AstraZeneca Posted August 3, 2026

Associate Director, Diagnostic Partnerships, Oncology

Barcelona, Spain Full time
BD&L & Strategic Planning Oncology Associate Director

AstraZeneca is the source of truth for this posting and owns the application process. We surface normalized context and market comparison you won't find on the original listing.

About this opportunity

Location: Barcelona - Spain (3 days working from the office and 2 days working from home)

Are you ready to make a significant impact in the world of oncology diagnostics? As the Associate Director, Diagnostic Partnerships within the Oncology Business Unit, you will play a pivotal role in delivering the Global Diagnostics (GDx) mission of shaping the patient testing landscape and ensuring no patient is left behind. Reporting to the Senior Director, Diagnostic Partnerships, you will lead key partnership activities within GDx; your expertise will be crucial in refining business needs, engaging with prospective diagnostic partners, and collaborating on scoping, negotiation, and contracting. Are you prepared to take on this challenge and lead partnerships initiatives that deliver diagnostic solutions in-market?

Accountabilities

Shape GDx projects towards meeting business requirements, fitting into overarching strategies while considering cost, quality and timeline requirements.

Develop and manage relationships with external diagnostic partners and potential partners in a compliant and professional manner, ensuring AstraZeneca is regarded as a partner of choice by third parties.

Lead specific schedules of work according to project needs, owning the deal process and aligning with cross-functional colleagues to support execution.

Ensure post-contract activities are successfully completed with optimal handover of solutions to wider GDx colleagues for implementation.

Work with Business Development colleagues in the negotiation, contracting and deal-closing processes for enterprise-wide agreements.

Ensure that diagnostic partnering opportunities are evaluated thoroughly and objectively with ownership of certain due diligence processes.

Present partnering opportunities to the oncology business effectively and efficiently.

Build personal networks to aid early identification of relevant partnering opportunities and efficient delivery of partnership projects.

Attend key external scientific congresses to identify partnership opportunities and nurture existing relationships.

Work collaboratively and flexibly to accommodate projects which arise from varied parts of the business.

Provide broader diagnostics teams with inputs and expertise according to personal domain and partnerships knowledge.

Support or lead in building business cases for specific partnerships projects.

Report on project activities and achievements to senior management, feed into OBU updates as appropriate.

Positively develop, manage and maintain stakeholder relationships with colleagues across Oncology Business Unit, Business Development, Legal, Compliance, in-country diagnostic teams, R&D, and other cross-functional colleagues as needed.

Essential Skills/Experience

Post-graduate level education in a relevant subject (e.g. Masters/MBA/MSc or above)

+5 years of relevant contracting, business development, strategy, consulting and/or pharma/diagnostic partnership experience

Knowledge of pharmaceutical and diagnostic company businesses, processes and activities

Knowledge of scientific, commercial and financial evaluation techniques

An understanding of governance procedures relevant to deal progression and business development work (CDAs, agreement structures, delegation of authorities, due diligence processes, etc.)

Analytical skills and ability to ascertain the relevant issues from large volumes of information

Interpersonal and teamwork skills, demonstrating flexibility and a proven ability to deal with complexity under time pressure and contribute skills to deliver projects

Experience and effectiveness in the presentation of written and oral business cases to senior management

Numerate and having financial literacy, excellent spoken and written English

Tenacity and resourcefulness, an ability to deliver under pressure, intuitive prioritization and sense of urgency

A clear self-starter approach, ability to extract practical steps for contracting and project design from ambiguous high-level vision

Desirable Skills/Experience

Experience through education or work in a relevant area of oncology diagnostics, providing credibility to scientific audiences.

Experience in international, multi-functional project teams to deliver to time, cost and quality.

A working understanding of diagnostic regulatory frameworks.

Understanding of commercial in-market needs for novel oncology diagnostics.

Knowledge of alternative deal structures and legal principles applicable to a range of deal types.

Negotiation skills and experience of working in a deal environment.

Good knowledge of disease areas, and drug/diagnostic development activities and commercial processes.

