Forecasting Director - US Oncology

Location: Gaithersburg
Hybrid - 3 days per week in office
 

At AstraZeneca, we’re not afraid to do things differently. We’re resetting expectations of what a bio-pharmaceutical company can be. This means we’re opening up new ways to work, ground breaking and cutting-edge methods and bringing unexpected teams together.  

The Forecasting Director, Oncology leads the US forecasting process for Gynecology+ Genitourinary indications and the LYNPARZA brand in the Oncology portfolio. As a thought partner to the business, the Forecasting Director will develop product-specific short-term and long-term forecasts and provide critical insights into market risks & opportunities that may impact performance to ultimately guide commercial strategy and decision-making. Strong analytical and critical thinking skills are essential to developing rigorous forecasts using patient-flow / patient-based models and incorporating new AI capabilities. The Forecasting Director seamlessly collaborates with Insights and Analytics colleagues to deliver fact-driven, actionable insights to the business. In addition, the Forecasting Director will closely partner with Marketing, Sales, Market Access, Sales Operations, Global Analytics & Insights, Supply Planning, and Finance to ensure alignment on forecast assumptions and narrative.  The Forecasting Director regularly presents to senior leaders the forecast and performance story. Key abilities include consultative and influencing skills, quantitative technical skills, and proficiency in interpreting primary market research / secondary data analyses. 
 

The Forecasting Director’s deep expertise in forecasting enables them to solve complex technical challenges efficiently and effectively, anticipate upcoming forecast questions, and identify innovative solutions, including AI, that benefit the entire portfolio.    

 
Beyond brand-level contribution, the Forecasting Director plays an integral role as a leader within the US Oncology Forecasting & Performance CoE (Center of Excellence), helping to deliver cross-brand forecasting alignment, efficiencies, best practices, and capability builds.  In addition, the Forecasting Director will help to coach and train a forecasting & performance talent pipeline.  
 

This role reports to the Integrated Insights Senior Director for the Tumor Franchise and sits within US Integrated Insights - Oncology Business Excellence organization, an inclusive team that partners with the US Oncology commercial organization to drive strategic decisions by providing objective, data-driven insight generation and analytics.  

Roles & Responsibilities:  

• Lead the US forecasting and business planning processes and all associated work streams for covered brand / indications (scenario planning, integration with Finance, etc.)  

• Develop, build, and maintain up-to-date product-specific short-term and long-term forecasts models, synthesizing an integrated picture with information across multiple sources; as required, manage external agency executing the model build/update 

• Proactively and clearly identify key drivers that impact short-term and long-range product and market forecasts, highlighting significant risks and opportunities  

• Incorporate AI analytical tools into the forecast process and drive continuing enhancements of the AI forecasting platform 

• Collaborate cross-functionally with key commercial leaders, Business Excellence colleagues, and other forecast stakeholders to align on objective, data-driven forecast inputs 

• Provide in-depth analyses of underlying drivers of brand performance in support of key business deliverables and milestones (e.g. Quarterly Business Reviews)  

• Monitor external environment to stay up to date on the competitive landscape and latest market developments for covered brand/indications as well as broader Oncology trends   

• Consult on primary research and secondary analytics relevant to forecasting, and incorporate results into modeling to add deep customer insight and assess future events  

• Deliver insightful, objective presentations to senior leaders (e.g., SVP US Commercial Oncology, VP of US Franchise) that clearly and succinctly highlight critical insights and business implications through strong storytelling  

• Collaborate with senior US leaders on performance narrative for C-level audience 

• Maintain effective relationships with contractors and other third-party vendors through oversight of the vendor management process 

• Direct and help prioritize work of Forecasting & Performance Associate Directors, Sr. Managers, and Sr. Analysts  

• Work with US Oncology Forecasting Center of Excellence Senior Director to build forecasting capabilities and identify and drive cross-brand forecasting process efficiencies, automation, and innovation (including AI capabilities) 

Essential Experience/Qualifications   

• Bachelor's degree, with a preference for a quantitative field (e.g., Engineering, Data Science, Statistics, Math, Economics, Computer Science, Operations Research) 

• 6 years of experience at a pharmaceutical / biotechnology manufacturer or working in the biopharmaceutical industry (e.g., forecasting, data/analytics, management consulting, market research, investment banking) 

• 6 years of experience in forecasting: building models, leading input evaluation, communicating outputs, and guiding business decisions based; 4 years of forecasting specifically in a biopharmaceutical role  

• Deep expertise in building the pharmaceutical forecast models, a broad range of forecasting techniques, and leading/optimizing the full forecasting process; requires no supervision and able to direct more junior forecasting team members 

• Highly experienced in evaluating analytics from pharmaceutical data sources (APLD, IQVIA, claims, etc.) and epidemiological data (SEER, Kantar, DRG)  

• Strong knowledge of primary market research, advanced analytics, and competitive intelligence; experience leading those projects or collaborating with others to integrate findings into the forecast  

• Occasional travel may be required 

Desired Experience/Qualifications 

• Advanced Quantitative Degree or Advanced Marketing Degree (e.g., MBA)  

• Experience working in Oncology  

Leadership Capabilities: