Egypt Commercial IT Director (Head of IT) at AstraZeneca · Cairo

Egypt Commercial IT Director (Head of IT)
Location: Egypt - Cairo
Egypt Commercial IT Director (Head of IT)
Role Summary
The Egypt Head of IT / Commercial IT Director is the senior country IT leader and single point of contact for all IT-related matters to the local business. The role translates global, regional and MEA strategies into market execution while aligning the country agenda to the new IT transformation priorities: product and platform ownership, speed and agility, responsible AI adoption, reusable technology capabilities, operational observability, and simplification for value. The Director is accountable for technology strategy, delivery, governance, risk, service reliability and adoption that enable commercial growth, customer engagement, productivity and business technology transformation in Egypt.
Key Responsibilities
Strategy, country leadership and business partnership: Lead the Egypt Commercial IT strategy, roadmap and investment agenda as a member of the Country Senior Leadership Team. Advise business leaders on technology-enabled opportunities, risks and trade-offs, and ensure IT remains the trusted local entry point for all market technology matters.
Product and platform ownership: Establish clear ownership for country products, platforms and technical capabilities, clarifying the role of product owners, platform owners and business stakeholders. Drive lifecycle management, prioritization, value realization and adoption across commercial and cross-functional platforms.
Speed, agility and simplification for value: Lead with pace and comfort in uncertainty, simplifying processes and technology choices to improve speed, agility and business value rather than reducing complexity for cost alone. Remove duplication and focus scarce capacity on the highest-value priorities.
Business outcomes and portfolio value: Translate business goals into an integrated portfolio of technology initiatives, delivering measurable outcomes in revenue growth, productivity, customer engagement, operational efficiency and cost optimization. Track benefits realization and ensure technology investments directly support brand, key account, field force and channel strategies.
AI adoption and automation: Accelerate responsible adoption of AI, automation and data-enabled use cases in commercial and enabling functions. Champion the ambition for IT to be a benchmark for AI adoption while ensuring appropriate governance, privacy, security and change management.
Forward-deployed engineering and reusable APIs: Partner closely with business teams to shape practical technology solutions, applying forward-deployed engineering principles where appropriate. Promote reusable APIs, integration patterns and shared capabilities so local solutions can scale and be reused rather than rebuilt.
AIOps, observability and service excellence: Strengthen service management, observability, proactive monitoring, incident response and continuous improvement. Use data-driven operations and AIOps practices to improve reliability, performance, user satisfaction and business continuity.
Data, security and compliance: Ensure adherence to global and local data privacy laws, compliance standards, cybersecurity protocols and audit requirements. Partner with Compliance, Legal, Information Security and Quality to remain audit-ready and regulatorily aligned.
Architecture, integration and local innovation: Maintain alignment with enterprise architecture, standards, cloud governance and integration patterns while enabling local innovation where justified by value, risk and scalability. Balance global platform consistency with market-specific needs.
Team leadership and capability building: Build, lead and develop a high-performing Egypt IT team. Reinvest in the team's skills for the world of AI, product/platform ways of working, data literacy, engineering discipline, delivery excellence and continuous improvement.
Stakeholder engagement, change and adoption: Maintain strong collaboration with global and regional IT, Commercial leadership and cross-functional stakeholders. Communicate clearly on strategy, roadmaps, risks, dependencies and outcomes; lead change management to drive adoption and sustained business value.
Financial management, governance and risk: Plan and manage IT budgets with strong financial governance. Optimize resource allocation, vendor management, contracts and commercial terms; oversee IT risk management, business continuity, disaster recovery and service governance for Egypt.
Qualifications
Education: Bachelor's degree in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics). MBA or relevant postgraduate qualification is desirable.
Experience: 12+ years of progressive experience in IT roles, including 3+ years in leadership positions within multinational organizations, ideally in life sciences, healthcare or another regulated industry.
Product and platform leadership: Proven experience with product/platform operating models, product ownership, platform lifecycle management, prioritization and value tracking.
AI, data and automation: Strong understanding of AI-enabled business use cases, automation, analytics, data governance and responsible adoption in commercial or enterprise settings.
Agile delivery and ambiguity: Track record leading large-scale programs and transformations with modern delivery practices, agile ways of working, and the ability to make progress despite uncertainty.
Integration, architecture and APIs: Understanding of enterprise architecture, cloud governance, integration patterns and reusable API-led delivery.
Service excellence and observability: Familiarity with ITIL, service management, AIOps, observability, proactive monitoring, incident response and business continuity practices.
Governance, security and compliance: Strong grasp of data privacy, cybersecurity, identity and access management, SDLC/SLC, validation practices, ISO standards and audit readiness in local and global contexts.
Executive presence: Strong influencing, advisory and communication skills with the ability to engage senior leaders, challenge constructively and drive decisions.
People leadership: Demonstrated experience leading, coaching and developing teams in complex, matrixed environments, including both direct teams and cross-functional delivery teams.
Financial acumen: Experience planning and managing budgets, vendor ecosystems, contracts, commercial terms and benefits tracking.
Language: Fluency in English and Turkish.
Preferred / Advantageous
Experience in pharma, life sciences, healthcare or another regulated, highly matrixed environment.
Hands-on exposure to global enterprise platforms such as CRM, analytics, data platforms, content management and marketing automation.
Proven success scaling AI-enabled, automation, analytics or digital product/platform capabilities in commercial settings.
Exposure to forward-deployed engineering, internal platforms or reusable API and product patterns.
Prior in-country IT leadership as the local accountable owner for IT service, risk, stakeholder management and business partnership.
What You'll Bring
A country leadership mindset, with accountability for being the trusted single point of contact for technology matters in Egypt.
Comfort operating with uncertainty while creating speed, agility and clarity for the business.
A product-and-platform orientation, with focus on reuse, lifecycle ownership, adoption and measurable value.
A practical approach to simplification: simplifying for value, speed and agility rather than cost alone.
A passion for reinvesting in technology talent and building confidence in AI-enabled ways of working.
Date Posted
13-أغسطس-2026
Closing Date
30-سبتمبر-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.