Associate Director, Demand Excellence Program Manager

Role Overview

Alexion rare disease business unit is part of a global pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca focused on developing and delivering life-transforming therapies for patients with devastating and rare diseases. Patients with these life-threatening diseases often have no effective treatment options, and they and their families suffer with little hope. Our goal is to deliver medical breakthroughs where none currently exists. We are driven because we know people's lives depend on our work.

Global Supply Chain and Strategy (GSC&S) has a breadth of strategic and tactical responsibilities across the Alexion Operations organization.

The Enterprise Program Manager for Demand Excellence plays a critical leadership role within AstraZeneca’s global rare disease Operations organization. This position drives the strategic design, cross-functional alignment, and execution of forecasting and demand planning capabilities as a core pillar of the Global Demand Excellence Program and part of the S&OP (Sales & Operations Planning) process.

Operating across Commercial, Finance, Operations, Procurement, IT, and Global Supply Chain & Strategy (GSC&S), this role ensures that the enterprise evolves toward a more integrated, technology-enabled, and performance-driven demand planning ecosystem. The Program Manager leads a multi-year transformation program designed to improve forecasting accuracy, enhance planning maturity, and embed global, scalable ways of working.

This position requires deep experience in enterprise program leadership, change management, and digital transformation, along with the ability to shape and continually refine cross-functional strategy.

Key Responsibilities

Enterprise Strategy & S&OP Integration

· Partner with senior leadership across functions to ensure demand planning processes, governance, and capabilities remain aligned to the gl;obal S&OP/IBP framework, long-term business goals and the Accelerate to 2030 strategy.

· Establish a cohesive roadmap for capability development, tool adoption, data quality improvement, and process standardization across global markets and supply nodes.

Program Leadership

· Lead planning, mobilization, and delivery of the Demand Excellence Transformation Program, ensuring program milestones and outcomes are consistently achieved.

· Drive alignment across parallel workstreams, ensuring interdependencies are managed and that execution reflects enterprise priorities.

· Serve as the central point of accountability for benefits realization, including improved forecast accuracy, enhanced visibility, and strengthened decision-making.

Cross-Functional Engagement & Governance

· Build strong relationships with program stakeholders across Supply Chain, Commercial, Finance, Operations, Global Brand Teams, and IT to foster unified ownership of demand-related goals.

· Establish and lead governance forums to ensure consistency, transparency, and data-driven decision-making across the end-to-end planning network.

Requirements, Process & Technology Enablement

· Lead business and system requirements gathering to ensure solutions enable best-in-class forecasting, scenario planning, and performance management.

· Partner with digital, analytics, and IT teams to shape technology roadmaps (e.g., statistical forecasting, advanced planning tools, automation).

· Ensure future-state solutions are integrated into downstream planning cycles and synchronized with Global S&OP.

Change Leadership

· Lead enterprise-wide change management initiatives to embed new behaviors, governance models, and capabilities across global functions.

· Develop communication, engagement, and capability-building strategies to ensure long-term adoption and continuous improvement.

Performance Measurement

· Define KPIs and success measures for the Demand Excellence Program

· Monitor performance, identify improvement opportunities, and provide transparent reporting to executive leaders.

Risk & Resource Management

· Proactively identify program risks and develop mitigation strategies.

· Manage program budgets, resource allocation, and vendor performance to ensure timely and effective delivery.

Qualifications

Education

· Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Engineering, Information Technology, or related field.

· Master’s degree preferred.

Experience

· Minimum 10 years leading complex, cross-functional enterprise programs, with demonstrated success in transformation and digital adoption.

· Deep experience in forecasting, demand planning, or S&OP is strongly preferred.

· Background in ERP, advanced planning systems, or enterprise technology deployment is an advantage.

· Consulting, PMO, or large-scale program leadership experience beneficial.

Certifications

· PMP or PgMP required.

· Agile certifications (CSM or PMI-ACP) strongly preferred.

Skills & Competencies

· Exceptional leadership skills with demonstrated ability to influence across functions and geographies.

· Strong strategic thinking paired with disciplined execution.

· Expertise in program governance, risk management, and benefits realization.

· Advanced communication and stakeholder engagement skills.

· Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making capability.

· Knowledge of Lean, Six Sigma, or similar methodologies is an advantage.

Date Posted

12-Jan-2026

Closing Date

11-Feb-2026

Our mission is to build an inclusive and equitable environment. We want people to feel they belong at AstraZeneca and Alexion, starting with our recruitment process. We welcome and consider applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of characteristics. We offer reasonable adjustments/accommodations to help all candidates to perform at their best. If you have a need for any adjustments/accommodations, please complete the section in the application form.