairs, Regulatory, Clinical Research, and Commercial Operations
• Medical knowledge in AZ Therapeutic Areas
• Medical Marketing experience
• Change management skills

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.