Director EUIT, Core Functions Product Impact, Value and Portfolio

The Director Core Functions is accountable for proving and growing the value delivered by all 18 Core Functions IT products across HR, Legal, Compliance, GBS and Global Corporate Affairs. This role owns product health and maturity measurement, value-realisation and benefits tracking against the run-cost bridge, the product portfolio and demand pipeline, product craft standards, and the single in-house performance scorecard for AI agents and partner delivery pods. 

Reporting to the Executive Director, Core Functions IT, and leading a team of four, the Director gives the leadership team the evidence needed to decide where to invest, sustain, consolidate or retire, and to confirm that the product-and-platform operating model is delivering outcomes, not just activity. 

The Director partners closely with the three Product Line Leads, the Senior Director Product Design and Solutions, the Director Transformation and Product Experience, senior Core Functions business leaders, strategic partners, Procurement, Architecture and Central Technology Risk and Data Governance to maximise value and innovation in a product-centric organisation.

Key Responsibilities

• Value Realisation and Benefits Tracking: Define and run the value-measurement discipline across all 18 products, tracking benefits against the run-cost bridge ($20.0M today to the $15.0M plan of record and the $13.5M stretch aim). Report the value of agents that run IT itself and of agents that serve the business separately, never netted.

• Product Health and Maturity: Maintain one consistent health and maturity view of every product, covering adoption, quality, user experience, run cost and control health. Trigger intervention with the Product Line Leads where a product falls below threshold, and keep the evidence base current for leadership and gate reviews.

• Portfolio and Demand Management: Own the portfolio and demand pipeline and keep prioritisation honest. Recommend which products to invest in, sustain, consolidate or retire, and support the phased launch of the 18 products.

• Agent and Pod Performance Scorecard: Own the single scorecard for AI agents and partner delivery pods, covering accuracy, deflection, Service-Level Agreement and Experience-Level Agreement performance, and cost. Provide the evidence for the agent governance plane and for the two-of-four pause criterion at each phase gate.

• Product Craft and Standards: Raise product-management craft across Product Owners and Product Analysts through standards, playbooks, coaching and a graduate pipeline, so that every product team operates to a consistent, defensible bar.

• Team Leadership: Lead and develop a high-performing team of four, comprising two Value Measurement Leads and two Product Craft and Agent Scorecard specialists. Foster a culture of evidence, accountability and continuous improvement, and own talent development and succession planning for key roles.

•Stakeholder and Partner Management:Manage and influence the Executive Director, Product Line Leads and senior Core Function business leaders on value and portfolio decisions. Hold our strategic partners to account on outcome measures, working with EUIT Operational Excellence on supplier governance and with Procurement on commercial terms such as gain-share and service credits. 

• Governance, Risk and Compliance: Ensure value, benefits and scorecard reporting is auditable and evidence-based. Work with Central Technology Risk and Data Governance on AI guardrails, and ensure no agent is treated as a control until the first clean financial year-end and per-agent auditor sign-off are in place.

• AI Adoption and Change Management: Be the thought leader for measuring the impact of AI digital workers. Feed adoption and performance evidence to the Director Transformation and Product Experience and the Senior Director Product Design and Solutions so that digital-worker leverage is directed where it creates most value.

• Budget Management: Develop, deliver and monitor the budget, including capital, for the Product Impact, Value and Portfolio area, and track the savings run-rate against plan, flagging early where it falls below 85% of plan.

Key Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field of study – Finance, Business, Engineering, Computer Science or Information Technology. Masters degree desirable.

• Significant experience in a client-facing IT or product role, including strategic planning, business plan and case development, and client management.

• Significant experience in value realisation and benefits tracking, including business models, operating models, financial models, cost-benefit analysis, budgeting and risk management.

• Significant experience in product-centric operating models, including product portfolio and demand management, product health and maturity measurement, and product-management craft.

• Significant experience working with diverse business ecosystems, Cloud and software-as-a-service models, and business applications. More specifically: SAP S/4HANA, BlackLine, Anaplan, Snowflake, Coupa, Concur and AWS Bedrock – plus AI foundation models, large language models and measuring the performance of AI agents.

• Experience working with regulatory and control aspects of IT solutions including Sarbanes-Oxley attestation and audit-ready evidence.

• Experience having led large-scale change initiatives from planning to implementation.

• Experience managing teams with direct and indirect reports, including work delivered through outsourced managed-service partners.

• Experience managing outcome-based managed-service contracts, including Service-Level Agreements, Experience-Level Agreements, service credits and gain-share mechanisms.

• Experience in co-working with cross-functional global leadership and other senior stakeholders preferred.

• Substantial experience managing in a global matrix organisation with geographically dispersed teams.

• Substantial experience communicating with and influencing diverse internal and external stakeholders, including supplier and vendor networks, across areas and geographies to drive value and portfolio outcomes.

• Substantial experience anticipating, assessing and managing programme and portfolio risks.

• Certification in product management, portfolio management or business analysis preferred.

Skills & Technical Proficiency

• Critical/ Strategic Thinking: Influences the broader business strategy with data and insights and anticipates futuristic changes.

• Results & Execution Focus: Sets ambitious yet realistic value targets, measures them rigorously and holds product teams and partners to outcomes.

• Business & Sustainability: Leverages a strong understanding of the organisational structure and business financials to make strategic recommendations and advocate for sustainable business strategies.

• Adaptability & Change Orientation: Champions bold moves and systemic changes and models resilience when faced with unexpected changes.

• Communication, Collaboration & Influence: Is an inspiring communicator, builds strong partnerships, and bridges silos to achieve broader organisational goals.

• Talent Development: Champions a culture based on feedforward, coaching, and stretch development and ensures a level playing field for diverse talent.

• Business & Customer Centricity: Leverages a strong understanding of Core Functions functional domains, customer processes and the related IT landscape to judge where product investment creates most value.

• Value & Insight Storytelling: Turns product, cost and performance data into clear, decision-ready evidence for the Executive Director and senior Core Function leaders, and is candid when the evidence is unwelcome.

• Product Craft & Portfolio Judgement: Applies product-management standards and portfolio thinking to prioritise, sequence and retire products, balancing value, risk and capacity.

•AI Performance Measurement:Designs and runs measures for AI agents and partner delivery pods, and drives a culture of proactive change, skill building and application around emerging technologies and ways of working.

Next Steps? 

Are you ready to step up and take ownership of your work, solutions for the business and your personal career development? Apply now and join us in our mission to bring life-changing medicines to people! 

Where can I find out more? 

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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. 

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Date Posted

20-Oct-2026

Closing Date

01-Nov-2026

AstraZeneca embraces diversity and equality of opportunity.  We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse team representing all backgrounds, with as wide a range of perspectives as possible, and harnessing industry-leading skills.  We believe that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be.  We welcome and consider applications to join our team from all qualified candidates, regardless of their characteristics.  We comply with all applicable laws and regulations on non-discrimination in employment (and recruitment), as well as work authorization and employment eligibility verification requirements.