Director, Robotics and Automation Transformation

About AstraZeneca   

At AstraZeneca, we pride ourselves on crafting a collaborative culture that champions knowledge-sharing, ambitious thinking and innovation – ultimately providing employees with the opportunity to work across teams, functions and even the globe.   

Recognizing the importance of individualized flexibility, our ways of working allow employees to balance personal and work commitments while ensuring we continue to create a strong culture of collaboration and teamwork by engaging face-to-face in our offices 3 days a week.   

Our dedication to sustainability is also central to our culture and part of what makes AstraZeneca a great place to work. We know the health of people, the planet and our business are interconnected, which is why we’re taking ambitious action to tackle some of the biggest challenges of our time, from climate change to access to healthcare and disease prevention.   

Role Summary 

The Director of Robotics and Automation Transformation will be responsible for shaping and executing the Automation strategy within Drug Substance Development. This pivotal role will advance the "art of the possible" in delivering highly efficient laboratory processes for cell line, cell culture, and purification development. In collaboration with expert functions (e.g. DSM) and transformation teams (e.g. Robotics and Automation Champions Team., RACT) this role will deliver high-impact, value-driven, automated solutions that transform data generation and process development in a coordinated and scalable manner. 

The successful candidate will drive a multi-year Automation transformation roadmap, prioritizing and delivering Automation tools aligned with business objectives. They will rapidly evaluate emerging technologies, scale successful pilots, and ensure projects remain on track and within budget. In addition, this role will spearhead function-wide change management, fostering a culture of continuous learning, promoting automation-compatible practices, and clearly communicating the vision and value of Automation across the organization. 

As Drug Substance Development’s representative on cross-functional transformation teams (e.g. RACT), this role will ensure functional priorities are incorporated into broader initiatives while providing visibility into key functional projects. This position also offers the opportunity to lead cross-functional projects when required, driving collaboration and delivering shared organizational objectives. 

Ideal candidates will be strategic leaders with a proven track record in implementing automation initiatives within the Drug Substance Development area. They will be passionate about digital transformation and skilled at guiding cross-functional teams to achieve measurable outcomes and meaningful change. They will also have hands-on experience with robotics and automation. 

Key Responsibilities 

• Develop, drive and iterate robotics and automation strategies that increase laboratory efficiency and speed.  

• Hands-on PoC Development: Conduct hands-on work to design and develop strategic proofs of concept (PoCs) that de-risk priority use cases; when successful, ensure transition to full implementation by RACT. 

• Define and maintain the functional roadmap, ensuring prioritization and alignment with departmental transformation goals. 

• Collaborate with expert functions (e.g. DSM) to manage end-to-end delivery of robotics and automation processes to aid cell line, cell culture, and purification development, ensuring stakeholder engagement from requirements definition through PoC, small scale demonstration, and full deployment. 

• Lead and serve as a key contributor to functional matrix teams, fostering close collaboration with expert functions to deliver functional projects. 

• Accelerate adoption by creating training programs, communication plans, and KPIs to measure impact and success. 

• Partner with leadership to assess and adapt functional capabilities (talent, technology, capacity) to accelerate and scale delivery of the multi-year roadmap. 

• Represent Drug Substance Development in transformation teams (e.g., RACT), ensuring functional requirements are met by actively influencing cross-functional decisions. Proactively share functional plans and progress with the wider department. 

• Lead major cross-functional digital transformation projects when required. 

• Lead or contribute to cross-functional and cross-R&D Long Term and Medium-Term Proposals to accelerate innovation with the purchase of standardized capex and opex fundin