Existing deep diagnostic scientific knowledge and an established external network is an advantage

Why Astrazeneca?

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. Join us in our unique and ambitious world.

At AstraZeneca, we are driven by a bold ambition to eliminate cancer as a cause of death. Our relentless pursuit of scientific excellence challenges the status quo to deliver more effective treatments for patients. With a game-changing pipeline backed by pioneering research, we are transforming cancer care through precision medicine. Our entrepreneurial spirit fosters collaboration across diverse teams, empowering us to redefine cancer treatment. Join us on this exciting journey where your contributions can make a real difference.

Ready to take on this exciting challenge? Apply now to join our team!

Date Posted

03-ago-2026

Closing Date

22-ago-2026

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.

Job details

Seniority
Associate Director
Function
BD&L & Strategic Planning
Therapeutic area
Oncology
Location
Barcelona, Spain
Employment type
Full time

How this role compares

Computed from every other active BD&L & Strategic Planning role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 19 comparable Associate Director BD&L & Strategic Planning roles across 13 biopharma companies.

19Comparable roles tracked
19Currently active
13Companies hiring similar roles
8Countries represented

Salary context

2 of 19 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)

Peers share this role's job function and a matching or adjacent seniority level -- not necessarily the same therapeutic area or country.

This roleSubject Not listed on this posting
Lowest disclosed · Manager, Corporate Strategy · Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc (USA) $114,800/yr – $187,400/yr
Highest disclosed · Sr Manager, Corporate Development · Gilead Sciences, Inc. $169,320/yr – $219,120/yr
Peer group range $151,100 – $194,220 (median $172,660)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 19 comparable roles

China8
United States5
Mexico1
Japan1
Brazil1
Poland1

+ 2 more countries

Seniority mix

19 of 19 peers have a known seniority level

Manager14
Associate Director4
Senior1

Therapeutic area mix

2 of 19 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Vaccines & Infectious Disease2

Similar opportunities

The closest matches from our peer group, ranked by how similar they are, not how well you'd qualify for them -- treat this as market context, not a guaranteed shortlist; a weak match is labeled as one below.

45%similar
Novartis Shanghai (Shanghai), China Associate Director
Same function Same seniority
45%similar
Novartis Shanghai (Shanghai), China Associate Director
Same function Same seniority
45%similar
Novartis Shanghai (Shanghai), China Associate Director
Same function Same seniority
45%similar
Novartis Shanghai (Shanghai), China Associate Director
Same function Same seniority
35%similar
Gilead Sciences, Inc. Foster City, United States Manager
Same function Adjacent seniority
35%similar
Viatris Healthcare México S. de R.L. de C.V Mexico City, Mexico Manager
Same function Adjacent seniority

How we calculate "similar"

No black box, no LLM guesswork: a deterministic score built from four normalized attributes. Here's this role's own peer group at different match levels, so you can see the mechanism, not just the result.

Every comparison starts from the same 100-point budget: 25 for working in the same function, 40 for the same therapeutic area, 20 for the same or adjacent seniority, 15 for the same country. A dimension we can't confirm on both sides contributes nothing, never a guess, never a free pass.

45%
Associate Director Due Diligence China
Novartis · Shanghai (Shanghai), China · Associate Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
45%
Associate Director, Alliance Mgt China
Novartis · Shanghai (Shanghai), China · Associate Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
35%
Manager, Corporate Strategy
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc (USA) · Tarrytown, United States · Manager
Function Therapeutic area Adjacent seniority Country
35%
Pfizer-Strategy Sr.Manager-Shanghai
Pfizer Investment Co., Ltd. China · Shanghai, China · Manager
Function Therapeutic area Adjacent seniority Country
Unmatched or unknown dimensions score exactly the same: 0 points, never a partial guess. A role we know almost nothing about beyond its function bottoms out at 25%; it never inflates to 100% just because there's little to compare against. Seniority uses a defined ladder (Associate → Manager → Associate Director → Senior → Principal → Director → Senior Director → Executive/VP) so "Director" and "Senior Director" count as adjacent, but "Director" and "Executive/VP" do not.