Director, R&D IT Operational Excellence

About the role

AstraZeneca is hiring a Director, R&D IT Operational Excellence, a senior leadership position based in Barcelona with a minimum of three days per week on site; remote or travel flexibility is not available. The role acts as Chief of Staff and trusted operational partner to an R&D IT leadership team member, translating strategy into execution and owning operational governance, performance, workforce and capacity planning, financial stewardship, executive reporting and continuous improvement. A key focus is on SAFe Agile maturity and the practical use of Generative AI, Agentic AI and automation.

Key responsibilities

• Act as Chief of Staff: anticipate priorities and risks, coordinate leadership agendas and decisions, and resolve operational issues before escalation.
• Develop executive narratives, presentations and briefing materials, and automate manual slide and report production.
• Apply Generative AI and Agentic AI to automate reporting, governance preparation, action tracking and executive briefing, and establish measurable benefits.
• Improve SAFe Agile delivery maturity across product and delivery teams, challenging overly process-driven practices and driving continuous improvement.
• Set operational health measures, OKRs, KPIs and governance mechanisms, and drive leadership and business reviews focused on decisions and risks.
• Support workforce, capacity and financial planning, budgets and business cases, and oversee supplier and OSP governance.

Required profile

• Strong experience in Operational Excellence, Chief of Staff, Business Operations, Strategy, Technology Operations or organisational transformation in a complex global organisation.
• Deep practical experience of SAFe Agile and influencing Agile maturity across multiple delivery teams.
• Demonstrable experience applying Generative AI, Agentic AI and automation to business or technology operations.
• Experience developing executive insights, dashboards, OKRs, KPIs and performance narratives, and strategic planning, workforce and financial governance.
• Preferred: experience in digital, data, AI, technology, product or R&D organisations, and in pharmaceutical, biotechnology or healthcare.

Required skills

• SAFe Agile
• Generative AI and Agentic AI
• Preferred: Jira, Power BI, ServiceNow and AirFocus