Manager, ESPC & Annual Business Cycle Operations

Introduction to role:

This role is based in Barcelona, with an on-site commitment of three days a week. Fluency in English is required.

The Manager, ESPC & Annual Business Cycle Operations is a critical enabler of AstraZeneca’s early-stage governance and portfolio planning processes. The role ensures seamless execution of the Early-Stage Product Committee (ESPC) and the Annual Business Cycle (ABC), including Therapy Area Strategy (TAS), by leading end-to-end coordination of governance operations, scheduling, and stakeholder engagement.

Acting as the operational backbone for ESPC and ABC, this role orchestrates complex, global meeting logistics, supports structured decision-making, and maintains high standards for governance processes and documentation. It requires strong organizational discipline, proactive stakeholder coordination, and the ability to manage competing priorities across senior leadership forums. Do you thrive on resolving competing priorities with precision and poise while enabling others to perform at their best?

ESPC Operations:

• Own end-to-end management of governance meeting scheduling, set-up, execution and closure, including but not limited to identifying and securing global meeting rooms, issuing and updating multiple calendar invites, arranging meeting technology across required platforms, troubleshooting and management of attendee logistics within pre-defined policies.
• Manages all pre-governance governance operations including liaising with GPMs/GPTs to align decision needs, facilitating pre-meetings with GPLs, GPMs, and the ESPC Secretariat team, collation and storage of meeting materials ensuring consistency in document format, file naming conventions and archives.
• Under guidance of the ESPC Secretariat/Deputy Secretariat, organize and maintain the ESPC forward agenda as well as planning agenda timelines for each meeting, accommodating specific requests as required and proactively identifying solutions to logistical conflicts.
• Maintain the ESPC membership distribution lists and BOX/SharePoint access permissions.
• Communicate with key stakeholders, including senior leaders and their support team, in a professional, efficient manner and in collaboration with the secretariats.
• Collaborate with colleagues in the PPO team to support other governance logistical needs (e.g. holiday and other absence coverage) and team initiatives or projects.

Annual Business Cycle/Therapy Area Strategy Operations:

• Leads logistics coordination of the annual TA Strategy and portfolio review cycle, generating core invite lists with Portfolio and GPPM stakeholders, issuing calendar invitations on schedule, and supporting SET agenda setting.
• Manage stakeholder scheduling and conflict resolution, liaising with SET Executive Assistants and Portfolio Leads to adjust for evolving calendar conflicts and to account for external events, congresses, and senior leadership commitments.
• Own meeting logistics across key sites (Gaithersburg, Boston, Cambridge, Gothenburg), including securing conference and board rooms, arranging catering, and ensuring VIP and IT support for presenters and SET locations.
• Serve as the central point of contact for presentation submissions and document management, maintaining native files and pre-reads in approved repositories (Box, MS Teams, SharePoint) and establishing the document storage structure for each new cycle.
• Administer the meeting series and agendas, running the TAS Core Team meeting series, managing TA team participation, and finalizing attendee and invite lists for the early portfolio and TA strategy reviews.
• Finalize and issue all calendar holds and review invitations for SET and Core TA meetings within established deadlines, coordinating presenter confirmations through to completion.

• Strong project coordination experience / significant experience in administrative management with senior leaders

• Experience working with executive/senior leaders and within a global environment. 

• The ability to work as a flexible, dedicated team member and to liaise with staff at all levels

• Excellent communicator; able to influence a broad range of stakeholders including at senior levels in the organization

• Able to prioritize own workload, organized, self-motivated and able to work without close supervision

• Excellent working knowledge of Outlook, MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint.

• Good understanding of communications technology currently used within AZ (e.g., Microsoft Teams, Zoom, WorkVivo).

• Comfort and experience in using on-line tools (Box, SharePoint) and social media (WorkVivo).

• Experience / knowledge in practicing project management techniques.

• Experience in working with AZ’s pipeline and/or working on international projects.

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: Here you will help shape decisions that guide a diverse, global pipeline—working with unconventional combinations of people and skills to spark ideas that move fast from plan to action. We pair bold ambition with genuine support, valuing kindness alongside high standards, so you can grow while operating at the center of senior decision forums. With strong tools and data-driven ways of working, you will influence how resources are prioritized and how strategies progress—ultimately accelerating life-changing medicines to patients and delivering meaningful impact at scale.

Call to Action: Step into the center of portfolio decision-making and bring clarity, pace and excellence to moments that matter—join us to turn operational mastery into outcomes that change lives!

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.