(Senior)Scientist, AI Alliance/Innovation Full-time

AstraZeneca's AI Alliance & Innovation Scientist

We are seeking creative, and collaborative Scientists/Senior Scientists to join the team with a dedicated focus on AI Alliance & Innovation. This role will accelerate AstraZeneca's biologics discovery and engineering by scouting, evaluating, and integrating external AI capabilities across academia, startups, and technology vendors—while closely partnering with internal wet-lab scientists, AI/data scientists, bioinformatics, protein engineers, and structural biologists across the UK, US, and China. You will translate scientific needs into partnership opportunities, co-design agile pilots to validate cutting-edge methods and drive successful solutions into practice. This is an opportunity to shape the future of biologics through external innovation, ecosystem engagement, and impactful AI-driven science within AstraZeneca's research network.

Key Responsibilities

• Opportunity sourcing and due diligence: Proactively identify academic and industry partners; lead technical and scientific assessments, evaluate data readiness, integration feasibility, IP posture, and regulatory considerations; develop clear recommendations and business cases.
• Pilot co-design and execution: Co-create and run time-bound pilots with partners and internal teams; define hypotheses, success metrics, datasets, guardrails, and delivery plans; ensure robust benchmarking against internal baselines and state-of-the-art.
• Data and model integration: Coordinate data access, curation, and governance; align on interoperable formats and pipelines to integrate external models and outputs with AZ systems and workflows.
• Translation to impact: Drive the adoption of successful pilots into discovery and engineering workflows; define scale-up plans, change management, training, and monitoring; ensure reproducibility, documentation, and compliance.
• Cross-functional collaboration: Bridge computational and experimental domains—partner with wet lab scientists to guide experimental design and rapid data generation; align with bioinformatics, protein engineering, structural biology, data engineering, IT, Legal, and Procurement.
• Alliance management: Negotiate and manage MOUs/PoCs/MSAs; establish joint roadmaps, operating cadences, and relationship health metrics; safeguard AZ interests on IP, data privacy, and security.
• Thought leadership and visibility: Represent AZ in AI consortia and conferences; contribute to publications, patent filings, and strategic collaborations; amplify outcomes from pilots and partnerships.
• Shanghai hub execution: Leverage China's vibrant AI ecosystem; develop local partnerships; support bilingual communication and navigate region-specific regulatory and data considerations.

Required Qualifications

• Master's degree or equivalent experience in mathematics, physics, computer science, computational biology, bioinformatics, or related disciplines.
• Hands-on experience applying machine learning/deep learning to biological sequences or structures (proteins, antibodies, peptides), including self-supervised and supervised methods.
• Demonstrated proficiency in Python and modern ML frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, JAX) sufficient for technical due diligence, benchmarking, and pilot oversight.
• Proven ability to work collaboratively in fast-paced, multidisciplinary, and cross-geographical environments; strong stakeholder management skills.
• Clear and effective communication skills in English; Mandarin proficiency for partner engagement in China.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience running collaborative pilots or alliances with academia/startups/industry; familiarity with IP, licensing, and research agreements in partnership contexts.
• Familiarity with large-scale cloud computing, modern data engineering, and interoperability standards relevant to integrating external AI solutions.
• Knows how to set up local agents/models for automation, e.g. Openclaw
• Publication record in AI, computational biology, or protein engineering; contributions to consortia or community standards are a plus.
• Understanding of biologics drug discovery workflows and decision points, including data governance, GxP-adjacent practices, and model monitoring considerations.
• Knowledge of state-of-the-art protein modeling, structure prediction, de novo design, and agentic AI approaches, with ability to assess partner capabilities rigorously.

Core Competencies

• Scientific rigor with a translational mindset
• AI/ML literacy and technical due diligence
• Partnership building and alliance management
• Program management and agile delivery
• Data governance, ethics, and risk management
• Clear written and verbal communication
• Curiosity, adaptability, and bias to action

Success Metrics

• Number, quality, and impact of sourced partnerships and executed pilots
• Time-to-assessment and clarity of go/no-go decisions
• Adoption of successful solutions into biologics workflows
• Partner satisfaction and relationship health
• External visibility (publications, talks, consortia contributions)

Working Arrangements

• Shanghai-based with occasional domestic and international travel for partner engagement and internal collaboration.

Why Join Us?

At AstraZeneca's Beijing R&D Center, you will be at the forefront of AI-driven biologics innovation. You'll have the opportunity to work with leading experts across biology and data science, leverage state-of-the-art technologies, and make a tangible impact on the next generation of biologic medicines. We offer a collaborative, inclusive, and scientifically inspiring environment, with strong support for your professional growth.