Executive Director, Patient Supply Operations, Cell Therapy

If you have the passion and the drive to accelerate growth and make people’s lives better – then AstraZeneca is the place for you.  In Operations we have a big ambition – to deliver more medicines to patients, quicker and more affordably. Backed by the investment, leadership and a clear plan to get there, we bring personal dedication and out of the box thinking. 

AstraZeneca turns molecules to medicines, bringing our Research & Development pipeline to life through a rigorous process of development, manufacturing, testing and delivery.  Operations is accelerating fast. We are on track for Our Bold Ambition 2030, delivering 15+ new medicines driving us forward across different modalities including biologics, cell therapy, ADCs and small molecules. 

The Opportunity

AstraZeneca is building one of the industry’s most ambitious Cell Therapy portfolios, spanning autologous, allogeneic, and in vivo modalities. As the business evolves from clinical-stage operations to global commercial scale, the execution layer of our supply chain, the operational engine that ensures the right therapy reaches the right patient, on time, every time, must scale with it.

As Executive Director, Cell Therapy Patient Supply Operations, you will lead the function that translates supply chain decisions into patient supply outcomes, with accountability for service delivery, operational control, disciplined execution, and performance at scale. This is a senior strategic execution leadership role responsible not only for running the day-to-day operational engine across patient and product flow, but also for transforming the operating model to support future modalities, broader geographic reach, greater volume, launch readiness, and increased digital enablement.

In this role, you will build the structure, accountability, and execution capability needed to strengthen service outcomes and evolve Patient Supply Operations into a robust, scalable, globally coordinated function aligned to AstraZeneca’s long-term Cell Therapy ambition.

The position reports into the Vice President, Global Head of Supply Chain Cell Therapy and can be located in either Tarzana, CA or Gaithersburg, MD. 

Responsibilities

• Lead the execution layer for Patient Supply Operations, ensuring the function is aligned to the strategic and operational needs of the business and delivers efficiency, effectiveness, and service outcomes at global commercial scale.

• Own end-to-end execution of autologous patient supply operations, including patient scheduling, slot coordination, order execution, milestone management, exception handling, and final product delivery, with absolute focus on chain-of-identity, chain-of-custody, and patient-critical service reliability.

• Build and scale execution capabilities for allogeneic and in vivo modalities, designing fit-for-purpose operating models for order fulfillment, critical material movement, launch readiness, distribution design, and modality-specific execution needs as these platforms advance toward commercialization.

• Lead global distribution performance and scale-up, including regional logistics depots as critical enablers of patient supply execution, driving efficient and reliable execution across carriers, 3PLs, shipping lanes, depot operations, and cold chain distribution, while ensuring the responsiveness, control, and market readiness needed to support patient supply continuity, expansion, increasing complexity, and AstraZeneca’s long-term Cell Therapy ambition.

• Establish and embed strong operating discipline across Patient Supply Operations, including governance, service metrics, performance management, escalation pathways, and standard processes that enable consistent execution in a highly regulated, patient-critical environment.

• Lead the transformation of Patient Supply Operations into a scalable, system-enabled execution function, shifting from largely manual, human-orchestrated ways of working toward a more standardized, digital, exception-based model that can support commercial ambition and global complexity.

• Champion digital enablement across Patient Supply Operations, partnering with cross-functional stakeholders to shape the future-state operating model, business processes, organizational interfaces, and global operating requirements needed to scale effectively.

• Establish trade compliance as an embedded execution capability, ensuring import/export controls, Free Trade Zone strategy and operations, biological material movement, and tax-related considerations are designed into lanes, depots, and country enablement from the outset.

• Build and lead a high-performing global organization through transformation, developing leaders and teams with strong execution mindset and operating discipline while driving the change required to evolve Patient Supply Operations into a globally scaled, patient-centered commercial function.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Operations, Engineering, Life Sciences, Business Administration, or a related field, with 15+ years of leadership experience in supply chain, logistics, operations, or patient services within complex, highly regulated, time-sensitive environments.

• Proven success leading supply chain execution or operations organizations with accountability for service delivery, operational performance, and day-to-day business execution, including building operating discipline through governance, KPIs, escalation models, standard processes, and performance management.

• Demonstrated track record of scaling operations from clinical or early-stage models to global commercial execution, while leading operating model transformation across digital enablement, process standardization, and organizational design.

• Experience leading globally distributed teams across multiple time zones in round-the-clock operating environments, with the ability to balance current patient-critical execution with future-state capability build.

• Strong knowledge of regulated supply chain environments, including GxP, GDP, biological or patient-specific product logistics, and trade compliance across import/export, Free Trade Zones, and multi-jurisdictional movement of sensitive materials.

• Familiarity with supply chain orchestration platforms, transportation management systems, and digital tools that improve execution visibility, responsiveness, and control.

• Strong cross-functional leadership skills, with the ability to align Manufacturing, Quality, Process Development, Clinical, Commercial, IT, Regulatory, Supply Chain functions, and external partners around shared operational outcomes.

• Ability to lead as both an operator and transformer, maintaining control and discipline in today’s execution environment while building the model, capabilities, and organization required for scale.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree such as MBA, MS, or PhD

• Experience in cell therapy, gene therapy, or ATMP supply chains, including cold chain or cryogenic logistics for biological products

• Experience applying Lean, Six Sigma, or similar operational excellence methodologies within logistics, service, or execution environments

• Experience supporting launch readiness, market expansion, and network scaling in emerging or rapidly growing therapeutic areas

When we put unexpected teams in the same room, we fuel 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 either Santa Monica, CA; Tarzana, CA or Gaithersburg, MD office locations. We balance the expectation of being in the office while respecting individual flexibility. Join us in our unique and ambitious world.

The annual base salary for this position ranges from $225,000 to $335,000. However, base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related experience. If hired, employee will be in an “at-will position” and we reserve the right to modify base salary (and any other discretionary payment or compensation program) at any time, including for reasons related to individual performance, Company or individual department/team performance, and market factors.

Date Posted

Closing Date

Our mission is to build an inclusive environment where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and employees. In furtherance of that mission, we welcome and consider applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of their protected characteristics. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please complete the corresponding section in the application form.