Real investment in data science-driven innovation, despite sometimes challenging environment - Data Scientist AstraZeneca Employee Review

4.0
Jan 6, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Pharma industry has been late to the digital innovation party, which means there is a lot of opportunity to drive meaningful change with automation and machine learning. AZ has also made real investment in data science-driven innovation, so tools (e.g., data science platforms) and data (internal, external) are becoming more widely available to data scientist project teams. In general, good work-life balance and great benefits.

Cons

Heavily regulated industry creates limited opportunity for rapid "test and learn" approach to creating and deploying ML models. Consensus driven culture tends to slow down decision making and innovation. Working on cross-functional teams across continents can make collaboration difficult (early Zoom calls). Finally, this is not unique to AZ, but there's always a risk that data science work can be outsourced, so political wrangling can hamper any ML project from the start.

Explore other reviews about AstraZeneca

5.0
Jul 1, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Robust pipeline that leads to numerous job opps

Cons

Growing quickly and rapid priority changes can be confusing

5.0
Apr 22, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I imagine this is very dependent on line management but I find my team and supervisors to be true champions of a high performing and highly compassionate work culture. I find my work challenging and rewarding, and have had opportunities to learn and grow and be rewarded and recognized for my output. No job is perfect but I’m truly happy to work here and at a time when AZ is truly rising like a rocket.

Cons

Like any massive global corporate entity, things can sometimes move slowly and it can be challenging to navigate a high number of constantly evolving priorities and initiatives. That being said, AZ is very clear about its north stars and values which makes it possible to prioritize work that has the most impact and alignment with the company’s ambition and business prerogatives. 60% office attendance policy is also a bit funny when oftentimes I am on Teams calls with colleagues sitting in other areas of the world.

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