Data Design Lead – Record-to-Report

At AstraZeneca, we pride ourselves on crafting a collaborative culture that champions knowledge-sharing, ambitious thinking, and innovation – ultimately providing employees with the opportunity to work across teams, functions, and even the globe.

Recognizing the importance of individualized flexibility, our ways of working allow employees to balance personal and work commitments while ensuring we continue to create a strong culture of collaboration and teamwork by engaging face-to-face in our offices 3 days a week. Our head office and BlueSky Hub in downtown Toronto are purposely designed with collaboration in mind, providing space where teams can come together to strategize, brainstorm, and connect on key projects.

Our dedication to sustainability is also central to our culture and part of what makes AstraZeneca a great place to work. We know the health of people, the planet, and our business are interconnected which is why we’re taking ambitious action to tackle some of the biggest challenges of our time, from climate change to access to healthcare and disease prevention.

Introduction to role

The Data Design Lead – Record-to-Report is responsible for coordinating business data requirements within the S/4 HANA design and deployment process. This includes defining and documenting the S/4 Enterprise Data Standards and ensuring that existing SAP ECC data is fit for purpose at the point of migration to S/4 HANA. The role is aligned with the Enterprise Process Owner (EPO) Record-to-Report (R2R) organization and the R2R Data Design Lead team. It supports the relationship between the S/4 Data & Analytics organization and the EPO organization, while proactively engaging with the wider business to ensure that the S/4 data design meets business requirements, aligns with SAP standards where possible, and that S/4 data can be used with confidence, achieving a Quality Core.

Accountabilities

• Land S/4HANA target state business data standards by providing data leadership, stewardship, and data domain expertise into the global process design cycles, ensuring process designs align with S/4HANA data standard methodology concepts, process data requirements are collected and consolidated into robust data documentation, and are appropriately led during interim state.

• Lead the definition, documentation, and implementation of S/4 Enterprise Data standards related to Record-to-Report (R2R), especially Treasury, Account to Report, and Enterprise Structure related objects, including master data, reference data, and metadata – confirming the business context and ensuring approval in accordance with defined data governance. This includes the development of conceptual models, business glossary, and ontologies.

• Apply data, process, and object expertise to support the S/4 process design, acting as a crucial part of the R2R EPO process team, considering both business process and analytics requirements.

• Collect and share relevant as-is data structures and harmonization assessments alongside standard methodology to-be Data Design proposals and feed into the Global Design process where useful.

• Support the change journey definition from current to future state data design including completion of change impact assessments and outline of critical use case examples.

• Create effective global data governance procedures to ensure that each data asset in the R2R context is appropriately governed throughout its lifecycle assuring ongoing data quality.

• Ensure data readiness at Axial launch through leading the data localization within the R2R domain enabling migration and steering the data quality approach, interim state, and the ongoing management of data to ensure that it remains fit for purpose post-deployment.

• Support R2R related data localization and transformation activities by integrating closely with the local site and GFS teams educating on new Axial data standards and driving out relevant data collections and definition.

• Support the gatekeeping for overarching R2R data policies during Axial deployments ensuring all data within R2R data domain aligns with the Axial Data Governance Framework, AZ Global Data Standards, and overarching R2R EPO process standards.

• Support relationship with current business data capability to ensure that S/4 design and the wider enterprise data design remain aligned (to include support of interim state).

• Support the design of the future state Data Competency Centre capability and its operating model.

• Support the S/4 Data Cleanse and Migrate strategy and execution approaches and plans while providing support to the data migration processes through necessary business inputs.

Essential Skills/Experience

• Qualified Accountant with significant experience and domain expertise in Record-to-Report (R2R) processes.

• Working process experience across Treasury and Account to Report business processes with a robust data requirement understanding in these areas.

• Demonstrable knowledge of how business data requirements support process execution and analytics, with the ability to explain complex data concepts to business users.

• Experience of designing and implementing Data Definitions & Data Standards for a global enterprise with significant geographical and functional footprint.

• S/4 HANA implementation programme experience.

• SAP working knowledge across transactions and reporting, including an understanding of how data integrates within the SAP architecture.

• Demonstrated ability to lead and influence in a diverse, globally distributed team, within and across functions. Experience with global working and across cultures.

• Proven track record of delivery and ability to effectively prioritize to ensure goals and outcomes are achieved.

Desirable Skills/Experience

• In-depth knowledge of key R2R business processes.

• Data Mapping and Collection process execution.

• Experience in designing a Data Governance capability.

• Experience in measuring, managing, and improving Data Quality.

• Experience in life sciences and healthcare.

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.

Help push the boundaries of science to deliver life-changing medicines to patients. With science at its heart, this is where breakthroughs born in the lab become transformative medicine – for the world’s most complex diseases. Striving to understand the needs of diverse populations and act accordingly, we aim to transform healthcare to secure a future where everyone can access affordable, sustainable, innovative healthcare. Answering unmet needs by pioneering the next wave of science and targeting the drivers of disease to help us create the next generation of therapeutics.

With our ground-breaking pipeline, the outlook is bright. Be proud to take your place somewhere that has already achieved so much and is determined to do more. There is no better time to join our global, growing enterprise as we lead the way for healthcare and society.

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