Introduction to Role
AstraZeneca is building a more connected, end-to-end approach to academic collaboration across BioPharma R&D. As Director, External Scouting, you will shape how we identify, assess and advance external science and collaboration opportunities that can influence our portfolio, strengthen future capabilities and accelerate scientific innovation.
You will combine enterprise-level strategic leadership with hands-on accountability for delivery. Working as a trusted partner to Academic Alliances leadership and senior therapeutic area leaders, you will set and prioritize the scouting agenda, interpret emerging science and ecosystem shifts, and determine how external innovation approaches such as Target Innovation, preclinical molecule collaborations, CoSolve and public-private partnerships, including IHI, can create the greatest strategic value.
You will also help evolve how external scouting is delivered, using AI, automation, structured data and scalable workflows to improve the speed, consistency and quality of decision-making while ensuring scientific and strategic judgement remains at the center.
Why This Role
This is an opportunity to define where AstraZeneca engages with external science and turn that strategy into tangible outcomes. You will lead high-impact opportunities, build relationships with influential academic and scientific partners, and create scalable approaches that expand the reach and effectiveness of the Academic Alliances team.
Your impact will extend beyond individual searches or partnerships. You will help build a repeatable, enterprise-level scouting capability that gives senior leaders earlier access to emerging science, qualified opportunities and decision-ready insights.
Based in Cambridge, US, this role includes regular in-person engagement with AstraZeneca teams and external partners across multiple locations.
Accountabilities
Set and prioritize external scouting strategy
- Partner with senior leaders to identify high-impact scientific opportunities, portfolio uncertainties and future capability gaps.
- Anticipate external developments that could challenge AstraZeneca assumptions, priorities or competitive positioning, including emerging needs that have not yet become formal scouting requests.
- Set priorities across therapeutic areas and scientific domains, making clear choices about where relationship capital, team capacity and collaboration investment can create the greatest value.
- Translate scientific and external ecosystem signals into strategic options and recommendations that influence portfolio direction, capability decisions and future partnering activity.
Own strategic direction and delivery
- Take accountability for the quality, pace and outcomes of the external scouting portfolio, from the initial scientific question through opportunity assessment, decision-making and transition to the appropriate collaboration owner.
- Personally lead selected high-stakes, ambiguous or enterprise-critical searches where senior scientific judgement, external credibility or rapid problem-solving can add unique value.
- Enable colleagues to lead defined searches and opportunity assessments by establishing outcomes, decision criteria, guardrails and review points while retaining accountability for final recommendations.
- Mobilize expertise across scientific functions, strategy, Business Development, Legal, data and alliance management to advance opportunities through diligence and governance and support seamless transition to the Academic Partnerships team.
- Ensure promising opportunities progress toward a clear decision or collaboration pathway, while enabling well-reasoned decisions not to pursue opportunities when appropriate.
Build AI-enabled and scalable scouting capabilities
- Identify repeatable scouting activities that can be accelerated or strengthened through AI, automation, structured data and standardized workflows.
- Create, sponsor or oversee AI-enabled tools and processes supporting scientific landscape scanning, opportunity triage, expert and institution identification, evidence synthesis, pipeline visibility and decision preparation.
- Establish quality standards, validation checks, decision rights and escalation pathways so AI-enabled outputs enhance, rather than replace, scientific and strategic judgement.
- Embed tools into practical workflows, build capability across the team and evaluate their impact on speed, consistency, insight quality, capacity and stakeholder experience.
- Apply appropriate human oversight, quality assurance and risk management to AI-enabled analysis and decision support.
- Use insights from delivery to continuously improve scouting methods, data assets, prompts, templates and operating processes.
Direct the strategic use of external innovation models
- Determine where Target Innovation, preclinical molecule collaborations, CoSolve, IHI and other external collaboration models can create differentiated value across portfolio priorities.
- Establish portfolio-level selection criteria, measures of success and governance for these mechanisms.
- Shape preclinical molecule collaboration strategies, including opportunities where external access to internal assets can test hypotheses, extend scientific reach or create future options.
- Sponsor Target Innovation and CoSolve challenge portfolios focused on priority scientific or capability gaps, ensuring outputs and learning inform future strategy.
- Lead or sponsor selected IHI and other public-private partnership opportunities, shaping the value proposition, partner landscape, internal commitment and governance approach.
Create alliances and strengthen strategic ecosystems
- Identify and shape new academic alliances and multi-party collaborations that address strategic needs beyond a single project or transaction.
- Serve as a senior relationship owner for priority institutions, academic leaders, ecosystem partners and influential scientific networks.
- Build durable access to emerging science, talent, technologies and collaboration opportunities within strategically important ecosystems.
