Director, AI for Cell Therapy Clinical Development

Introduction to role:

Are you ready to harness AI to accelerate cell therapy trials and improve outcomes for people facing cancer and immune-mediated disease? AstraZeneca is building a world-class capability in AI for Clinical Development to transform how we design, run and analyze trials across our pipeline. As Director, Cell Therapy AI Business Partner, you will be the senior scientific and business link between our enterprise cell therapy leaders and the AI for Clinical Development team, turning unmet needs into a clear, high-value portfolio of AI solutions that deliver measurable impact.

Based in Cambridge, UK, you will sit between clinical and scientific experts in cell therapy and AI scientists and engineers. You will frame rigorous clinical questions, shape them into tractable AI problems, guide development and validation, and drive adoption so solutions are trusted at the point of decision. In a fast-moving field, you will bring clarity, build credibility with senior stakeholders, demonstrate value early and scale what works.

Do you thrive where cutting-edge science meets machine intelligence and enjoy leading through ambiguity to deliver evidence that changes decisions? This is your chance to shape the roadmap for AI in cell therapy clinical development across a diverse enterprise portfolio.

Accountabilities:

Demand shaping, prioritization, and value: Provide scientific leadership to identify and scope the highest-value clinical development questions in cell therapy that AI can address; translate function needs into a prioritized pipeline; build business cases with success metrics; track adoption and benefits after delivery; champion change so solutions are used in practice; guide buy-versus-build and vendor evaluations for cell therapy use cases.

Strategy and forward look: Align cell therapy-focused AI efforts with the broader AI for Clinical Development portfolio; anticipate scientific and clinical nuances unique to cell therapy that shape design and validation; monitor the state of the art and co-create the forward roadmap; identify methodological requirements, evidence gaps and advocacy opportunities to safely advance clinical AI.

Business partnering and relationship management: Serve as the primary, trusted partner between AI for Clinical Development and the enterprise cell therapy organization spanning hematology, oncology, autoimmune and rare diseases; act as a core member of cell therapy project teams while coordinating with AI delivery functions; develop a deep understanding of priorities, workflows and decision points; represent the voice of cell therapy to AI teams and the capabilities and constraints of AI to clinical teams; build credibility with senior leaders and provide structured decision support when priorities compete.

Data, standards, and validation: Bring the clinical and scientific context—endpoints, reference standards and constraints—that AI teams need; work side by side with AI scientists and engineers from scoping through development, evaluation and clinical validation; define and guide clinical and scientific validation against the right reference standards to meet the evidentiary bar required in clinical development.

Essential Skills/Experience:

• Master’s degree in AI/ML with experience applying these methods to clinical and/or biomedical data. We welcome strong candidates from adjacent computational or scientific fields whose expertise maps to the role.

• 5+ years experience developing AI/ML for clinical, biomedical, healthcare, or other life-sciences problems.

• Applicable experience in drug development, clinical development, or the life sciences, sufficient to engage credibly with clinical and scientific teams.

• Experience with the clinical and scientific validation of AI, predictive, or digital tools in a clinical or healthcare context.

• Familiarity with generative AI and agentic systems applied to clinical development or the life sciences.

• Demonstrated ability to define and frame scientific or clinical questions and to bridge between clinical, scientific, and technical teams.

• Demonstrated partnering and stakeholder-management ability, including building credibility with and influencing senior clinical and scientific leaders.

• Excellent grasp of how AI solutions are evaluated and validated, and what it takes for an AI solution to be trusted and adopted in a clinical development setting.

• Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills, with the ability to operate in an international matrix environment and bring structure and clarity to ambiguous problems.

• Comfort with ambiguity and a bias for action in a fast-moving, build-from-the-ground-up environment.

Desirable Skills/Experience:

• Scientific or clinical experience in cell therapy (e.g., CAR-T and other engineered cell therapies).

• Hands-on experience designing or running cell therapy clinical trials.

• Familiarity with cell therapy-specific endpoints and measurements.

• A record of scientific contribution (e.g., peer-reviewed publications), ideally including AI/ML or clinical AI venues, that establishes credibility with technical, clinical, and scientific audiences.

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:

Join a company where scientific curiosity meets purposeful delivery. You will collaborate with clinicians, data scientists and engineers who turn experiments into enterprise-grade solutions that reach global trials and, ultimately, patients. With a deep, innovative pipeline and sustained investment in R&D, we back teams to push scientific boundaries, publish at the highest levels and translate insights into medicines that change the practice of medicine. We bring diverse experts together to move fast and learn faster, and we value kindness alongside ambition so you can do your best work while contributing to a bold mission.

Call to Action:

Step into this pivotal role and lead how AI accelerates cell therapy clinical development—tell us how you will turn science into impact today!

#EAI

Date Posted

15-Sept-2026

Closing Date

01-Oct-2026

Our mission is to build an inclusive and equitable environment. We want people to feel they belong at AstraZeneca and Alexion, starting with our recruitment process. We welcome and consider applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of characteristics. We offer reasonable adjustments/accommodations to help all candidates to perform at their best. If you have a need for any adjustments/accommodations, please complete the section in the application form.