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
Principal Optimization Engineer
Introduction to role
We are seeking a Principal Optimization Engineer with a proven track record in project leadership to act as a bridge between business partners and the technical team. You will collaborate closely with partners to estimate, plan, and implement AI solutions that align with business objectives. Your breadth of knowledge of AI products available on the market combined with your strong technical background will enable you to anticipate risks, understand challenges, and propose effective solutions. Excellent communication skills are essential for adapting to various technical levels and guiding both technical and non-technical team members. The ideal candidate has a proven track record in implementing mathematical optimization solutions in the industry.
Accountabilities
• Understand project risks, requirements, and dependencies; anticipate problems and strategically mitigate them. Provide consultancy to business customers to estimate, prioritize and implement projects effectively.
• Engage internal collaborators and external partners to ensure the successful delivery of AI solutions.
• Collaborate with the innovation team to propose and build strategic technical capabilities.
• Estimate, plan, and supervise technical work; mentor junior team members and support non-technical collaborators.
• Work within an agile framework and collaborate with multi-functional teams to align AI solutions with business goals.
• Relying on their proven track record in team leadership, oversee multiple ongoing projects.
Key Projects
• AI-Powered Drug Development: Develop and deploy AI models to optimize drug development processes.
• Autonomous Manufacturing: Implement AI-driven solutions to improve manufacturing efficiencies.
• Self-Healing Supply Chain: Apply AI techniques to improve supply chain management and logistics.
Essential Skills/Experience
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in operations research, mathematics, computer science, or a related quantitative field.
• At least 5 years of professional experience delivering Optimization projects and at least 3 years leading teams of ML engineers.
• Advanced expertise in Python and familiarity with database systems (e.g., SQL, NoSQL, Graph databases).
• 5+ years of experience and demonstrable technical skills in developing mathematical optimisation solutions for complex real-world problems.
• Proven, hands-on coding experience, knowledge of software development standard methodologies and deployment practices such as CI/CD, testing, version control.
• Demonstrated experience using mathematical optimisation software such as CPLEX, Gurobi, XPRESS or OR-Tools.
• Experience with heuristic and meta-heuristic algorithms as an alternative to the above software.
• A working knowledge of optimisation concepts.
• 5+ years of experience of developing high quality optimisation tools. Ideally including python.
• A track record of understanding and translating complex business problems into engineering problems.
• Traditional Machine Learning: Time series analysis, unsupervised anomaly detection, analysis of high-dimensional data.
• Experience in deploying ML/Generative AI services and working with complex datasets.
• Strong understanding of software development, algorithms, optimization, and scaling.
• Excellent communication and business analysis skills.
Desirable Skills/Experience
• Master’s or PhD in a relevant quantitative field.
• Experience with AWS cloud services and cloud engineering.
• Knowledge of Snowflake.
• Software development experience (e.g., React.js, Node.js).
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.
At AstraZeneca, we connect across the whole business to power each function to better influence patient outcomes and improve their lives. Impactful and valuable, this is where you come to raise your profile and do good for others. Play an increasingly crucial role in driving exciting transformation on our journey to becoming a digital and data-led enterprise. Unleash the power of our latest innovations in data, machine learning, and technology to turn complex information into life-changing and practical insights. Work in alignment with leading experts in our specialist communities. Here we bring the brightest minds together, with access to pioneering techniques and the opportunity to be part of novel solutions. It's up to us to drive the outcomes forward, inventing and building, expanding our knowledge to identify the next opportunity.
Ready to make a difference?
Apply now!
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.
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