VP, Head of IT Rare Disease Unit

VP, IT Rare Disease Unit Boston, USA About the role Reporting to the Enterprise CIO, the VP, IT, Rare Disease Unit will be charged with developing and establishing an information technology vision, strategy and innovation agenda to support the goals and objectives of the Rare Disease Unit. The candidate will be an active member of the AstraZeneca IT Leadership Team and contribute to the overall vision of the IT 2030 Strategy adoption and engagement across the Rare Disease Unit. You will be expected to work closely with senior business and technology leaders across the enterprise to ensure that investments and the technology portfolio are aligned to the current and future needs of the business. They will be expected to immediately focus on developing a comprehensive technology roadmap/strategy and lead innovation activities that balance immediate business needs with forward-looking disruptive plans. The leader will need to work with Alexion and AZ stakeholders to balance the needs of both organizations, with an emphasis of innovating for the Alexion business. Key Responsibilities Leadership : Provide expert counsel and guidance to senior management and key stakeholders on all IT related issues. Apply strong leadership and thinking to a diverse set of opportunities and challenges ensuring that the IT organization serves as a true strategic partner and enabler to all facets of the enterprise. Technology Innovation : Lead the facilitation and collaboration of innovation platforms that connect business-level innovation with emerging technology and long horizon, disruptive efforts IT Vision and Strategy : Develop long-term technology vision and strategic plans based on alignment with and support for the organization’s strategies and goals. Seek funding for innovative IT initiatives that have strategic value. IT Governance : Provide cost effective management, rationalization, and simplification of the company’s portfolio of systems and projects. Establish and enforce appropriate IT policies, best practices, processes, systems and technology portfolio and lifecycle management, program and project management (PMO), development standards, methodologies, and the like. Management : Hire, develop, appraise, reward, and retain a highly qualified IT team. Motivate and mentor IT management and staff. Lead by example through appropriate participation and involvement in, and oversight of all IT activities. Plan and provide continuity and succession for all IT management. Budgeting : Create the IT budget that meets synergy targets and delivers innovative new solutions. Monitor performance against the budget and act to ensure budget compliance. Create effective partnerships and negotiate advantageous agreements with service providers and hardware and software vendors. Systems : Direct the definition, architecture, development, implementation, maintenance and support of application systems, which drive and enable organization objectives. Ensure performance to all related elements - cost, schedule and budget - as they relate to the existing plan and forecast; continuously improve unit cost performance while maximizing existing as well as new information technology capability and innovation. Technology, Infrastructure & Telecommunications : Work with key IT partners across AstraZeneca IT to maintain knowledge of state-of-the-art information technologies. Identify appropriate technologies for IT initiatives, and drive innovation programs to further facilitate business objectives. Operations : Working with IT partners across AstraZeneca IT, direct the continuous and secure operation, administration and maintenance of the organization computing, networking cybersecurity infrastructure. Ensure health information privacy and security. IT Effectiveness : Improve the effectiveness, efficiency and delivery of the IT team in support of organizational goal of improving reliability and speed to market through Quality Management and Lean Principles. Organization Assimilation - Fully understand the Rare Disease Unit’s global business strategy and its information needs. Ascertain the culture in IT and across the company and establish credibility and set the stage to help shift the culture where needed. Overall IT Assessment - Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the Rare Disease Unit’s IT organization, including people, processes and systems. IT Strategic Planning - Lead the development of a new strategic and operational IT plan focused on a digital and data agenda. Determine optimal global IT strategy to support the Rare Disease Unit’s overall business strategies. Alexion/AZ Integration Planning - Work with the Integration Management Office to devise and execute on an integration roadmap Education, Qualifications, and Experience The candidate will be a proven information technology leader driven by excellence.The VP, Head of IT, Rare Disease Unit will be a highly collaborative, disciplined and business-oriented individual with at least 15 years of broadly-based, progressive IT leadership and innovation experience in all aspects of change management, program management, and strategy development. The ideal candidate will bring substantive experience gained from within the global pharmaceutical/biotech environment or other highly innovative industries. A proven ability to link complex technologies to business strategies is required. Track record of leading complex, large-scale technology implementations. Substantive examples of driving innovation through execution and derived value. Substantive global experience working with business leaders internationally. Detailed understanding of complex M&A deals and integration tactics. Solid understanding of business operations and demonstrated experience working collaboratively with business leaders to develop and deliver solutions that meet business needs. Desirable Experience A Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business Administration or related field. An advanced degree is preferred. The ability to relate well to a wide variety of diverse styles, types, and classes; open to differences; effective up, down, sideways, inside, and outside; builds diverse networks; quick to find common ground; treats differences fairly and equitably; treats everyone as a preferred customer. Self-motivated and directed and driven by opportunity and customer expectations. Writes and presents effectively; adjusts to fit the audience and the message; strongly gets a message across. Results oriented and success driven with a desire to impact a growing and highly successful company. Well organized, resourceful, and planful; effective and efficient at marshalling multiple resources to get things done; lays out tasks in sufficient detail to mark the trail; is able to get things done with less and in less time; can work on multiple tasks at once without losing track; foresees and plans around obstacles. An effective process, work flow, and systems designer; is good at figuring out what to measure to track progress; sets up systems that can almost manage themselves; is a master at the effectiveness and efficiency of work systems; can quickly diagnose and fix a work flow problem; always looking for incremental process improvement. Manoeuvres well to get things done; maze bright; knows where to go to get what they need; politically aware and agile; knows the right thing to do; presents views and argum