Associate Director Ontologist

Introduction to role

Are you ready to make a positive impact in a team where it means more? We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Ontology Specialist to join our team!

Pharmaceutical Technology and Development (PT&D) is the organization that turns brilliant science into actual medicines that help millions of people. We work across the entire value chain, designing and delivering active ingredients, formulations and devices for new medicines and providing expert technical support to all AstraZeneca’s commercial drug substances and products to ensure we successfully supply medicines to patients.

This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a growing capability within PT&D, focused on data. As an Associate Director Ontologist, you will be responsible for designing, implementing, and maintaining ontologies and taxonomies across PT&D. Collaborate with business and technology teams to drive improvements in the understanding and quality of our data. Join us in this role in our PT&D Governance team!

Accountabilities

The role holder will execute the following accountabilities autonomously with limited supervisory oversight:

• Design, implement, and maintain ontologies and taxonomies to support data integration across PT&D. Collaborate with data scientists, chemists, and biologists to ensure ontologies meet cross-functional needs.
• Translate complex scientific and technical concepts into structured data formats for use in data models and real-time analytics tools. Collaborate with information architects and technical teams from other departments.
• Develop and promote standards for data interoperability to facilitate seamless data exchange and integration within PT&D, across AZ business functions, and with external partners.
• Ensure high data quality and consistency by implementing quality checks and validation rules for ontology-driven systems and processes.
• Use ontology development and data curation tools to design, build, maintain and present taxonomies, controlled vocabularies, and collections.
• Understanding of enterprise data modelling tools such as IDERA E/R Studio and data catalogue tools such as Collibra.
• Deliver training and support for end-users to maximize the utilization of ontology tools and platforms.
• Stay updated with the latest trends and advancements in managing and governing controlled vocabularies, taxonomies, ontologies, and enterprise knowledge management. Encourage innovation by proposing new approaches or technologies to improve data handling.
• Evolve the ontology strategy, explain the benefits of ontologies to deliver value from data and support the development of knowledge graphs.
• Remain informed about industry-standard ontologies while thoroughly reviewing existing internal ontologies and decision frameworks to ensure alignment and informed adoption of standards.
• Adapt to rapid changes due to the introduction of automated tools and large language models (LLMs) and automation, anticipating significant evolution in responsibilities over the coming years.

Essential skills and experience

• Undergraduate degree in Computer Science, Data Management or possibly subject area (R&D, Finance, HR etc) and cross-trained or equivalent number of years of experience.
• Technology Knowledge: familiarity with industry standard ontology concepts, including RDF, OWL, SKOS, SHACL.
• Use of at least one industry standard methodology and toolset such as RDF/GitHub, Protégé, Semaphore and Neo4j.
• Proven interpersonal and communication skills to translate, promote, and embed Data Governance and Data Standards ensuring agreement across a large scale and diverse organization.
• Proven Problem-Solving skills - Proficiency in identifying issues, analysing situations, and developing effective solutions within the scope of data policy and governance.
• Experience in working in multi-skilled, multi-location data teams, working to agile principles.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, and consultancy skills.

Desirable skills and experience

• Domain data understanding: the structure, provenance, and meaning of the source data crucial to the domain.
• Enterprise Data Management: Experience of data governance, data quality, and data architecture.
• Technology Knowledge: Data technologies, including databases, data lakes, and data warehousing solutions, and tools for data visualization and reporting.
• Project Management

When we put unexpected teams in the same room, we unleash bold thinking with the power to inspire life-changing medicines. In-person working gives us the platform we need to connect, work at pace, and challenge perceptions. That's why we work, on average, a minimum of three days per week from the office. But that doesn't mean we're not flexible. We balance the expectation of being in the office while respecting individual flexibility.

AstraZeneca offers an environment where you can be part of shaping the future of Operations. If you have the passion to accelerate growth and make a difference in people's lives, this is the place for you.

Ready to take on this exciting challenge? Apply with your CV and cover letter no later than June 5th 2025!

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.