Senior Director, Frontier Science - Early Infectious Disease

This job is with AstraZeneca, an inclusive employer and a member of myGwork – the largest global platform for the LGBTQ+ business community.

Location: Cambridge

Salary: Competitive

Introduction to role: Are you ready to shape how the world sees cutting-edge infectious disease science and turn breakthrough ideas into tangible patient impact? This role is your opportunity to define the external scientific identity of a high-ambition portfolio that spans from target selection through clinical development, connecting bold discovery with real-world outcomes.

You will lead three high-impact mandates that amplify our scientific voice and accelerate global health outcomes:

• Publication Strategy Leadership: Define and lead the end-to-end publication strategy for the portfolio, mapping each asset's scientific story from inception through clinical development and up to patenting, with clear milestones and decision points.
• Scientific Narrative and Communications: Shape compelling narratives and oversee high impact abstracts, posters and manuscripts for leading journals and major congresses, ensuring scientific rigor, timely delivery and measurable reach.
• Thought Leadership and External Positioning: Drive external scientific communication that builds excitement around our products and establishes our scientists as recognized infectious-disease leaders, anchored in transformative evidence.
• Global Health Strategy and Partnerships: Lead strategy to align infectious-disease efforts with global health targets; cultivate relationships with NGOs, venture partners and philanthropic funders to translate our technologies into real-world solutions.
• Funding and Grants: Systematically identify funding opportunities; write and secure endorsed grants that bring our platforms to areas of highest unmet need; set success criteria and track outcomes.
• Program Delivery and Governance: Manage a portfolio of externally funded and global health projects with the mission of saving lives, ensuring robust governance, risk management, compliance and impact reporting.
• Horizon Scanning and Technology Foresight: Lead continuous evaluation of emerging biotechnology and start-up science, generating early cases for next-generation technologies critical to infectious disease challenges.
• Innovation Ecosystem Engagement: Maintain a special line of sight to leading countries and academic and innovation hubs; build collaborations that accelerate access to novel modalities, platforms and data capabilities.
• Stakeholder Influence and Collaboration: Influence senior internal and external stakeholders to align on strategy, trade-offs and investments; communicate results, risks, uncertainties and limitations clearly and objectively.
• Culture and Team Leadership: Foster an innovative, learning-oriented culture; coach teams to move with pace, think differently and integrate cross-functional expertise to maximize success.

Essential Skills/Experience:

• PhD or MD or equivalent in infectious disease, immunology, microbiology, virology, marine biology, biochemistry, molecular biology or a related discipline, with extensive industry and/or academic experience.
• Experience as an editor, writer, or in publication strategy.
• Proven track record in building scientific narratives and editing abstracts, posters and manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals and at major congresses.
• Demonstrated experience leading scientific communication or publication strategy across the discovery-to-clinical-development continuum.
• Experience building and managing relationships with external partners such as NGOs, funders, venture partners or academic centers.
• Experience in identifying funding, writing and securing grants, and managing externally funded or global health projects.
• Strong awareness of emerging biotechnology and ability to evaluate early-stage science and technology.
• Experience working in cross-functional teams to maximize expertise and accelerate success.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, business analysis, and stakeholder-influencing skills.

Desirable Skills/Experience:

• PhD or MD with a recognized scientific reputation in infectious disease, immunology or vaccines.
• Established network among journal editors, key opinion leaders, NGOs and global health funders.
• Familiarity with the global innovation ecosystem and other leading global academic and biotech hubs.
• Experience in global health, public-private partnerships, or non-dilutive and philanthropic funding.
• Experience in technology scouting or search and evaluation.
• Proven track record of writing/editing/publishing relevant results and tools in peer-reviewed journals, conferences, and other scientific proceedings.
• Experience operating in a complex global organization across multiple countries and cultures.

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.

Why AstraZeneca: Here you will work at the frontiers of science, data and technology to tackle some of the most complex diseases on the planet, with the support and trust to think differently and the resources to move fast. We bring diverse experts together immunologists, microbiologists, data scientists and clinicians around the same whiteboard to turn uncertainty into breakthroughs and to shape therapies with the potential to reach patients at scale. You will grow through lifelong learning, stretch assignments and the chance to publish when transformative science comes alive, all within a culture that values kindness alongside ambition and celebrates bold decisions grounded in biology and evidence.

What is next? If you are ready to define the scientific voice of a high-impact infectious disease portfolio and convert bold ideas into measurable global health outcomes, send us your resume and step into the future you want to lead. We look forward to receiving your application not later than 10th November 2026.

Salary: Negotiable