Vice President, Head of Information Technology, Rare Disease Unit

Some opportunities happen only once in a lifetime – like a job where you have the chance to change lives.

At Alexion, people living with rare and devastating diseases are our Guiding Star.

We are driven to continuously innovate and create meaningful value in all we do to help patients and families fully live their best lives.

We value the uniqueness and diversity of our employees and recognize that nurturing the diverse perspectives and strengths of our people translates into innovative breakthroughs for patients.

This is what you will do:

Reporting to the Chief Digital Officer and CIO – AstraZeneca, the VP, Head of IT, Rare Disease Unit will be charged with developing and establishing an information technology vision, strategy and innovation agenda to support the goals and objectives of the Rare Disease Unit.

The candidate will be an active member of the AstraZeneca IT Leadership Team and contribute to the overall vision of the IT 2025 Strategy adoption and engagement across the Rare Disease Unit.

The Head of IT will be expected to work closely with senior business and technology leaders across the enterprise to ensure that investments and the technology portfolio are aligned to the current and future needs of the business.

They will be expected to immediately focus on developing a comprehensive technology roadmap/strategy and lead innovation activities that balance immediate business needs with forward-looking disruptive plans.

The leader will need to work with Alexion and AZ stakeholders to balance the needs of both organizations, with an emphasis of innovating for the Alexion business.

The Head of IT is also accountable for achieving Alexion IT’s 3-year synergy goal committed at the time of Alexion’s acquisition.

You will be responsible for:

• Leadership : Provide expert counsel and guidance to senior management and key stakeholders on all IT related issues.

  Apply strong leadership and thinking to a diverse set of opportunities and challenges ensuring that the IT organization serves as a true strategic partner and enabler to all facets of the enterprise.

• Technology Innovation : Lead the facilitation and collaboration of innovation platforms that connect business-level innovation with emerging technology and long horizon, disruptive efforts
• IT Vision and Strategy : Develop long-term technology vision and strategic plans based on alignment with and support for the organization’s strategies and goals.

  Seek funding for innovative IT initiatives that have strategic value.

• IT Governance : Provide cost effective management, rationalization, and simplification of the company’s portfolio of systems and projects.

  Establish and enforce appropriate IT policies, best practices, processes, systems and technology portfolio and lifecycle management, program and project management (PMO), development standards, methodologies, and the like.

• Management : Hire, develop, appraise, reward, and retain a highly qualified IT team.

  Motivate and mentor IT management and staff.

  Lead by example.through appropriate participation and involvement in, and oversight of all IT activities.

  Plan and provide continuity and succession for all IT management.

• Budgeting : Create the IT budget that meets synergy targets and delivers innovative new solutions.

  Monitor performance against the budget and act to ensure budget compliance.

  Create effective partnerships and negotiate advantageous agreements with service providers and hardware and software vendors.

• Systems : Direct the definition, architecture, development, implementation, maintenance and support of application systems, which drive and enable organization objectives.

  Ensure performance to all related elements – cost, schedule and budget – as they relate to the existing plan and forecast; continuously improve unit cost performance while maximizing existing as well as new information technology capability and innovation.

• Technology, Infrastructure & Telecommunications : Work with key IT partners across AstraZeneca IT to maintain knowledge of state-of-the-art information technologies.

  Identify appropriate technologies for IT initiatives, and drive innovation programs to further facilitate business objectives.

• Operations : Working with IT partners across AstraZeneca IT, direct the continuous and secure operation, administration and maintenance of the organization computing, networking cybersecurity infrastructure.

  Ensure health information privacy and security.

• IT Effectiveness : Improve the effectiveness, efficiency and delivery of the IT team in support of organizational goal of improving reliability and speed to market through Quality Management and Lean Principles.
• Organization Assimilation – Fully understand the Rare Disease Unit’s global business strategy and its information needs.

  Ascertain the culture in IT and across the company and establish credibility and set the stage to help shift the culture where needed.

• Overall IT Assessment – Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the Rare Disease Unit’s IT organization, including people, processes and systems.
• IT Strategic Planning – Lead the development of a new strategic and operational IT plan focused on a digital and data agenda.

