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
Location: Barcelona
Department: Digital Services – User Experience
Job Type: Full-Time
Reports To: Sr. Director, User Experience
About AstraZeneca
At AstraZeneca, we push the boundaries of science to deliver life-changing medicines. We are united by our shared passion for innovation and our unwavering focus on making a difference in the lives of patients worldwide. Join us in shaping the future of healthcare through ground breaking technology, design, and user experience.
Role Summary
AstraZeneca is seeking a Director of UX Research to help lead and shape the user experience research strategy across the company's digital platforms. In this leadership role, you will oversee research initiatives aimed at deeply understanding user behaviors, needs, and motivations through advanced qualitative and quantitative methods. Your responsibilities will include guiding the design and execution of user studies—such as interviews, usability tests, and surveys—to generate impactful insights that drive product innovation and inform strategic decisions. You will work closely with cross-functional teams, including designers, accessibility leads, product managers, and engineers, ensuring that user feedback is seamlessly integrated into the design process. Your efforts will be pivotal in steering the development of intuitive, user-centric solutions that support AstraZeneca's mission to enhance global health outcomes.
Responsibilities
- Lead and scale a high-performing UX Research team across multiple areas, ensuring alignment with design, product, and business strategies
- Define and implement a UX research strategy that supports product goals and long-term vision, focusing on measurable outcomes and user insights
- Build a research roadmap designed to disseminate insights that support AstraZeneca’s long-term business strategy
- Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to ensure research drives design decisions and product innovations
- Advocate for a deep understanding of user needs and behaviors across the organization, ensuring customer insights inform all aspects of product development
- Establish UX research standard processes and frameworks to improve research quality, consistency, and insight dissemination
- Leverage qualitative and quantitative research methodologies to generate actionable insights that inform tactical decisions and critical initiatives
- Drive initiatives to measure UX success, including usability, and continuously refine research methods to improve outcomes
- Present research findings and recommendations to senior team members and executives, influencing product direction and prioritization
- Foster a culture of curiosity, learning, and collaboration, ensuring that research is a critical strategic pillar in driving product innovation
- Continue to clarify the role of UX Research within the wider organization
Qualifications
- Confirmed experience building and leading UX Research teams, with a track record of delivering impactful, user-centered research for large-scale enterprise products
- Strong expertise in qualitative and quantitative research methods and the ability to distill complex insights into clear, actionable recommendations
- Excellent leadership and mentoring skills, with the ability to inspire and guide a diverse team of researchers
- Strong communication and storytelling abilities, with experience presenting to executive-level partners
- Deep empathy for users and a strong aim to use research to improve the product experience
- Ability to balance critical thinking with hands-on execution, staying close to the work, and continuously evolving the research practice for a growing product organization
- A collaborative approach with a natural ability to work cross-functionally and across lines of business
- An ability to move quickly and critically to deliver results in a timely manner
- Experience with design thinking, service design, lean UX, and Agile methodologies
- Ability to prioritize research efforts across multiple products and teams while maintaining high-quality outputs
- Strong organization skills and oversight, with the ability to oversee multiple projects simultaneously and connect the work of various teams
- A proven aim to foster a culture of inclusivity and diversity within your team and in how you approach research
- Strong operational attitude, continually seeking ways to improve processes, methodologies, and outcomes
- Hands-on experience with various research tools and platforms for data collection, analysis, and dissemination
Essential requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree with 7+ years of relevant experience
- Relevant experience within user experience, applied research setting and/or product research and development
- Interest in and experience driving hands-on, primary research
- Experience conducting In-Depth Interviews or Focus Groups and Concept Testing or Usability Testing
- Experience translating research findings into strategic narratives
Desirable requirements
- Degrees in a human behavior related field
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.
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.
We’ll keep you up to date
