Associate Director, Portfolio Contract Strategy
AstraZeneca
Summary
The Biopharmaceutical Business Unit (BBU) develops and drives therapeutic area and product strategies that address unmet patient needs globally. We integrate commercial, market access, medical, digital, and corporate functions to drive scientific innovation and commercial excellence in respiratory, cardiovascular, renal, and diabetes disease areas.
Job description
This role is based at AstraZeneca's Wilmington headquarters and reports to the Sr. Director, Portfolio Contract Strategy, CVRM. Assist in creating and defining contract strategies that include financial analytics and platforms for Brands within the AZ BBU product portfolio for key Market Access customers and business segments and maintain consistency with that strategy as it is implemented.
Drive business analytics to support contract strategy activities and partner with Customer Facing account roles, including National & Regional Payer teams, Provider Network teams, and Channel account teams. This role assists in bringing forward marketplace perspective and pragmatic solutions/analyses to optimize AstraZeneca's net price, access objectives and continued leadership in innovative contracting.
This individual will assist in the development of contract and channel strategies that align with Brand Team/Therapeutic Area business strategies for launch and in-line products. The Associate Director of Contract Strategy may partner with customer facing account teams in direct customer engagement around identified key initiatives, build/align, and execute negotiation strategies with customer-facing teams. This role will also collaborate with a wide variety of internal stakeholders such as Access Strategy, Brand Leadership, Value Strategy and Evidence, Brand and Market Access Finance, Contract Operations, and Legal.
A key deliverable of this role is ensuring all contract strategies and offerings have financial justification based on ROI and sound business judgment and assist in assessing the performance of existing contract strategies & offerings. They are responsible for ensuring the timely and regular re-evaluation of current strategy and deliver segment strategies for their Therapeutic Areas.
Typical Accountabilities
- Assist in the development of contract strategies and lead strategies through the applicable approval/governance processes
- Directly partner with customer facing teams around prioritized key initiatives
- Co-develop and execute contracting negotiation strategies
- Coordinate with team of analysts/specialists in operational activities such as rebates, chargebacks, government reporting, contract writing and process approvals
- Monitor environment for shifts in trends or behaviors, interpret likely impact and suggest appropriate actions around life-cycle contracting and pricing considerations
- Develop deep understanding of competitive market conditions that affect pricing for individual brands, therapeutic areas and overall industry
- Serves as a resource for Licensing and Business Development in assessing pricing on potential opportunities
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree; preferably in a relevant field (Marketing, Science, Economics or Finance)
- 3+ years of experience in the pharmaceutical or healthcare industry
- Understanding of Market Access and Healthcare delivery systems as well as the impact of government policies and proposals
- Analytical skills including problem solving, forecasting, contract development and financial modeling
- Demonstrated negotiation & relationship building skills
- Solution/Innovation mindset
- MBA/JD (desirable)
- Understanding of healthcare marketing and sales practices (desirable)
- Thorough understanding of pharmaceutical manufacturing business models with specific knowledge of brand team operations, brand finance, and sales (desirable)
- Finance, market access and/or analytics background (desirable)
- Contract development and negotiation experience (desirable)
- Clinical Acumen/Health Economics (desirable)
Benefits
- Short-term incentive bonus
- Equity-based long-term incentive
- Retirement contribution
- 401(k) plan
- Paid vacation
- Paid holidays
- Paid leaves
- Medical coverage
- Prescription drug coverage
- Dental coverage
- Vision coverage
Company overview
AstraZeneca is a global, science-led, patient-focused pharmaceutical company dedicated to accelerating the delivery of life-changing medicines that create enduring value for patients, society, and shareholders. With a workforce of over 94,300 employees worldwide, the company operates across three core therapy areas: Oncology, BioPharmaceuticals (including Cardiovascular, Renal & Metabolism, Respiratory & Immunology), and Rare Disease. Headquartered in Cambridge, UK, AstraZeneca maintains strategic R&D centers in Cambridge, Gaithersburg (US), Boston (US), Gothenburg (Sweden), Shanghai, and Beijing. The company generated $54.1 billion in total revenue in 2024 and invested $13.6 billion in scientific research and development. AstraZeneca's bold aspiration is to be pioneers in science, lead in disease areas, and transform patient outcomes, with a goal to launch 20 new medicines and achieve $80 billion in total revenue by 2030. The company is recognized for its commitment to sustainability, health equity, and creating an inclusive work environment where diverse perspectives drive innovation.