Associate Director (m/f/d), DevOps & Software Engineering, Computational Pathology

About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca is a global, science-led, patient-focused biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the discovery, development and commercialization of prescription medicines for some of the world's most serious diseases. But we're more than one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies.

Site Description - Munich, Germany

Welcome to Computational Pathology Munich, one of over 400 sites here at AstraZeneca, providing a collaborative environment where everyone can feel comfortable to be themselves - a value that is at the core of AstraZeneca's priorities. To help you maintain your best self, here's a sneak peek into some of the things we provide: after-work events, lunch & learns, a spacious and sustainable office working environment, events, family and childcare support and of course the Alps around the corner for hiking, biking and skiing.

We are looking for an experienced

Associate Director (m/f/d), DevOps & Software Engineering, Computational Pathology

to join our Computational Pathology team in Munich.

We are a small team building regulated software components for computational pathology, including data management, model training and inference and analysis tools. Much of this work is GxP-regulated, and parts are Software as a Medical Device (SaMD). We don't build standalone systems. Our components integrate into existing enterprise and clinical platforms.

As Associate Director, DevOps & Software Engineering, you will own the team's delivery infrastructure: CI/CD, release, supply-chain security, environments and deployment. A working foundation is already in place and used across many repositories. Your first task is to lead a significant revision of it, so it scales across more products and deployment targets and produces audit-ready evidence by default. You will work within the constraints of a large enterprise, partnering with central IT, cybersecurity, platform and quality teams to get things done.

This is a senior individual contributor role. Alongside DevOps, you'll be active member of the engineering team: you'll regularly review pull requests (mainly Python) and deliver features and fixes in line with the technical leads' direction.

Key Responsibilities

• CI/CD ownership: Own and evolve our shared GitHub Actions platform so it stays maintainable, reliable and easy to adopt across the team's repositories. Our stack is mainly Python, so you'll need a solid grasp of the Python packaging and tooling ecosystem. Occasionally you'll extend the platform to other stacks where needed.
• Engineering contribution: Work as an active developer on the team, reviewing pull requests regularly and designing, implementing and testing features and fixes in the team's Python codebases, within the architecture set by the technical leads. Coach colleagues with a scientific background in good software engineering practice.
• Release and deployment: Build multi-environment delivery (dev, SIT, prod) using GitHub environments and approvals, including container image publishing and deployment to the platforms we integrate with, e.g. Kubeflow, Domino Data Lab and AWS-native services.
• Supply-chain security: Own SBOM generation, vulnerability and license scanning, and static analysis. Design and run a sustainable, risk-based vulnerability triage process that you can defend in an audit.
• Infrastructure and configuration as code: Manage the team's infrastructure (e.g. cloud resources, runners, environments) and its repository, access and quality-gate configuration as code, so it is consistent, reproducible and auditable. Choose the simplest mechanism that does the job and that team members can easily contribute to, working within central IT's platforms and guardrails.
• Compliance built into the pipeline: Working with Quality and CSV colleagues, design pipelines that automatically produce the evidence required by GxP and medical-device processes (IEC 62304, ISO 13485, ISO 14971, GAMP 5, 21 CFR Part 11 / EU Annex 11). This includes test reports, traceability, release records and change history. Support audits and inspections with technical evidence.
• Working across the enterprise: Act as the team's technical contact with central IT, cloud and platform teams, cybersecurity and enterprise architecture. Drive tool approvals, network and access requirements, runner and secrets infrastructure, and exceptions where they're justified. Reduce the need for local workarounds over time.
• Sustainability: Document the platform and share knowledge so that DevOps capability doesn't depend on any one individual.

Qualifications

Required

• Degree in computer science, software engineering or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Typically 7+ years of industry experience, including substantial hands-on ownership of CI/CD and release engineering for production software.
• Expert in GitHub Actions, including designing reusable workflows and actions shared across many repositories.
• Strong Python skills. Writes idiomatic, pragmatic Python and favors simple, readable solutions. A solid understanding of the Python ecosystem: packaging, dependency management and distribution (e.g. wheels, lock files, private package indexes). Comfortable with Bash.
• A track record of developing software, not only infrastructure: writing tested, maintainable production code and contributing to code reviews as part of a development team.
• Hands-on with containers, SBOMs, vulnerability scanning and static analysis.
• Experience delivering software in a regulated environment (GxP, medical device, or a comparable regime) and turning compliance requirements into practical engineering processes.
• A can-do attitude: when progress is blocked, whether by technical limitations, tooling or organizational constraints, you find a way to unblock it, even if the first solution is pragmatic rather than pretty, and you follow up to make it sustainable.
• A proven ability to deliver within a large organization with central IT and security governance, through influence, relationship building and persistence.
• Excellent written and spoken English. Able to explain technical trade-offs to quality, IT and scientific stakeholders.

Preferred

• Terraform or other infrastructure-as-code tools.
• JFrog Artifactory, secrets management platforms (e.g. Akeyless), OIDC-based cloud authentication, GitHub Apps.
• Deploying and operating applications on AWS services. Kubernetes, Helm, Argo CD.
• Modern Python tooling (uv, ruff, mypy, pytest).
• JavaScript/TypeScript in the context of GitHub Actions.
• Experience using AI coding agents (e.g. Claude Code, GitHub Copilot) as part of day-to-day engineering work.
• Experience with SaMD and IEC 62304 software lifecycle documentation. MLOps or ML model deployment experience.
• Experience in life sciences, healthcare or medical imaging.
• Open source contributions.

What you can expect:

• Individual development opportunities with a focus on lifelong learning
• Trust, appreciation, and room to shape things in a focused and passionate team
• Modern office space in Munich enabling collaborative, flexible, and agile work
• A diverse, inclusive, and bias-free work environment, actively welcoming applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of background or characteristics

Date Posted

Closing Date

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.