Senior Scientist Formulation - Pharmaceutical Product Development

At AstraZeneca we’re dedicated to being a Great Place to Work. Where you are empowered to push the boundaries of science and unleash your entrepreneurial spirit. There’s no better place to make a difference to medicine, patients and society. An inclusive culture that champions diversity and collaboration. Always committed to lifelong learning, growth and development. 

Pharmaceutical Technology and Development (PT&D) is the organisation that turns brilliant science into actual medicines that help millions of people. We work across the entire value chain, designing and delivering active ingredients, formulations and devices for new medicines and providing expert technical support to all AstraZeneca’s commercial drug substances and products to ensure we successfully supply medicines to patients. 

Global Product Development (GPD) sits within PT&D and is a multidisciplinary organisation that brings together scientific, technical, quality, operational, and support functions to develop and advance drug products throughout the development lifecycle. 

The role 

We are looking for a lab-based formulation senior scientist in late phase drug development to develop commercial oral or inhaled dosage forms and has a passion for application of digital tools. In this role, you will work closely with colleagues in a multiskilled environment to assess, design, develop, and deliver high-quality clinical and commercial drug product formulations and processes, while ensuring the work is appropriately documented. You can expect to contribute to programs of laboratory scale experiments with line of sight for commercial manufacture by using modelling and simulation approaches as first intent, combined with hands-on experimental work as needed.  

We are looking for a candidate who thrives working in a high-paced environment and has an open-minded and flexible approach.  

Typical responsibilities for this role: 

• Be part of cross-functional teams developing formulations of commercial oral or inhaled dosage forms of new chemical entities.  

• Work hands-on to generate data as well as work collaboratively with other experimentalists with different backgrounds to identify/use/drive digital applications, as first intent, to strategically direct experimentation. 

• Be a key player to drive and further develop the digital transformation related to the scope of the role. 

• Establish strong working relationships with the Modelling & Simulation team and Global Product Development colleagues to enable an impact-driven application of modelling and simulation tools in late-stage development.  

• Manage your own work to achieve drug development and improvement project targets, in a timely fashion and to agreed quality standards, by applying technical knowledge and expertise as well as interpreting results and adapting investigations as appropriate. 

• Participate in scientific and/or technology networks to increase base-line knowledge and create awareness of new developments in relevant areas  

Essential requirements 

• PhD or experienced MSc required in chemical engineering, pharmacy, or a closely related scientific discipline. 

• Demonstrated recent in-depth CMC (Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls) experience in formulation (drug design and product development) preferably in oral solid dosage forms or inhaled products.  

• A strong understanding is required of CMC regulatory requirements, preferably together with experience in preparing regulatory documentation to support clinical trials and/or marketing authorization. 

• Demonstrated interest and expertise are required in the use of AI powered tools and application of pharmaceutical state-of-the-art modelling and simulation tools.  

• A strong, evidence-based approach to problem solving is required, with the ability to make sound judgements based on robust reasoning. 

• Strong collaboration and communication skills are required. 

• Excellent written and spoken English is required. 

• Operates confidently and collaboratively within a global organization, with an integrating mind-set 

Desirable requirements for the role 

• Experience of leading and coordinating commercial formulation and process development activities of new chemical entities.  

• Experience of continuous processing in a pharmaceutical environment. 

• Having a knowledge of operational requirements including GMP, Process Safety, Data integrity and Change Control. 

• Experience of working with drug design in an automated processing and factory setting. 

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. 

Are you ready to bring new ideas and fresh thinking to the table? Great! We welcome your application no later than 1st September 2026.