Partnership Director – Digital Health, AI & RWE

About the role

AstraZeneca is looking for a Partnership Director who sits at the intersection of external innovation, digital health, data strategy and AI ecosystem engagement. The role translates strategic priorities and RWE requests into partnership options, giving internal teams a clear view of the external partner landscape, data assets, capability maturity and transaction routes. It covers the full partnership lifecycle, from scouting and triage through transaction support, implementation, performance governance, renewal and expansion.

Key responsibilities

• Originate and qualify strategic partnerships in digital health, data, AI and RWE, and maintain a dynamic view of the external landscape
• Drive internal alignment and decision support across commercial, medical, market access, RWE, data science, privacy, legal, procurement, compliance and finance
• Support execution: due diligence, contracting, operating model design, governance and mobilisation of selected partnerships
• Manage partnerships through performance, renewal and expansion, and scale successful ones across markets or therapeutic areas
• Evaluate RWE and external data partners, working with RWE, data science, medical and compliance teams
• Build internal capability and thought leadership on digital health, RWE, data sourcing, multimodal AI and partnership governance

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience; advanced scientific, healthcare, business or data qualification preferred
• 5+ years of proven experience in digital health, life sciences, biotech, health tech, data partnerships, business development, innovation or RWE
• Track record of identifying, assessing, transacting and leading external partnerships in complex healthcare or life sciences settings
• Experience supporting business development, procurement, legal or contracting processes, including due diligence, governance design, negotiation support and renewal management
• Credible networks across start-ups, scale-ups, academia, accelerators, investors and innovation agencies
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders in a large, matrixed organisation

Required skills

• Good understanding of RWE, external data assets and data partner evaluation, including fit-for-purpose assessment, data quality, representativeness, linkage, privacy and governance
• Competence in multimodal AI and AI-enabled healthcare applications, such as structured clinical data, imaging, text, omics, digital biomarkers and sensors
• Strong communication skills