Why choose AstraZeneca Spain?
AstraZeneca Spain is a rising force in our global business. With headquarters in Madrid and our global hub in Barcelona, we’ve become an important international centre of excellence in the fight against critical disease. Boasting vibrant universities and business schools, the Barcelona ecosystem is a place where scientists can thrive. We attract a diverse workforce from across the globe, shining a beacon for innovation in a country that’s committed to clinical development.
We invite you to bring your talents to Barcelona where our respiratory medicine R&D and Global Marketing centre offers opportunities in R&D, IT, Commercial and HR. Or join us in Madrid and shape our growth in our BUs (Respiratory, Oncology & CVRM ), and a range of Corporate functions. Additionally, you can find sales roles throughout the country. Together, we’re contributing to a world-leading pipeline of therapeutics and delivering life-changing medicines to patients.
Who do we look for?
Calling all tech innovators, ownership takers, challenge seekers and proactive collaborators. At AstraZeneca Spain, breakthroughs born in the lab become transformative medicine for the world's most complex diseases. Alongside technical expertise, colleagues have the resilience, energy and collaborative mindset to change lanes, work with different teams and start projects from scratch.
Here, diverse minds and bold disruptors can meaningfully impact the future of healthcare using cutting-edge technology. Whether you join us in Madrid or Barcelona, you can make a tangible impact within a global biopharmaceutical company that invests in your future. Join a talented global team that's powering AstraZeneca to better serve patients every day.
Success Profile
Ready to make an impact in your career? If you're passionate, growth-orientated and a true team player, we'll help you succeed. Here are some of the skills and capabilities we look for.
Diverse collaborators
This is a speak-up culture that values collaboration. You’ll proactively bring your unique perspectives, experiences and skills to the table and seek the same from others. With our international team composition and the need for fast-paced collaboration, you’ll always be building new connections with colleagues.
Cutting-edge innovators
When you join us, you’ll be part of a team that embraces digital technology and data to transform the way we work and the work we do. Every day, you’ll help make history, empowered to ignite your creativity and build something enduring.
Resilient trailblazers
Here, the answers aren’t always available. So, you’ll need to bring a fearless, self-starter mindset to navigate uncharted territories. You’ll harness your ceaseless energy to discover and make the necessary connections with colleagues to shape the future and achieve maximum impact.
Agile movers
Seize ownership and excel with autonomy to enjoy the constant rush of ground-breaking discovery. Your ability to anticipate sudden shifts and adapt swiftly will prove critical as you make your mark in an environment that rewards initiative and resilience.
Responsibilities
AstraZeneca is transforming into an AI- and data-led enterprise. Within R&D, thePredictive AI & Datateam turns complex information into practical, life-changing insights that improve patient outcomes. We invent, build, and deliver novel solutions alongside leading experts,leveragingcutting-edgetechniques in data, AI, and machine learning. We work inclusively across diverse disciplines and partners,aligning tobusiness needs and delivering measurable value.
We are seeking a hands-onAssociate Director of Data Engineeringto lead data architecture, modeling, warehousing, and platform engineering that accelerates scientific decision-making across Clinical Pharmacology & Safety Science (CPSS). You will design and deliver scalable, FAIR-aligned data solutions on enterprise infrastructure, driving positive, disruptive transformation toward AstraZeneca’s Bold Ambition for 2030. This role partners closely with R&D IT and DS&AI and collaborates globally with colleagues in Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
WhatYou’llDo
Data platform architecture:Design, implement, andoperaterobust, secure, and scalable data platforms and services that enable discovery, access, and reuse (FAIR), with clear SLOs for reliability and performance.
Modeling and warehousing:Define canonical data models, dimensional schemas, andlakehouse/warehouse layers; implement semantic modeling;optimizestorage, compute, and query performance.
Data integration:Build and harden ingestion frameworks for structured and unstructured data; standardize metadata, lineage, and cataloging; ensure interoperability across domains.
Governance and quality:Establishand enforce standards for data quality, access control, retention, and compliance; implement monitoring, observability, and automated data quality checks.
Infrastructure engineering:Operatesolutions across Unix/Linux HPC and cloud (AWS preferred),leveraginginfrastructure-as-code to ensure reliability, scalability, and cost efficiency.
Collaboration:Translate scientific and business requirements into well-architected designs; co-create solutions with CPSS stakeholders, R&D IT, and DS&AI; set technical direction and roadmap.
