Head of Enterprise Digital Engineering - Cambridge, England, United Kingdom

Head of Enterprise Digital Engineering

Introduction to role: Are you ready to design and scale the digital platforms that accelerate life-changing medicines to patients? This role leads the strategy, product direction, engineering and evolution of our enterprise platforms so teams can build, deploy and scale products with speed, safety and consistency.

You will turn platform vision into measurable outcomes across cloud, data, AI, integration, developer experience, testing, deployment, observability, virtual reality and more. You will manage platforms as products with clear customers, service expectations and success measures, while building a global forward-deployed engineering capability across software, testing, data, APIs, cloud and user experience. By reducing friction for engineers and standardising reusable capabilities, you will increase adoption, productivity and reliability across the enterprise. How will you shape a portfolio that balances standardisation with domain flexibility and turns platform investment into tangible business impact?

Join us at a pivotal moment as we scale a data- and AI-powered enterprise. You will partner with scientific, clinical and commercial leaders to embed intelligent platform services and responsible AI into everyday product delivery—helping our teams move faster, with confidence, to transform patient outcomes.

Accountabilities: -

Digital platform strategy and portfolio: Define and execute an enterprise platform strategy aligned to business and technology priorities; establish a coherent portfolio of shared platforms and reusable capabilities; translate enterprise needs into roadmaps and investment priorities; clarify what capabilities belong in enterprise platforms versus domain teams; manage cross-portfolio dependencies and priorities to maximise value.

Product leadership: Establish a product-led approach for platform development and service delivery; identify customers, value propositions, roadmaps, service expectations and success measures; ensure priorities reflect the needs of product teams, engineers, data scientists and business users; drive adoption via strong engagement, simplicity, documentation and continuous improvement; balance enterprise standards with domain-specific needs.

Platform engineering and developer experience: Build and evolve platforms that accelerate delivery and reduce duplication; champion API-first design, automation and self-service; improve developer experience by reducing friction and cognitive load; provide reusable services, tooling and patterns for effective build, test, deploy and operate; embed secure, resilient and scalable engineering practices.

Forward deployment engineering: Create and scale a global forward deployment workforce across cloud, DevOps, APIs, data, data ingestion and user experience to enable teams in the field and speed adoption of shared capabilities.

AI for technology and intelligent platform enablement: Lead the strategy, development and deployment of AI for technology, including platforms, agents, software development and automation; build reusable services for generative AI, agents, machine learning and advanced analytics; convert AI architecture and standards into safe, consumable platform capabilities; partner broadly to accelerate responsible AI adoption; ensure appropriate security, compliance, observability and lifecycle controls; measure adoption and business outcomes from AI capabilities.

Platform operations and service performance: Establish clear service ownership and accountability; ensure platforms are resilient, secure, scalable, supported and cost-effective; define and monitor reliability, experience and operational measures; drive incident learning, problem management and continuous improvement; manage lifecycle decisions including investment, modernisation, consolidation and retirement.

Adoption, value and commercial management: Drive measurable enterprise adoption and reuse; quantify value through customer experience, consumption, productivity, speed, resilience and cost outcomes; align investments to evidence of customer need and enterprise value; optimise cost and consumption while protecting performance and innovation; manage strategic relationships with cloud, AI, engineering and technology providers.

Platform leadership and culture: Build and develop platform product, engineering and service leadership teams; create multidisciplinary teams across product, engineering, architecture, operations, security and customer experience; foster product thinking, engineering excellence, experimentation, ownership and continuous learning; grow communities of practice and strong partnerships with architecture, cybersecurity, data, AI and business technology teams.

Essential Skills/Experience:

• Significant senior leadership experience across digital platforms, platform engineering, cloud services or enterprise technology products.
• Demonstrated experience building, scaling or operating shared technology platforms in a large, complex organisation. - Experience establishing and leading a product-oriented platform operating model.
• Track record of enabling product and engineering teams through reusable platforms, automation and self-service capabilities.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary platform product, engineering and operational teams.
• Demonstrated accountability for platform roadmaps, investment decisions, service performance and customer outcomes.
• Experience improving developer experience and reducing delivery friction for product and engineering teams.
• Experience managing platform resilience, security, lifecycle, cost and operational performance.
• Experience scaling cloud, data, integration, API or AI capabilities across an enterprise.
• Ability to influence C-suite partners and translate platform investment into measurable business outcomes.
• Experience operating successfully in a regulated, security-conscious or highly complex environment.
• Degree or equivalent experience in computer science, engineering, information technology or a related field.

Essential skills and capabilities -

• Commercial acumen, investment prioritisation and cost management. - Outcome orientation and benefits measurement.
• Executive influence and storytelling.
• Organisational change and adoption leadership.
• Ability to balance standardisation with business and domain flexibility.
• Talent development and multidisciplinary team leadership.

Desirable Skills/Experience:

• Pharmaceutical, life sciences, healthcare or another highly regulated industry experience.
• Experience in a digital-native, product-led or platform-led technology organisation.
• Experience establishing platform engineering and internal developer experience capabilities.
• Experience leading cloud-native, API, integration, data or AI platform portfolios. Experience scaling generative AI, machine learning or intelligent platform services.
• Knowledge of GxP, clinical, R&D, manufacturing or commercial technology environments.
• Experience managing commercial relationships with major cloud, AI or technology platform providers.
• Experience applying platform economics, consumption management or technology financial management.
• MBA, advanced technical degree or equivalent senior leadership experience.
• External speaking, publishing or participation in platform engineering and digital product communities.
• Recognised thought leadership in digital platforms, platform engineering, cloud or developer experience.
• Experience establishing internal developer platforms or developer portals.
• Experience scaling data and AI platforms across a large enterprise.
• Understanding of platform economics, adoption models and consumption-based services.
• Experience using product discovery, customer research and experience measures to shape platform roadmaps.
• Strong understanding of site reliability, observability and modern platform operations.
• External industry engagement across platform engineering, cloud, AI or digital products.

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 combine modern engineering with pioneering science to unlock the potential of data and AI at scale, directly shaping how medicines reach patients faster. We bring unexpected teams together to experiment, iterate and deliver with speed, supported by real investment, modern tooling and a culture that values kindness alongside ambition. You will find room to learn every day—through hands-on exploration, peer communities and enterprise-wide initiatives—while taking ownership for platforms that simplify complexity, drive productivity and help disrupt an entire industry responsibly.

Lead the platforms that power breakthrough science—step forward today and shape how the enterprise builds, learns and delivers at scale!

Date Posted

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