Senior Director, Clinical Study & Supply Planning

Title: Senior Director, Clinical Study & Supply Planning

Location: Warsaw

Model: hybrid 3+2

Job Description  

As the Senior Director – Study & Supply Planning, you will lead a global, multi-layered organisation accountable for the end-to-end supply planning and study execution of clinical supply across AstraZeneca’s development portfolio within Clinical Supply & Manufacturing Organisation (CM&S). 

You will be responsible for ensuring the seamless integration of programme-level supply planning and study-level lifecycle management, enabling reliable, compliant, and efficient delivery of investigational products to patients in the [Oncology / Biopharma] portfolio, working closely across CM&S to align supply planning and execution with the rest of the organisation.  

You and your teams will partner with senior leaders across Clinical, CMC, Quality, Regulatory, and external partners to ensure aligned delivery of clinical trials, proactively managing risk and ensuring no interruption to patient supply. You will drive enterprise-level performance, embed standardisation and continuous improvement, and develop future-ready capabilities to support AstraZeneca’s pipeline. 

Core Accountabilities 

• Defines and delivers the integrated strategy for Clinical Study & Supply Planning, ensuring alignment with R&D priorities and AstraZeneca’s enterprise objectives 

• In conjunction with the [Oncology / Biopharma] Snr Dir Study & Supply Planning, owns and evolves the operating model across Supply Planning, and Study Lifecycle Management, ensuring clarity of roles, decision rights, and escalation pathways 

• Ensures delivery of constrained, optimised supply plans across all BOM levels (API → DP → primary and secondary kits), balancing service, cost, risk, and plan stability 

• Oversees programme-level supply planning, including scenario development, inventory strategy, allocation decisions, and order release across the supply chain 

• Ensures excellence in study-level lifecycle management, overseeing end-to-end study lifecycle delivery including setup, change management, and closure 

• Drives effective management of study risks, issue resolution, and customer service impacts (including FSI & OOD), ensuring timely escalation and resolution 

• Leads portfolio-level performance, ensuring on-time in-full delivery of clinical supplies, study milestone adherence, and predictable execution 

• Oversees critical supply decisions including inventory optimisation, rework strategies, and shelf-life extensions, ensuring supply continuity and minimisation of waste 

• Ensures full compliance with GMP, GCP, and regulatory requirements, maintaining inspection readiness and robust management of quality events  

• Collaborates with senior stakeholders across Clinical Operations, CMC, Supply Chain, Regulatory and Quality to enable aligned, cross-functional decision making 

• Drives continuous improvement and standardisation of processes, tools, and performance management frameworks across planning and execution 

• Champions a culture of innovation, digital enablement, and operational excellence to support future pipeline needs 

• Leads organisational capability development, ensuring strong talent pipelines, succession planning, and leadership capability 

• Manages organisational resource levels in line with budget & drive annual productivity and strategic improvement 

Essential 

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Life Sciences, Engineering, or related discipline 

• Extensive leadership experience (10+ years) in (clinical) supply chain, planning, or clinical operations 

• Proven experience leading large, complex, global organisations, including leading leaders 

• Deep expertise in: (Clinical) supply planning (constrained planning, inventory management, S&OP) 

• Clinical study execution and lifecycle delivery 

• Strong knowledge of drug development processes and GxP regulatory requirements (GMP/GCP) 

• Demonstrated ability to operate at portfolio and enterprise level, balancing strategy and delivery 

• Proven ability to drive transformation, standardisation, and performance improvement 

• Strong financial and operational acumen, including cost and inventory optimisation 

• Excellent stakeholder management, influencing, and decision-making capability 
• Strong financial and operational acumen, including cost and inventory optimisation 

• Excellent stakeholder management, influencing, and decision-making capability 

 Desirable 

• Advanced degree (MBA, MSc, PhD) 

• Experience in operating model design or organisational transformation 

• Strong digital and planning systems experience (ERP, APS, IRT, clinical systems) 

• Lean / continuous improvement certification or experience 

• Experience managing external partners and outsourced supply models 

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.