- Represent AstraZeneca externally with credibility and sound judgement, strengthening our position as a thoughtful and reliable scientific partner.
- Create continuity from early scouting and relationship development through opportunity shaping, partnering decisions and transition to alliance ownership.
What You'll Bring
You bring scientific depth together with strategic judgement and a passion for translating external innovation into meaningful opportunities. You can move comfortably between enterprise strategy and hands-on execution, building credibility with senior executives and leading scientists while mobilizing multidisciplinary teams to deliver results.
You are energized by emerging science, new collaboration models and the opportunity to use AI and data responsibly to improve how scientific opportunities are identified and evaluated. You know when to move quickly, when to challenge assumptions and when additional evidence is needed to make a thoughtful decision.
Essential Skills/Experience
- MS in life sciences discipline or equivalent depth of scientific, commercial and strategic experience.
- 10+ years of experience with increasing scope and influence in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, academic research, technology transfer, consulting or another science-led environment.
- Demonstrated experience setting external scouting, external innovation or collaboration strategy across multiple scientific, therapeutic or portfolio areas.
- Track record of personally delivering complex scientific scouting and opportunity assessment while also leading delivery through others and maintaining accountability for outcomes.
- Evidence that externally sourced opportunities, scientific insights or ecosystem intelligence have materially influenced senior-level portfolio, investment, capability or strategic decisions.
- Proven ability to determine when and how Open Innovation and collaboration mechanisms should be deployed, including making well-supported decisions not to pursue an opportunity.
- Experience creating or materially shaping academic alliances, consortia, multi-party collaborations or public-private partnerships and building alignment among senior internal and external stakeholders.
- Experience designing, implementing or sponsoring scalable digital, data or AI-enabled tools and processes that improve scientific, strategic or operational workflows.
- Ability to establish appropriate human oversight, validation, quality assurance and risk management for AI-enabled analysis and decision support.
- Established credibility working with senior executives, institutional leaders and leading scientists, with the ability to challenge assumptions respectfully and make sound decisions when evidence is incomplete.
- Demonstrated leadership of complex cross-functional initiatives and experience developing others through coaching, matrix leadership or formal people leadership.
- Strong strategic judgement, prioritization, synthesis, negotiation and communication skills, with the executive presence to influence decisions across organizational boundaries.
Desirable Skills/Experience
- PhD or MD with a minimum of 7 years
- Experience influencing enterprise-level or multi-therapeutic-area R&D strategy.
- Experience shaping portfolios of preclinical molecule collaborations, external scientific challenges, target discovery partnerships or related external innovation models.
- Experience integrating academic scouting with Business Development, portfolio strategy, Open Innovation and alliance management.
- Practical experience using AI-assisted research, scientific landscaping, evidence synthesis, knowledge management, workflow automation or opportunity-tracking solutions.
- Experience creating or scaling AI-enabled approaches for landscape scanning, opportunity triage, expert or institution identification, pipeline visibility or decision preparation.
- Experience developing selection criteria, measures of success or governance for portfolios of external collaborations.
- Experience representing an organization within prominent scientific ecosystems, institutional leadership forums or senior partnership governance.
- Experience developing relationships that provide sustained access to emerging science, technologies, scientific talent and future collaboration opportunities.
Why AstraZeneca
Here, courage, curiosity, and collaboration fuel a relentless focus on transforming cancer outcomes, powered by a pipeline that fuses cutting-edge science with advanced technology. You will work in an environment where unexpected teams come together to spark bold ideas, backed by meaningful investment and a clear path from discovery to impact. We value kindness alongside ambition, and we empower leaders at every level to ask sharp questions, take smart risks, and turn data into decisions that help patients sooner.
Compensation & Benefits
The annual base pay for this position ranges from $172,624.00 - $258,936.00. Our positions offer eligibility for various incentives—an opportunity to receive short-term incentive bonuses, equity-based awards for salaried roles and commissions for sales roles. Benefits offered include qualified retirement programs, paid time off (i.e., vacation, holiday, and leaves), as well as health, dental, and vision coverage in accordance with the terms of the applicable plans.
When we put unexpected teams in the same room, we unleash bold thinking with the power to inspire life-changing medicines. In-person working gives us the platform we need to connect, work at pace and challenge perceptions. That's why we work, on average, a minimum of three days per week from the office. But that doesn't mean we're not flexible. We balance the expectation of being in the office while respecting individual flexibility.
Join us in our unique and ambitious world.
Date Posted
12-Nov-2026
Closing Date
Our mission is to build an inclusive environment where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and employees. In furtherance of that mission, we welcome and consider applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of their protected characteristics. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please complete the corresponding section in the application form.
