Director, R&D; IT Operational Excellence

Mississauga, Ontario

IT

Hybrid Work- on average 3 days/week from office

The Director, R&D; IT OperationalExcellenceis a senior leadership role responsible for driving governance, operational performance, workforce strategy, financial stewardship, organizational effectiveness,and changeadoption across R&D; IT.

As a member of the Operational Excellence organization, this rolepartners with Capability, Portfolio, Finance, HR, Strategy, and Quality leaders to ensure disciplined execution of strategic priorities, effective decision-making, transparent performance management, and alignment to enterpriseobjectives.

The role serves as the operational leader for assigned R&D; IT capability portfolios, overseeing governance, planning, workforce and capacity management, performance reporting, financial oversight, and continuous improvement. The Director connects strategy to execution byestablishingscalable, data-driven operating models that improve organizational effectiveness and support AstraZeneca's digital, data, and AI ambitions.

What you'll do

Operational Excellence & Governance

- Lead operational excellence activities across assigned R&D; IT capability portfolios, ensuring alignment to organizationalobjectivesand enterprise governance standards.

- Partner with senior leaders toidentifyand assessoperational inefficiencies,prioritize,drive processstandardization andoptimization, automation, and AI-enabled improvements that increase organizational effectiveness, consistency, scalability, and employee productivity.

- Partner with R&D; IT Operations Leads tofacilitateprocess standardization across functional areas, fostering a collaborative, one-team approach.

- Drive operational discipline through governance reviews, compliance monitoring, risk management, and corrective action planning.Provide regular reporting against targets, broken down by functional area, and partner with stakeholders to course-correct where needed.

- Lead operational cadences includingbut not limited to conductingbusiness reviews, governance forums, operational reviews, and planning activities, including defining agenda and recapping decisions and meeting minutes.

- Build strong partnerships across Finance, HR, SP&Q;, Operational Excellence, Enterprise Functions, and broader R&D; organizations.

- Influence stakeholders across a complex, matrix environment to achieve organizationalobjectivesand drive sustainable outcomes.

Performance Management & Executive Reporting

- Own development and maintenance ofbusiness, R&D; andcapabilityscorecards, frameworks, and executive performance reporting.Provide narrative and speaking-note support for senior stakeholders, including presentation materials for executive-level review and quarterly performance storytelling.

- Establish,reviewandmaintainoperational health indicators‐dashboards,KPIs, OKRs, and executive reporting mechanisms.

- Translate complex operational, financial, workforce, portfolio, and AI adoption data into concise,



actionable insights for senior leadership.

- Establish&leverageexistingreporting; frameworks that improve organizational visibility, accountability, and decision-making.

- Supportsannual and multi-year planning activities including Mid-Term Planning (MTP), Long-Term Planning (LTP), business planning cycles, strategic roadmaps, and investment prioritization.

Workforce Strategy, Capacity & Resource Management

- Supportworkforce planning activities across assigned portfolios, ensuring workforce capacity aligns with strategic priorities and deliveryobjectives.

- Oversee organizational headcount governance, including permanent employees and Outside Service Providers (OSPs).

- Monitor workforceutilization, organizational capacity, AI and digital skill demand trends, and future capability requirements to proactivelyidentifyworkforce risks and opportunities.

- Lead workforce readiness initiatives focused on AI literacy, digital capability development, and adoption of emerging technologies across R&D; IT

- Support long-term sustainabilitygoals, including but not limited to reducing our carbon footprint.

Financial Stewardship & Business Operations

- Supportcapability leaders and business partners inbusiness case development, investment planning, value realization assessments, and funding prioritization decisions.

- Lead operational oversight of budget performanceagainst plan, financial governance processes, investment tracking, resource-related expenditures,and recommend corrective actions where necessary.

- Ensure compliance with AstraZeneca financial policies, governance standards, and planning requirements.

Essential for the role

- Bachelor's degree in Business, Information Technology, Life Sciences, Engineering, or related discipline.

- 5-7 years+experience in operational excellencegovernance, business operations, organizational effectiveness roles,financial management, and performance reporting

- R&D; Clinical experience

- Experiencein seniorstakeholder managementanddeveloping executive-level dashboards, KPIs, scorecards, and operational reporting,

- Experience measuring business outcomes and organizational value derived from digital, automation, and AI investments.

- Experience leading cross-functional continuous improvement and organizational transformation initiatives.

- Strong analytical and data-driven decision-making skills.

- Excellent written, verbal, facilitation, and executive communication skills.

Desirable for the role

- Experience supporting Digital, Data, AI, Technology, R&D;, or Product organizations.

- Pharmaceutical, biotechnology, healthcare, or regulated industry experience.





- Experience with strategic planning cycles, investment governance, and business case development.

- Knowledge of Lean, Operational Excellence, Continuous Improvement, Agile, or equivalent methodologies.

- Understanding of GDPR and data privacy

- Understanding of SDTM delivery

- Experience with workforce planning, supplier governance, and outsourced service provider management.

- Experience leading AI adoption, Generative AI initiatives, Copilot deployments, intelligent automation programs, or workforce AI transformation efforts.

- ExperienceleveragingServiceNow,Power BI,Jira,AirFocus.

- Experience withemployee engagement or survey programs.

- Familiarity with technology adoption and enablement programs in large, matrix organizations.

- A can-do attitude and eagerness to build experience across employee engagement, learning & development, and the broader business of R&D.;

- Confidence in building relationships across the business and constructively challenging behaviors.

- Independence and ability to lead a small, cross-functional team.

Great People want to Work with us! Find out why:

- GTAA Top Employer Award for 12 years

- Top 100 Employers Award

- Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Culture

- Learn more about working with us in Canada

- View our YouTube channel

AstraZeneca is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion and providing a workplace that is free from discrimination. AstraZeneca is committed to accommodating persons with disabilities. Such accommodation is available on request in respect of all aspects of the recruitment, assessment and selection process and may be requested by emailing [email protected].

Annual base salary for this position ranges from 147,292.80 to 193,321.80.

AstraZeneca is committed to providing fair and equitable compensation opportunities to all colleagues. Our compensation policies and practices have been designed to allow colleagues to progress through the salary range over time as they progress in their role. The range provided in this posting represents an offer pay range used in a majority of situations.

The base pay offered will vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including the candidate's skills and experience, job-related knowledge, and other specific business and organizational needs. In some cases, offers outside the range may also be considered to address unique circumstances.

In addition, our permanent positions offer an annual Variable Pay Bonus/Short Term Incentive opportunity as well as eligibility to participate in our equity-based long-term incentive program (if applicable to role). Advantages offered for permanent roles include a competitive Flex Benefits & Retirement Savings Program, 4 weeks’ paid vacation, and annual Personal Days. Fixed Term Contract/Temporary positions (excluding students) are offered a Contract Benefits Program.

We are using AI as part of the recruitment process.

This advertisement relates to a current vacancy.

📌 Director, R&D IT Operational Excellence (Mississauga)
🏢 AstraZeneca
📍 Mississauga