Personal Assistant/Administrative Coordinator – BioPharma R&D

At AstraZeneca, we put patients first and strive to meet their unmet needs worldwide. Working here means being entrepreneurial, thinking big and working together to make the impossible a reality. If you are swift to action, confident to lead, willing to collaborate, and curious about what science can do, then you’re our kind of person.

Biopharmceuticals R&D

A dedicated BioPharmaceuticals Research & Development organization, we accelerate promising early-stage assets and lifecycle management programs. From discovery to late-stage development, we always follow the science. Here we integrate the worlds of CVRM, R&I, Neuroscience and Microbial Science to draw on shared knowledge from interplaying diseases and to harness our different experiences.

What you’ll do

As Personal Assisant/Administrative Coordinator, BioPharma R&D, you will be responsible for providing direct support at VP/Senior Leader level. Additionally, you can take on a challenging and varied role within our team focusing on providing high quality professional business support to other senior leaders within our BioPharma R&D department as needed.

Typical Responsibilities:

• First line responsibilities to provide direct support to Head of Department/Senior Leader
• Diary management - Manage sophisticated calendars for our Early Respiratory and Immunology leadership team to schedule meetings, interviews, and special events; prioritize calendar conflicts. 
• Provides specialist project-based business support when required, eg. Co-ordination of consultancy contract requests, assist with payment requests, raising purchase orders and serve as subject matter expert with Coupa and ePay 
• Support Early R&I business support team with team events
• Handle multi-location domestic and international travel arrangements as well as live and virtual meetings/conferences 
• Produce accurate, creative and timely materials using Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) 
• Responds to more complex or escalated enquiries from other PA/administration staff
• Lead or assist with internal and external meetings/conferences including delegate support and meeting logistics
• Plans, organizes, and schedules own workload through system maintenance so that all activities are completed accurately and on time
• Supporting onsite onboarding for ER&I when needed
• Create and maintain team distribution lists 
• Support and contribute to creating a high performing business support team, facilitating good cross-team collaboration 
• As a member of the administrative support community, provide back-up support and other assistance to other administrative staff, including training, and for supplying actively to the on-going development and implementation of shared practices
  

Essential for the role

• 5+ years of experience in an administrative role with direct support to VP executives or above 
• Advanced/Proficient in English speaking/writing skills
• Diary management experience/calendar experience
• Strong knowledge of Microsoft office – outlook and PowerPoint
• Experience working in a fast-paced global environment balancing competing priorities 
• Excellent organization skills and the ability to manage multiple projects or tasks simultaneously and efficiently, identifying high priority and urgent tasks for immediate action so that all activities are completed accurately and on time 
• Experience at strong writing and communication skills, and the ability to interact expertly with executives and employees at all levels.
• Competency with virtual technologies (e.g., MS teams, Zoom)
• Excellent team working, networking, and influencing skills.
• Ability to think beyond boundaries of own job, challenges the status quo and seeks opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Able to prioritize time critical assignments.
• Flexible to adapt to constantly evolving needs and deadlines.
• Experience with effectively multitasking in a fast-paced environment while maintaining confidentiality and discretion.
• Ability to demonstrate tact, persuasion and/or negotiation to accomplish the objectives.
  

Desirable for the role

• Pharmaceutical background
• Knowledge of systems such as SharePoint online, Concur, Coupa
• Ability to interact confidently with executives and employees at all levels 
• Ability to prioritize time critical assignments 
• Experience providing high quality, professional support service, working proactively and independently without day-to-day direction
• Ability to format documents for consistent, professional appearance and experience handling sensitive information in a confidential and discrete manner. 
• Demonstrate flexibility and adaptability to meet changing business demands. 
• Demonstrated proficiency with a variety of virtual meeting technologies, information management software, and Microsoft products 

AstraZeneca embraces diversity and equality of opportunity. We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse team representing all backgrounds, with as wide a range of perspectives as possible, and harnessing industry-leading skills. We believe that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be. We welcome and consider applications to join our team from all qualified candidates, regardless of their characteristics. We comply with all applicable laws and regulations on non-discrimination in employment (and recruitment), as well as work authorisation and employment eligibility verification requirements.