Senior AI Operations Engineer

At AstraZeneca, we're transforming every stage of the pharmaceutical value chain through Artificial Intelligence. From accelerating drug discovery to enhancing patient safety, AI is becoming central to how we deliver life-changing medicines to millions of people worldwide. We're looking for a Senior AI Operations Engineer to help power this transformation.

This is not a traditional operations or support role. You'll join our Enterprise AI Platforms & Services team as a senior technical leader focused on designing, automating, and operating the AI platforms that support mission-critical workloads across a global organization. You'll work at the intersection of Site Reliability Engineering, AI Infrastructure, Cloud Operations, Automation, and Platform Engineering, helping build the operational foundations that enable AI at scale

Why This Role Matters

You'll be a key contributor in building highly reliable, observable, and automated AI platforms running across Azure and AWS environments. You'll partner closely with engineering teams, influence platform design, and develop intelligent operational capabilities powered by AI. If you're passionate about solving complex infrastructure challenges, eliminating manual work through automation, and building resilient systems that support cutting-edge AI solutions, this role offers a unique opportunity to make a tangible impact

What You'll Be Doing

Engineer Operational Excellence

● Design and implement enterprise-scale observability solutions using Datadog, Grafana, Splunk, New Relic, and OpenTelemetry.
● Build monitoring, alerting, telemetry, and distributed tracing capabilities that provide deep visibility into platform performance.
● Lead major incident response efforts and perform root cause investigations that drive long-term improvements.

Advance AI-Powered Operations

● Create AI-driven operational tools for incident diagnosis, runbook automation, and intelligent troubleshooting.
● Develop conversational interfaces that help teams quickly access operational knowledge and guidance.
● Drive innovation in predictive operations and automated remediation.

Automate Everything Possible

● Build scalable automation solutions using Python, Bash, and cloud-native technologies.
● Reduce operational toil and improve system reliability through engineering-led optimization.
● Transform recurring incidents into automated workflows, reusable runbooks, or permanent technical fixes

Shape the Future of AI Platforms

● Partner with product engineering teams throughout the platform lifecycle.

● Influence platform readiness, operational architecture, and reliability standards before services enter production.

● Contribute to technical reviews and operational best practices across the organization

Mentor and Elevate Others

● Coach Site Reliability Engineers and Operations Engineers on engineering best practices.
● Help develop the next generation of platform engineering talent.
● Champion a culture where operations is treated as an engineering discipline.

What We're Looking For

Required Experience

● Strong experience in Site Reliability Engineering, Platform Engineering, Cloud Operations, or Infrastructure Engineering roles.

● Hands-on expertise operating large-scale cloud environments within Azure, AWS, or both.

● Experience building observability and monitoring ecosystems using Datadog, Grafana, Splunk, New Relic, and OpenTelemetry.

● Strong scripting and automation skills using Python and Bash.

● Experience with distributed systems, containerized environments, and modern cloud architectures.

● Proven ability to troubleshoot complex production environments and drive sustainable solutions.

● Experience mentoring engineers and influencing technical direction.

Nice to Have

● Experience applying AI or Machine Learning to operational challenges.

● Exposure to AI/ML platforms, model serving, LLM infrastructure, or data pipeline operations.

● Infrastructure-as-Code experience with Terraform or CloudFormation.

● Familiarity with regulated environments such as healthcare, pharmaceuticals, or life sciences.

● SRE, ITIL, or related operational certifications

What Makes You Successful

● You automate repetitive work and continually reduce operational toil.

● You are a systems thinker who focuses on root causes, not symptoms.

● You thrive in highly collaborative technical environments.

● You are curious about how AI can transform operations and platform reliability.

● You are energized by solving complex problems with global impact.

Why AstraZeneca

At AstraZeneca, technology isn't just supporting the business - it is helping redefine how medicines are discovered, developed, and delivered. You'll work alongside talented engineers, data scientists, and AI specialists while contributing to platforms that enable innovation at global scale. Our culture values learning, collaboration, inclusion, and continuous growth. You'll have the opportunity to work with modern cloud technologies, emerging AI capabilities, and highly skilled colleagues.

Join us and help build the AI-powered platforms that will shape the future of healthcare.

Date Posted

Closing Date

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 authorization and employment eligibility verification requirements.