Turkey Commercial IT Director (Head of IT)
AstraZeneca · Şişli
Role Summary
The Turkey 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 Turkey.
Key Responsibilities
Strategy, country leadership and business partnership: Lead the Turkey 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 Turkey 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 Turkey.
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.
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 Turkey.
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.
Why AstraZeneca?A high performing team, we are united and motivated by our shared purpose – to push the boundaries of science to deliver life-changing medicines. We come to work each day to make a difference – to patients, society and our company. In our work we aim to bring wider benefits to society – building healthy communities and limiting our impact on the planet. We are committed to leading the quest to meet rising global demand for effective healthcare. The shared creativity through both internal and external collaboration unlocks challenges and brings new solutions. You will be valued. Not only for your unique contribution, skills and background, but because we recognise people are our greatest asset. Here we are dedicated to being a Great Place to Work.Are you already imagining yourself joining our team? Good, because we can’t wait to hear from you.
Where can I find out more?
Follow AstraZeneca on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/1603/
Follow AstraZeneca on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/astrazenecaturkiyekariyer/
Visit our Careers Website: https://www.astrazeneca.com.tr/farkli-dusunen-ezber-bozan-deger-yaratan.html
Date Posted
28-Ağu-2026Closing Date
30-Ara-2026AstraZeneca 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.