Engineering excellence:Apply software engineering best practices (version control, CI/CD, automated testing, design patterns, code review) to deliver maintainable, resilient systems.
Enablement:Produce high-quality documentation, reusable components, and guidance; mentor engineers and uplift data engineering practices across teams.
Essential Skills & Experience
Education:Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field, or equivalent industry experience.
Programming:Strong Pythonexpertise; familiarity with Java or C++; ability to write clean, testable, performant code.
Platform architecture:Proven experience architecting and building data platforms and data-driven solutions at scale.
Software engineering:Track record delivering production-grade systems in data, AI, or scientific domains;proficiencywith Git, CI/CD, automated testing, design patterns, and DevOps/SRE practices.
Data modeling and warehousing:Experience with dimensional modeling, semantic layers, and warehouse/lakehousetechnologies (e.g., Snowflake, Databricks,TileDB).
Databases:Hands-on experience with SQL and NoSQL systems, query optimization, and performance tuning.
Compute environments:Practical experience with Unix/Linux HPC and cloud platforms (AWS preferred), including infrastructure-as-code (e.g., Terraform/CloudFormation).
Translation of needs:Ability to convert scientific/business requirements into robust technical solutions with measurable outcomes.
Technical leadership:Demonstratedexperience leading end-to-end delivery, setting engineering standards, and guiding teams whileremaininghands-on.
Core skills:Excellent problem-solving, analytical, and critical-thinking capabilities; attention to detail;strong communicationand stakeholder management skills.
Desirable Skills & Experience
Generative and agentic AI: Exposure toLLM-enabled data services or agentic workflows.
Data processing and integration: Experience integratingstructured and unstructured dataat scale; familiarity with streaming and batch patterns.
Life sciences:Experience with clinical or pre-clinical drug discovery,imagingand bioinformatics data; understanding of domain ontologies and scientific data standards.
Governance and compliance:Experience with data governance, privacy, security-by-design, and relevant regulatory frameworks.
Ways of Working :
We value in-person collaboration to accelerate learning and decision-making. We typically work a minimum of three days per week from the office while balancing flexibility for individual needs.
Why AstraZeneca:
We follow the science to explore and innovate, fusing data and technology with the latest scientific advances to achieve the next wave of breakthroughs. We listen and learn from people living with the diseases we treat to better understand needs and design the right interventions. If your passion is science andimpact onpatients’ lives, this is the place to build a career that matters.
Ready to make an impact? Apply now and join us in shaping the future of data architecture and infrastructure at AstraZeneca.
Date Posted
27-ene-2026Closing Date
09-feb-2026AstraZeneca 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.
Reasons to Join
Thomas Mathisen
There are many things I enjoy when working at AstraZeneca, mainly the Speak up culture, the great colleagues that are in my teams, the great products that AstraZeneca provides to our patients and the challenging conversations I have around our medicines.
Christine Recchio
Working at AstraZeneca has impacted my life in such a positive way. I now have an improved work-life balance through creating my own schedule and time management, I feel a balance that I didn’t have before.
Stephanie Ling
There are a lot of reasons why I enjoy working in AstraZeneca, my colleagues being one of them. My team members and the managers have provided a great deal of guidance in helping me to be more confident in my daily work.
What we offer
We're driven by our shared values of serving people, society and the planet. Our people make this possible, which is why we prioritise diversity, inclusivity, balance and sustainability. Discover what a career at AstraZeneca could mean for you.
An award-winning company
We're passionate about being a great place to work, and 84% of our employees would recommend us as an employer. We've been recognised as a Top Employer in Spain, an EFR Family Responsible Business, and we achieved third place in Forbes Spain's Top 50 Best Places to Work list.
Inclusive environment
Diversity and inclusion are embedded in everything we do, and our different views, experiences and strengths enrich our culture. There's no salary gap at AstraZeneca, and the number of female employees has increased by four per cent over the last three years. We've also made all positions fully accessible.
Work-life balance
Your wellbeing means a lot to us, and we're here to support you through all of life's ups and downs. That's why we offer an unpaid leave policy, annual leave, reduced-hours timetables and a host of benefits, including a retirement plan, long service award, and health and travel insurance.
Sustainability initiatives
We're committed to harnessing the power of science to become a more sustainable business. We've reduced our carbon footprint by over 9,000 kg of CO2 over the last two years, and we lead the European GoGreen Project, which aims to introduce environmentally friendly options in our fleet of corporate vehicles.
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