Associate Director, R&D Finance

This is what you will do:

The Assoc. Director R&D Finance will provide finance partnering support to the Research, Pre-Clinical and Genomic Medicine Area Leaders and their respective Global Program Teams (GPTs), providing financial advice, ensuring financial rigor and challenging financial performance . Working with multiple GPTs, you will be accountable for the robust evaluation of projects by providing high quality financial input to product investment decisions and expert financial analysis on financial performance and its risks.

During project investment decisions you will guide the Area Leaders and the GPTs on the financial impact of development plan decisions. This includes briefing key stakeholders at or in advance of Development Review Committee (DRC) Meetings and Early-Stage Portfolio Committee (ESPC) investment decisions.

The role will also serve as the finance partner to all CAPEX investments decisions in R&D. This will require a good understand of the future capital investment requirements in our laboratories to support the projects and activities of the early stage portfolio.

Finally, the role will provide R&D Finance leadership subject matter expertise on the forecasting for the short and long-term plan and play a significant role in support decisions related to Portfolio Prioritization.

We are seeking an individual with a solid record of contributions leading to improved financial performance, heightened productivity, and enhanced internal controls. The role will require interactions and collaboration throughout the Alexion/AstraZeneca organization including Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A), Global Financial Services, and senior R&D leadership. The role will require a high level of learning agility and the ability to work across diverse business areas in R&D. It will require the ability to navigate a matrixed business model, operate with a high degree of autonomy and influence decisions with great impact.

You will be responsible for:

• This position will have a broad range of responsibilities including delivering solid financial controlling support, business partnering, financial analysis, insights generation, trade off recommendations, and resource allocation decision support. This individual will play a pivotal role in management reporting for senior leadership, and quarterly/annual forecasting and planning processes.
  
  
  

Principal Responsibilities

• Serve as the finance lead for budgeting, forecasting and reporting activities for the Research, Pre-Clinical and Genomic Medicine Area Leaders and their respective Global Program Teams (GPTs).
• Deliver monthly financial reports and analysis to Senior Management with the goal of providing actionable insights that can support business decision-making.
• Collaborate with cross functional teams and Research business leaders to identify and implement business and operational efficiencies.
• Support research projects to enable efficient and collaborative transition to the development-stage portfolio.
• Provide key financial support for potential business development and partnering opportunities for preclinical-stage assets and/or research collaborations.
• Lead the long-term planning process for the Research organization, which includes the development of a 10-year strategic forecast and program valuations.
• Conduct financial analysis and review for special projects on an ad hoc basis.
  
  
  

Behavioral Characteristics

• Strong communication skills with the ability to work with and influence cross-functional management
• Strong business partnering and collaboration skills, with a drive to ensure that we exceed the expectations of our customers.
• Strong ability to implement best practices in back-office operations; commitment to continuous process improvement while managing costs, improving quality, and managing risks
• Commitment to delivering quality results and overcoming obstacles and challenges in a time-sensitive environment
• Ability to juggle and prioritize multiple work streams while remaining calm and effective under pressure
  
  
  

You will need to have:

• 7+ years experience in Finance/Controlling position
• Experience in Pharmaceutical/Biotechnology industry
• Interpersonal skills with ability to work with others as well as independently
• Strong competencies in accounting
• Competency using MS Office software (MS Excel, Power Point)
• Knowledge of a consolidation and financial planning systems (Anaplan, Qlik)
• Fluency in English both written and oral mandatory
• The duties of this role are generally conducted in an office environment. As is typical of an office-based role, employees must be able, with or without an accommodation to use a computer; engage in communications via phone, video, and electronic messaging; engage in problem solving and non-linear thought, analysis, and dialogue; collaborate with others; maintain general availability during standard business hours.
  
  
  

We would prefer for you to have:

• Experience in R&D Finance roles in medium or big size companies is a strong plus
• Master’s Degree in accounting, finance or business administration or CPA preferred