Planning & Control Expert

Do you have expertise in planning and forecasting? Would you like to apply your expertise to make an impact in a company that follows the science and turns ideas into life changing medicines? Then AstraZeneca might be the one for you!

At AstraZeneca when we see an opportunity for change, we seize it and make it happen, because an opportunity no matter how small, can be the start of something big. Delivering life-changing medicines is about being entrepreneurial - finding those moments and recognising their potential.

The Planning and Control Expert sits in the Project Management Office (PMO), within Pharmaceutical Technology and Development (PT&D).

PT&D is the bridge which turns forward-thinking science into actual medicines that help millions of people. We work across the entire value chain, crafting and delivering active ingredients, formulations and devices required to support new medicines - from supplies for use in clinical trials to developing the technology to ensure drugs can be scaled up for commercial manufacture.

Enterprise Project and Portfolio Management Information facilitates the flow of projects and products through the AstraZeneca value chain. Accurate and timely project information supports the faster delivery of products to patients and brings project teams together through a single authoritative data set. It provides a key source of data for projects, functions and the Early and Late Stage Product Committee (ESPC/LSPC). The PMO supports Project Leaders, Portfolio Leaders, Pharmaceutical Teams and PT&D Functions, and is an excellent source of project planning and forecasting, tools and systems, that help PT&D drive delivery and productivity.

In this role you will be responsible for supporting project teams, project leaders and Therapy Area Heads to deliver upon their project and financial targets. You will provide excellent development and monitoring of cross functional project plans and forecasts, to ensure they bring value to the PT&D operating model, by both reflecting the agreed strategy, and stimulating Pharmaceutical Team thinking on planning and forecasting options, risks and opportunities. You will engage with key departments across Pharmaceutical Sciences and PT&D and, where appropriate, partnering companies, to drive improved project productivity.

What you'll do

* Take ownership of a portfolio of drug project plans from the development and/or on-market portfolios
* Pro-actively monitor key project parameters (assumptions/risks/ time and costs), manage critical path and flag any deviations
* Ensure excellence in project delivery through effective development and communication of cross functional PT&D project plans and forecasts. You will use project management tools including PLANIT
* Identify productivity opportunities within and across projects, through a thorough understanding of activities and resources and influencing their adoption with Project Leaders and TA Heads
* Provide great insight to the progress of the project, its risks and opportunities, to enable informed decisions and actions to be taken optimally and efficiently
* Provide timely information on key CMC project performance such that it delivers within time, cost and quality targets
* Coordinate the generation of high quality drug project budget updates as part of the annual finance cycle and ensure excellent control of projects to achieve group financial targets
* Facilitate PT&D contribution to R&D and Operations by generating and controlling high quality cross-functional project plans (activities, cost, and value) and representing PT&D at Global Project Team level planning and control reviews
* Ensure continuous improvement and simplification of the project data/information environment
* Share best practise and promote standardisation across the Pharmaceutical Sciences and PT&D

This role provides an outstanding opportunity to take a step into project management, PM accreditation will be encouraged. You will also build on your skills by gaining experience working across PT&D functions, and with other R&D functions. In addition, you will have the opportunity to influence the development of a new way of working within PT&D projects.

Required Skills & Knowledge

* BA/BS in a science or engineering subject area, or equivalent technical work experience
* The ability to create, coordinate, and maintain an integrated product plan and to control or respond to changes in strategy and scope
* Experience in the use of enterprise-wide pharmaceutical project management software solutions, including skills in critical path analysis
* Experience of MS Project and/or Planisware
* Understanding of financial and resource planning systems and processes and ability to coordinate project-level budget/resource estimates and manage actuals vs. plan
* Good knowledge of information management as a field and an understanding of tools available



Desirable skills

* Intermediate Certification in Project Management (APMP/PMP or higher)
* High level of knowledge/awareness of the overall CMC development process, including stages of development and role of different functional areas
* Experience in working on a cross functional team in a matrix organization

So, what's next!

Are you already imagining yourself joining our team? Good, because we can't wait to hear from you.