Director, Quality Assurance APAC
About this opportunity
At AstraZeneca we’re dedicated to being a Great Place to Work. Working here means being entrepreneurial, thinking big and working together to make the impossible a reality. We’re focused on the potential of science to address the unmet needs of patients around the world. We commit to those areas where we think we can really change the course of medicine and bring new ideas to life.
As the independent second line assurance function for R&D, our mission in Quality Assurance is to achieve enduring excellence in auditing, quality management, quality risk assessment and enhance the R&D quality mindset for the benefit of our patients.
Responsible for managing business relationships with defined stakeholder groups and senior leaders in R&D and for the strategic development and delivery of a GXP risk based robust quality assurance program (GCP, GVP, clinical GCP, GLP) and quality management activities for these stakeholders. You will also be responsible for conducting complex audit as assigned, and delivery of proactive end‐to‐end GXP inspection support and management.
Audit
Plans, leads, conducts and reports complex audits in all or some of the GxP areas, and types e.g. investigator site audit, system or process audits and supplier audits.
May maintain and update the resource management system for a QA region in a timely manner (i.e. APAC)
Conducts due diligence activities as assigned
Works with contract personnel or consultants to prepare, conduct and report outsourced audits as required
Monitors risk and compliance intelligence for assigned GXP area (GCP, GVP, clinical GCP, GLP)
Communicate and assess the standard of audits expected and delivered in their area of responsibility (as applicable)
Leads directed (For Cause) audits.
Business Partnering-APAC local strategic advice
Leads strategic direction on quality and compliance through engagement with defined stakeholder groups
Provides responsive and proactive quality and compliance advice to stakeholder groups, effectively influencing assigned area by being relevant GxP expert
Provides effective compliance reporting to senior management and supports strategic QA governance forums
Supports quality and compliance risk management for stakeholder groups
Supports Due Diligence activities as assigned.
Inspection
Provides QA oversight and leadership for regulatory GxP inspections
Responsible for delivery of end-to-end submission-related regulatory inspection strategy , leads or supports Quality Assurance team members, to manage and prepare for regulatory inspections, including providing pre- inspection training to the organisation as needed.
CAPA
Assesses need for, and assists in development of CAPA plans, approves and monitors plans to completion
Oversees significant CAPAs for clinical activities in R&D in APAC region
Job specific Accountabilities
Provides responsive and proactive quality and compliance advice to defined customers, effectively influence assigned area by being relevant GxP/quality system expert
Support quality and compliance risk management for functional area using risk framework standards to define risk and develop mitigation recommendations
Maintains strong business relationship with relevant business stakeholders
Provide effective compliance reporting to senior management and contributes to strategic QA governance forums
Contributes to functional budget management
Travel expected
General Accountabilities
Ensures own tasks are performed to current practices and in accordance with company policies, standards, SOPs and guidelines
Promotes a culture of ethics, integrity and continuous improvement that focuses on delivering efficiencies and planned business benefits
Communicates effectively with QA colleagues and business stakeholders at all levels
Maintains knowledge of relevant industry information affecting quality and compliance arena
Leads training for colleagues and business stakeholders as required.
Involved in and may lead the development and/or revision of QA processes, projects and tools
Coaches and mentors QA colleagues
Provides general support related to regulatory authority inspections as and when required
Requirements:
Essential
Degree level education or equivalent experience
Significant experience in pharmaceuticals or a related industry
Excellent analytical, written and oral communications skills
Fluent in written and spoken English
High ethical standards, trustworthy, operating with absolute discretion
Strong collaborative, influencing and interpersonal skills – curious to understand business environment
Skilled at managing & using technology
Ability to maintain and create professional networks with stakeholders
Experience in managing regulatory health authority GxP Inspections
Audit expertise
Desirable
Project management experience
Experience of six sigma/lean/process improvement tool
Key Account management
Date Posted
04-Ogo-2026
Closing Date
03-Sep-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
How this role compares
Computed from every other active Quality role in our database, not just this employer's listings.
We currently track 44 comparable Director Quality roles across 15 biopharma companies.
Salary context
24 of 44 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.
Where these roles are based
Top locations among the 44 comparable roles
+ 4 more countries
Seniority mix
44 of 44 peers have a known seniority level
Therapeutic area mix
0 of 44 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden
No peers with a known therapeutic area yet.
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.
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.
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.