Senior Director, Architecture – Enterprise & Strategy, Enabling Units

AstraZeneca•Gaithersburg, MD

1d•$283,851•Hybrid

About The Position

At AstraZeneca, we are reimagining how technology accelerates the discovery, development, and delivery of life‑changing medicines. As we enter a new era of AI‑powered transformation, our Enterprise Architecture function plays a pivotal role in shaping how we operate, innovate, and scale globally. We are seeking a visionary Senior Director, Architecture – Enterprise & Strategy to guide our enterprise architecture capability across key Enabling Functions and lead the strategic evolution of our technology landscape in an increasingly AI‑driven world. About our Architecture team As Architects, we connect the dots across the business to improve the agility and functionality of our processes to accelerate AstraZeneca to the next level. There’s so much potential to influence and inspire change, it’s a big challenge if you’re up for it. As champions of our Technology ecosystem, we make sure the rest of the business experiences the true benefits of our systems. Uniting diverse areas and simplifying the way we work, changing mentalities and behaviours along the way – our reach goes beyond technology. It starts with a holistic view, connecting emerging trends with business ambitions and applying emotional intelligence to understand how we can guide the right way to work and behave. About the Role In this highly influential role, you will be responsible for running a world class enterprise architecture function for the Enabling Units, such as Finance, HR, Global Business Services, Corporate Affairs, Legal and Compliance, Global Sustainability, ensuring our technology and data ecosystems are primed for rapid innovation, intelligent automation, and scalable AI adoption. The function will determine how information technology will be used in the future to support AstraZeneca’s business objectives. You will work closely with senior business and technology leaders to establish architecture standards, patterns, and multiyear roadmaps that drive efficiency, integration, and value creation. As a champion for enterprise‑level thinking, you will also help shape the company’s broader AI strategy by aligning capabilities, governance, and platforms required for the next generation of data‑driven decision making.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in Computer Science, Data, Engineering, or related discipline
+8 years senior‑level Enterprise Architecture experience
Strong business acumen with broad understanding of enterprise processes
High emotional intelligence and proven ability to influence senior executive stakeholders
Expertise in developing enterprise architecture strategy, standards, and roadmaps
Demonstrated ability to lead architecture teams and drive enterprise‑wide change
Strong communication skills with the ability to simplify complex concepts

Nice To Haves

Experience working across Enabling Functions (Finance, HR, Procurement, Legal)
Background in enterprise platforms (e.g., SAP, employee experience platforms)
Experience with modern data architecture supporting AI and ML capabilities
Certifications such as TOGAF valued; preference for Open Certified Architect (OPEN CA)
Experience with multi‑cloud and enterprise‑scale platform strategies

Responsibilities

Lead the strategic direction of Enterprise Architecture for Enabling Functions, ensuring alignment with the company’s digital, data, and AI transformation priorities.
Shape and communicate long‑term architecture vision, standards, and roadmaps that enable scalable, secure, and compliant enterprise solutions.
Partner with senior leaders to influence technology investment decisions across finance, HR, procurement, and enterprise platforms.
Guide the evolution of our enterprise landscape to support AI‑enabled use cases, modern data architectures, and advanced analytics capabilities.
Assess industry, technology, and AI trends, translating them into actionable enterprise architecture requirements.
Serve as a strategic advisor and decision authority across architecture domains, ensuring integration and consistency across solutions.
Lead, develop, and mentor a diverse architecture team, fostering an inclusive culture of innovation and technical excellence.
Collaborate with engineering, service, and data teams to refine and adopt architecture patterns and blueprints that accelerate AI‑ready systems.