  Determine optimal global IT strategy to support the Rare Disease Unit’s overall business strategies. 

• Alexion/AZ Integration Planning – Work with the Integration Management Office to devise and execute on an integration roadmap

You will need to have:

• The candidate will be a proven information technology leader driven by excellence.

  The VP, Head of IT, Rare Disease Unit will be a highly collaborative, disciplined and business-oriented individual with at least 15 years of broadly-based, progressive IT leadership and innovation experience in all aspects of change management, program management, and strategy development.

  The ideal candidate will bring substantive experience gained from within the global pharmaceutical/biotech environment or other highly innovative industries.

• A proven ability to link complex technologies to business strategies is required.
• Track record of leading complex, large-scale technology implementations.
• Substantive examples of driving innovation through execution and derived value.
• Substantive global experience working with business leaders internationally.
• Detailed understanding of complex M&A deals and integration tactics.
• Solid understanding of business operations and demonstrated experience working collaboratively with business leaders to develop and deliver solutions that meet business needs.
• Service minded to work with the team and provide consistent and quality components to serve the business customers.
• An exceptional service orientation and demonstrated ability to partner with and add value to the business.
• Proven ability to hire, develop and motivate a best-in-class IT team in a team-oriented, collaborative environment.
• Exceptional project management skills, including the ability to deploy resources and manage multiple large projects.
• Outstanding vendor management/negotiation/relationship skills.
• Proven analytical, evaluative, and problem-solving abilities.
• True “change agent” able to lead diverse groups across an organization in implementing new programs and ideas.
• The duties of this role are generally conducted in an office environment.

  As is typical of an office-based role, employees must be able, with or without an accommodation to: use a computer; engage in communications via phone, video, and electronic messaging; engage in problem solving and non-linear thought, analysis, and dialogue; collaborate with others; maintain general availability during standard business hours.

We would prefer for you to have or be:

• A Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business Administration or related field.

  An advanced degree is preferred.

• The ability to relate well to a wide variety of diverse styles, types, and classes; open to differences; effective up, down, sideways, inside, and outside; builds diverse networks; quick to find common ground; treats differences fairly and equitably; treats everyone as a preferred customer.
• Self-motivated and directed and driven by opportunity and customer expectations.
• Writes and presents effectively; adjusts to fit the audience and the message; strongly gets a message across.
• Results oriented and success driven with a desire to impact a growing and highly successful company.
• Well organized, resourceful, and planful; effective and efficient at marshalling multiple resources to get things done; lays out tasks in sufficient detail to mark the trail; is able to get things done with less and in less time; can work on multiple tasks at once without losing track; foresees and plans around obstacles.
• An effective process, work flow, and systems designer; is good at figuring out what to measure to track progress; sets up systems that can almost manage themselves; is a master at the effectiveness and efficiency of work systems; can quickly diagnose and fix a work flow problem; always looking for incremental process improvement.
• Maneuvers well to get things done; maze bright; knows where to go to get what they need; politically aware and agile; knows the right thing to do; presents views and arguments well.

*LI-DD1

Alexion is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on serving patients and families affected by rare diseases and devastating conditions through the discovery, development and commercialization of life-changing medicines.

Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Alexion has offices around the globe and serves patients in more than 50 countries. 

Alexion is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer.

We are committed to fostering a culture of belonging where every single person can belong because of their uniqueness.

The Company will not make decisions about employment, training, compensation, promotion, and other terms and conditions of employment based on race, color, religion, creed or lack thereof, sex, sexual orientation, age, ancestry, national origin, ethnicity, citizenship status, marital status, parental status (including adoption or surrogacy), pregnancy (including childbirth, breastfeeding, or related medical conditions), military status, protected veteran status, disability, medical condition, gender identity or expression, genetic information, mental illness or other characteristics protected by law.

Alexion provides reasonable accommodations to meet the needs of candidates and employees. 

As a leading employer in our industry, Alexion offers a highly competitive package of base and incentive compensation as well as a comprehensive benefits program designed to support the health, wellness and financial security of our employees and their families.

Benefits include group medical, vision and dental coverage, group and supplemental life insurance, 401(k) with company match, tuition reimbursement, relocation assistance and much more.