Director / Associate Director, Translational Data Science, Haematology R&D

Director / Associate Director, Translational Data Science, Haematology R&D -
 

About the Team 

The data science group within Hematology Translational Medicine is leading the application of advanced analytics and artificial intelligence to clinical and multi-omics data, aiming to drive data-informed clinical development and discovery in hematology. Our team empowers cross-functional teams by transforming complex datasets into actionable insights across key areas, including T-cell engagers (TCEs), CAR-T cell therapies, small molecules, and ADCs. By doing so, we shape strategies for clinical trial design, patient selection, and the advancement of personalized medicine. 

The Opportunity 

We seek a highly skilled and visionary Director or Associate Director to manage the hematology data science team, responsible for shaping and executing the AI and data science strategy within our hematology pipeline. The ideal candidate combines technical mastery in machine learning and foundation models with deep experience in the analysis of clinical and molecular data from hematologic malignancy studies. Your expertise will critically inform decisions from early-phase trials to registration studies. 

You will own the integration of novel data modalities across including genomic testing, ctDNA, and MRD, develop and apply state-of-the-art AI and foundation models to large and complex clinical datasets, and serve as an ambassador both inside and outside the organization. 

Key Responsibilities 

• Manage a team who are developing, applying, and operationalizing statistical and AI-driven models across clinical and real-world datasets in hematologic malignancies.  

• Work cross-functionally to deliver data that impacts decision making across our AstraZeneca Heme portfolio.  

• Devise strategies for integrating and interpreting multimodal datasets to support our goal of making all data computable (clinical, genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, imaging, and liquid biopsy) to enhance understanding of patient response/resistance and biomarker development in hematology for assets, especially TCE and CAR-T.  

• Oversee and contribute to the application of foundation models (including transformers, LLMs, and multimodal AI) to support biomarker discovery, response prediction, and clinical trial optimization.  

• Foster strong cross-functional partnerships with translational medicine, clinical development, and biostatistics to ensure data-driven approaches inform trial design, patient stratification, and asset development.  

• Continuously innovate analytical workflows for large-scale, high-dimensional clinical and molecular data, ensuring analytical rigor, reproducibility, and interpretability.  

• Mentor and develop a high-performing data science team, cultivating excellence in scientific communication and collaborative problem-solving.  

• Publish research in high-impact journals and represent AstraZeneca at key scientific meetings. 

Essential Skills & Experience 

• PhD (or equivalent) in computational biology, bioinformatics, computer science, biostatistics, or closely related field, plus industry experience (Director 6+ years industry experience; Associate Director, 4+ years industry experience). 

• Demonstrable expertise applying machine learning (including deep learning and foundation models) to clinical, genomic, and/or multi-omics datasets, ideally in hematologic malignancies.  

• Proven lead