Head of Deal Finance

Head of Deal Finance

Location: Cambridge, UK

Help us accelerate towards our big purpose and impact patients

Join our dedicated global Finance division, that’s powering AstraZeneca to better serve patients, every day. The fuel behind our evolving, rapidly growing enterprise, we’re here to help unlock the power of what science can do and ultimately have a big impact on patients’ lives.

The work we do here is meaningful. Every action we take is focused on putting our patients first, and they add up to something bigger. We help AstraZeneca to run faster and better, powering everyone else to focus on what’s important and work towards delivering life-changing medicines.

As trusted partners, our niche expertise is valued across the enterprise, as we input and influence to drive the growth of AstraZeneca.

The Role:

AstraZeneca continues to pursue value enhancing transaction opportunities to supplement its product portfolio and development pipeline. In addition, AstraZeneca wishes to deliver maximum value from existing assets and is keen to pursue appropriate partnerships, collaborations, out-licenses and divestments that will add new value and/or share risk.

AstraZeneca Business Development is a globally integrated organisation with world class capabilities in strategic forward planning, search & evaluation, transaction execution and alliance & integration management. The nature of Business Development work is varied, fast moving and unpredictable. As such Business Development provides challenging and varied opportunities for professional and personal development and an unrivalled opportunity to ‘make a difference’ to the future of the Company.

Deal Finance is responsible for leading the financial aspects of Business Development and M&A projects within AstraZeneca, including valuation, financial analysis, and deal structuring. In addition, Deal Finance provide dedicated support in the negotiation and execution of transactions.

The Deal Finance team is the bridge between finance and many business areas, including early stage search, evaluation and transaction teams in the 3 AZ business divisions (Oncology BU, Biopharma BU and Rare Disease BU); Strategy, Business Development Operations (BDO) who are responsible for the transactions of all late stage, but also R&D, Commercial, Accounting, legal, tax, treasury, CorpDev, Group finance, etc

Key Responsibilities:

Building the financial business case. Deal Finance will collect, review and challenge all the inputs for financial business case (e.g. Sales, SMM, R&D), then construct a case pre and post terms focusing on P&L, Cashflow as well key financial metrics with updates as negotiations develop.

Leading on the financial structuring of each transaction. Think out of the box to build innovative deal structures. AZ has in house tax, treasury and accounting experts, Deal Finance leverages and coordinate their inputs to optimise the financial structure.

Participating in the contract negotiation. Contract negotiations are typically led by a Transaction Director from BDO or the BUBD teams, supported by an in-house lawyer and a member of Deal Finance. Deal finance also lead the financial elements of the due diligence.

Key deliverables as the Head of Deal Finance:

• Lead the Deal Finance team, supporting, coaching and developing team members to ensure a highly performing team
• Deliver impactful deal structuring (terms, accounting, tax, legal, etc)
• Provide guidance and challenge to BDO and the Business Unit transaction teams on the business, the deal structure and financial terms as transactions are developed. Lead the financial input to business strategy construction, ensuring that all key issues / sensitivities / risk are evaluated.
• Lead and co-ordinate the finance functional experts (Tax, Accounting etc) to optimise the financial structure of each transaction for P&L and cash flow impact for AZ.
• Keep CFO appraised of developing transactions. Then ensure the rigour and transparency of the financial briefing input to each of the governance steps for transactions
• For sell side transactions, guide head of BDO in planning and delivering the sell side profit and cash targets. Keep the financial reporting and planning teams up to date on the planned and actual projects and their delivery throughout the year.
• Lead the finance input in the negotiation of complex, high value or high-risk transactions. Coach and mentor the Deal Finance team to do so on all other transactions.
• Actively manage financial due diligence.

Education, Qualifications and Essential Experience:

A sophisticated level of interpersonal skill is required for this role given the variety of stakeholders on any deal. Great team focus is essential. Importantly, the candidate must be highly enthusiastic about AstraZeneca’s mission and be driven and committed to its success.

Successful candidates will have the following:

• Experience leading international Deal Finance teams (or similar), within Global organisations
• Extensive experience within Corporate Finance, Mergers and Acquisitions. This can be through working in Competitive Intelligence, Investment Banking, Equity Research, Management Consulting or Investment Management.
• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (Finance or Science).
• Prior experience must include management of complex financial models and presentations to reflect financial projections, financing structures, and key structuring terms for transactions greater than $100 million.
• Strong influencing skills with experience in senior stakeholder management
• Successful candidate will strive in a fast pace environment

Desirable Experience

• Master of Business Administration (MBA) or advanced scientific degree (PhD, MD, PharmD) viewed favourably.
• Previous experience of working within Biotech or Pharma would also be a significant advantage.

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. An inclusive culture that champions diversity and collaboration, and always committed to lifelong learning, growth and development. We’re on an exciting journey to pioneer the future of healthcare.

So, what’s next?

If you are inspired by the possibilities of science to make a difference and ready to discover what you can do by joining us on this exciting journey and believe you can contribute to this bold ambition – join us!

Where can I find out more?

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We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

Date Posted

Closing Date

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.