AstraZeneca Posted November 5, 2026

Associate Director, Senior Patient Safety Scientist

Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States of America Full time
Pharmacovigilance Associate Director
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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

Introduction:

The Associate Director, Senior Patient Safety Scientist role leads the review of safety data and related documents for potential safety issues in collaboration with the Global Safety Physician (GSP) and (Associate) PV Scientist.  He/she authors and leads PV input to safety documents and regulatory reports. Associate Director, Senior Patient Safety Scientist leads meetings and presents safety data and analyses.

Main Responsibilities:

Leads and/or conducts proactive pharmacovigilance and risk management planning for more complex products, including preparation of the safety aspects of Global Risk Management Plans and Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) in partnership with the GSP and others as appropriate.

Leads PS activities of cross-functional project teams for developmental compounds and/or marketed products.

Leads and provides safety expertise to Investigator Brochures, Protocols, Informed Consents and Clinical Study Reports.

Has the ability to perform duties as a Safety Strategy and Management Team (SSaMT) Leader for larger or more complex projects.

Presents complex issues to Safety Information Review Committee (SIRC) and takes the lead role in data evaluation and discussion of the results with the SIRC Chair, GSP and other key stakeholders.

Leads the collaboration with GSP and Clinical representatives and authors the Reference Safety Information (RSI) for multiple or complex development products.

Authors/provides strategic input or oversight for multiple or complex periodic regulatory documents (PBRERs, PSURs, DSURs) according to the agreed process and timelines.

Authors/provides strategic leadership to regulatory submissions for new products, formulations or indications (NDA/BLA, MAA), in partnership with the GSP and other functional experts.

Participates in negotiations and provides expertise to the PS component of contracts/agreements with third parties to ensure quality and integrity of agreements. 

Trains and mentors junior members of the team, e.g. in approved PV processes, analytic methodologies, etc.

Requirements – Education and Experience

A life sciences/pharmacy/nursing degree, and demonstrated Patient Safety and/or Clinical/ Drug Development experience

Advanced knowledge of PV regulations

Substantial pharmaceutical, biotechnology or CRO experience in patient safety/pharmacovigilance and drug development, with experience independently delivering safety-science activities.

Experience in at least 2 (two)of the following: clinical development safety; signal management; periodic safety reports; safety sections of protocols/IBs/ICFs/CSRs; regulatory responses.

Good knowledge of US, EU and UK pharmacovigilance regulations and ICH guidelines.

MD/MSc/PhD in scientific discipline, preferred

Intermediate understanding of epidemiology, preferred

Date Posted

05-Nov-2026

Closing Date

30-Nov-2026 Our mission is to build an inclusive environment where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and employees. In furtherance of that mission, we welcome and consider applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of their protected characteristics. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please complete the corresponding section in the application form.

Job details

Seniority
Associate Director
Function
Pharmacovigilance
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States of America
Employment type
Full time

How this role compares

Computed from every other active Pharmacovigilance role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 54 comparable Associate Director Pharmacovigilance roles across 30 biopharma companies.

54Comparable roles tracked
52Currently active
30Companies hiring similar roles
19Countries represented

Salary context

8 of 54 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 · Safety Project Manager · IQVIA $86,000/yr – $214,800/yr
Peer group range $150,400 – $331,200 (median $253,700)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 54 comparable roles

United States17
Germany5
Japan4
China4
India4
Poland3

+ 13 more countries

Seniority mix

54 of 54 peers have a known seniority level

Manager23
Senior23
Associate Director8

Therapeutic area mix

6 of 54 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology2
Neuroscience2
Vaccines & Infectious Disease1
Rare Disease1

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.

60%similar
Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development and Commercialization, Inc. Remote, United States Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Moderna Services, Inc. Princeton, United States Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
E.R. Squibb & Sons,L.L.C. Madison, United States Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Lilly Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
50%similar
Boehringer Ingelheim Ridgefield, Connecticut, United States Senior
Same function Adjacent seniority Same country
50%similar
Boehringer Ingelheim Ridgefield, Connecticut, United States Senior
Same function Adjacent seniority Same country

Notify me about similar jobs

Get an email when we spot other openings like this one – same job function, comparable seniority, roles you'd actually want to see.

Or follow a whole field: get every new Pharmacovigilance job in the United States, and choose locations and companies.

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.

60%
Associate Director, Non-clinical Drug Safety
Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development and Commercialization, Inc. · Remote, United States · Associate Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Associate Director, Clinical Drug Safety
Lilly · Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America · Associate Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
50%
(Senior) Patient Safety Physician, Medical Safety Physician - Oncology (Ridgefield, CT, United States, Connecticut)
Boehringer Ingelheim · Ridgefield, Connecticut, United States · Senior
Function Therapeutic area Adjacent seniority Country
50%
Global Pharmacovigilance (PV) Scientist, Manager- Oncology
Amgen Inc. · Remote, United States · 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.