Senior Director, AI Cloud & Compute Services

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., Help shape and scale a multi-cloud AI platform that speeds up the discovery and development of life-changing medicines! This role leads the strategy, build and evolution of enterprise compute and cloud-native AI services used every day by scientists and engineers across the business.

The focus is clear: turn ambitious ideas into secure, compliant and reusable capabilities that work at scale. Success in this role means connecting data foundations, AI technologies and smarter ways of working into one strong platform that helps teams move faster, with less friction and more confidence. It is a chance to set direction, remove blockers and drive adoption across a global organisation!

What this role will do

This role will define how AI and machine learning services are used across AWS, Azure and GCP, creating a simpler and more consistent experience across multiple cloud environments. Managed services such as SageMaker, Azure ML and Vertex AI will be brought together through strong architecture, Infrastructure as Code and practical integrations that make secure adoption easier.

Enterprise compute strategy will sit at the heart of the role, balancing performance, cost, resilience and compliance. The platform will need repeatable, auditable Terraform foundations that support AI services with the rigour required in regulated environments.

The role will also unify cloud-native AI services into a more consistent platform model, with shared patterns, governance and guardrails that reduce duplication and support faster delivery. Rather than leaving teams to reinvent solutions, the platform will provide dependable standards that teams can adopt and scale.

Leadership is a major part of the remit. A high-performing team of AI platform and DevOps specialists will be built, coached and challenged to raise the bar. An automation-first mindset, strong engineering discipline and compliance-by-design approach will be central to how the team operates.

The role also carries ownership for budgets and resourcing across headcount, cloud consumption, outsourced services and specialist partners. Strong FinOps thinking will be important to improve visibility, control spend and maximise value.

Alongside delivery, this role will champion enterprise-wide adoption. Proven platform patterns, reusable components and successful ideas will be scaled across functions and geographies, helping more teams work with greater speed, safety and efficiency.

Close partnership with leaders across R&D, engineering, security and compliance will be essential. The role will translate scientific and business priorities into technical strategy, practical roadmaps and measurable outcomes., 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.

Do you have experience in Terraform?, 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., 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., * We're looking for someone with 15+ years of experience, including at least 5 years in senior technical leadership roles focused on AI platforms, cloud infrastructure, or cloud-native AI services, ideally in regulated industries. This person will bring a strong track record of leading large-scale platform transformations and helping teams navigate complex, multi-year change with clarity and confidence.

• Deep expertise across AWS, Azure and GCP is expected, especially in AI and machine learning services. Strong hands-on knowledge of Terraform is also important, including enterprise module design, multi-cloud implementation, CI/CD integration, and state management and governance.
• This role calls for broad compute leadership experience, including Kubernetes, serverless and event-driven architectures, GPU optimisation for machine learning workloads, auto-scaling and cost optimisation. A strong engineering background with hands-on capability in Python, Bash and PowerShell will be valuable.
• Experience in GxP-compliant systems is important, ideally in life sciences or pharmaceutical settings, including documentation and validation requirements. Strength in DevOps and GitOps tooling is also needed, covering areas such as Git, GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, Docker and Kubernetes.
• A solid grasp of cloud security, identity and access management, and data governance across multi-cloud environments is essential. Strong communication and stakeholder leadership skills matter just as much, especially the ability to influence across a large global organisation.

Desirable Skills/Experience

• Experience with MLOps practices and platforms such as MLflow, Kubeflow and feature stores would be useful, as would knowledge of observability tooling including Datadog, Prometheus, Grafana and CloudWatch.
• Background in FinOps, large-scale data pipelines, pharmaceutical R&D workflows, scientific computing, or contributions to open-source cloud-native or Infrastructure as Code projects would also stand out.

AstraZeneca offers a competitive package designed to support wellbeing, growth and long-term success. Benefits typically include competitive pay, bonus opportunities, and learning and development opportunities. Employees also benefit from the chance to work on high-impact challenges in a global environment where careers can grow across functions, technologies and geographies.

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., At AstraZeneca, unexpected combinations of talent often lead to the most powerful ideas. Bringing diverse teams together creates the energy, pace and challenge needed to do meaningful work. That is why in-person collaboration remains an important part of how we operate, with a minimum of three days per week in the office on average. There is flexibility too, with room for individual circumstances and balanced ways of working., 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. Sales Representative Oslo, Norway 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. Sales Representative California, United States 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. Sales Representative Petaling Jaya, Malaysia 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., 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.