Head of Franchise, Sales and Marketing - GI

Location: London

Competitive Salary & Benefits

Advert Closing Date: 29th October 2026

Do you have expertise in, and a passion for, Sales & Marketing?

Would you like to apply your expertise to impact the Oncology sector in a company that follows the science and turns ideas into life changing medicines?

What You'll do

Reporting to the Head of Oncology for the UK, as a key leader in the Oncology Business Unit, accountable for leading the commercial development and profitable management of the GI Cancer therapeutic area (TA) with full accountability for commercialisation, responsible for driving performance to achieve Brand/TA revenue and financial targets, including appropriate resource planning and running the Brand P&L. You will be a confident leader that will mentor, encourage and develop the Commercial team to innovate and compete effectively in-market.

Your direct team includes Marketing and Sales functions but you’re also leading a cross functional Franchise Leadership team including: Medical, Diagnostics, Market Access, Regulatory, Learning and Development, Operational Excellence, Business Insights and other enabling functions responsible for fostering cross-functional collaboration across the TA and delivery of the GI Strategy.

You will also be a member of an Alliance Leadership Team responsible for the commercialisation of some of the GI indication together with an external partner organisation.

Your main accountabilities include:

Brand Commercialisation:

• You are accountable for all aspects of commercial activities, including data-driven marketing strategy/execution and field team activities that meet brand objectives and improve the patient experience.

• Ensuring local market launch readiness for new products and indications within your TA, including focusing the organisation on launch execution and delivery, with a drive and passion for winning.

• A champion for the evolution of omni-channel and digital strategies and execution in collaboration with cross-functional partners (IBEX, Data Analytics, IT).

Therapy Area/Brand Strategy:

• Lead and deliver brand and franchise strategies delivering industry leading plans that are based on robust insights and innovative approaches.

• You use strong critical thinking to assess a range of variables including market trends and opportunities, competition, and research progress to craft compelling near-and long-term commercial strategies.

• You demonstrate the ability to adapt and deliver in an ecosystem where the rapid pace of science, data readouts and regulatory approvals is commonplace and complex healthcare delivery and evolving drug and diagnostic testing payment models exist.

Business Performance:

• You have full P&L responsibility for your brand/TA with responsibility for ensuring key financial and brand metrics are met.

• You will use local insights to inform the indication/brand forecasts as part of the annual and mid-term planning cycles and adjusting Latest View.

Capabilities & People:

• You lead a team of commercial leaders and other team members, responsible for ensuring a focus on performance and personal development that is aligned to innovative commercialisation, including the capabilities to support the evolution in our go-to-market strategy.

• Act as career mentor for key talent within your respective business area, responsible for building, inspiring and retaining a successful team.

• You develop and model cross-functional leadership and ensure alignment of your organisation with other cross-functional teams (ex. Medical, Market Access & Diagnostics) build a focused, ambitious, and collaborative business.

Strategic Projects:

• You are a strategic and experienced business leader who is an active member of the Oncology Leadership Team (OLT), contributing to key initiatives and above-brand projects within the local market. A success criteria of this role is understanding cross-brand and TA dynamics that impact the commercialisation of our AZ Oncology pipeline and proactively working with your peers to leverage synergies.

Essential Experience:

• Bachelors degree in business or life sciences. MBA / Ph.D. desired

• Broad commercial experience in Oncology (or other relevant affiliated experience) with significant demonstrated success across various stages of the brand lifecycle, including pre-launch planning, launch execution, HTA validation, and long-term business planning

• Solid grasp of ongoing paradigm changes and future trends in healthcare commercialisation

• P&L management experience and ability to build a financial narrative

• Demonstrated expertise in strategy development and tactical implementation

• Strong understanding of healthcare systems within the United Kingdom, including NHS structures and clinical pathways

• Proven experience leading and developing high performing teams with second line leadership (strongly preferred) with good examples of cross functional effectiveness and impact

• Consistent track record of successful external engagements and capacity to build and influence external environment

• Strong communication skills and positive interpersonal skills with capacity to encourage, mentor, and develop others

Critical Skills & Attributes (Preferred)

• Experience across multiple oncology tumour areas and/or rare diseases.

• Experience in regional or global commercial roles.

• Experience working within alliance or partnership models.

• Demonstrated change leadership in complex organisations.
• Demonstrates good knowledge of UK governance, compliance and ABPI Code requirements

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?

At AstraZeneca, we 're dedicated to being a Great Place to Work. Where you are empowered to push the boundaries of science and unleash your entrepreneurial spirit. There’s no better place to make a difference to medicine, patients and society.

Business Area

OBU UK is a key contributor to the continued and future growth of our Oncology business at AstraZeneca. We seek dedicated commercial leadership for our franchises maximising the potential of our leading Oncology portfolio, delivering commercial excellence in close collaboration with a wide variety of internal and external partners.

We’re all here to make an impact – to achieve our bold ambition of eliminating cancer as a cause of death. We relentlessly follow the science, challenging the status quo to deliver more effective treatments to patients in need.

Change the way cancer is treated by making an impact at every point in the patient journey. We are thinking and acting faster than anyone to ensure the data we’re producing helps physicians care for patients better. To ultimately deliver clinical promises to the real world, improve patient outcomes and their quality of life.

Our ambition is to eliminate cancer as a cause of death through scientific discovery and collaborations.

At AstraZeneca UK, we are committed to delivering against three missions:

• Accelerating the position of the UK as a global centre of excellence in life sciences

• Redefining healthcare through fast and equitable access to the most effective medicines, high quality care

• Delivering balanced leadership that prioritises healthy people, society and planet

Our head office in Pancras Square offers us the strongest possible platform to transform the lives of patients, as the country’s leading biopharmaceutical company. It brings AstraZeneca UK closer to our customers, partners and collaborators in the UK’s healthcare environment, as well as develop greater collaboration with the wider AstraZeneca footprint.

Are you ready to join a team that's making a real impact on patients' lives?

Apply Now!

Date Posted

Closing Date