Senior Scientist – Analytical Lead
Added 9 Oct · still live
Likely
Sponsorship likelihood
This employer has issued visas recently
Not disclosed
Salary
Not disclosed by employer
£39,900
Going rate
Skilled Worker going rate
This role likely qualifies for a Skilled Worker visa
SOC 2111 (94% match) is an eligible occupation, with a going rate of £39,900, and AstraZeneca is a licensed sponsor. That is our reading of the rules. Whether they issue a Certificate of Sponsorship is still their call.
Your salary route
New graduate or PhD holder? Pick one of the lower rates.
What each route needs for this job
| Occupation code | New entrant 70% of going rate | STEM PhD 80% of going rate | Relevant PhD 90% of going rate | Standard rate 100% of going rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
2111 Chemical scientists Most likely code | £33,400 | £33,400 | £37,500 | £39,900 |
We use the lowest threshold across the plausible codes. Likelihood is Possible at most when the pay clears only a lower rate, or only under a less likely code. How the Home Office picks the code
About the role
Introduction to role:Are you ready to lead analytical control strategies that accelerate medicines from lab to clinic and beyond? Based in Macclesfield, you will shape how we design, validate and deploy analytical methods that directly determine product robustness, speed to patients and regulatory success.
You will serve as the analytical lead for oral solid dosage and/or parenteral products across development phases, partnering closely with formulation, engineering, manufacturing, QA and Regulatory. Your decisions will set the control strategy, streamline clinical supply, and pave the way for commercial readiness. How will you leverage modern data analytics and predictive tools to shorten development cycles and raise confidence in every batch released?
Accountabilities
You will serve as the analytical lead for oral solid dosage and/or parenteral products across development phases, partnering closely with formulation, engineering, manufacturing, QA and Regulatory. Your decisions will set the control strategy, streamline clinical supply, and pave the way for commercial readiness. How will you leverage modern data analytics and predictive tools to shorten development cycles and raise confidence in every batch released?
Accountabilities
- Analytical Leadership: Act as the analytical skill lead to secure major drug product deliveries, applying a risk-based, flexible approach to prioritisation and timelines, ensuring focus on the highest-value outcomes.
- Control Strategy Ownership: Define and lead an end-to-end analytical control strategy aligned with CMC guidelines across clinical phases, delivering robust, efficient controls that de-risk programmes and enable confident regulatory interactions.
- Method Development and Lifecycle: Design, develop, validate and transfer analytical methods (HPLC/UPLC, LC–MS, dissolution, impurity profiling), establishing stability-indicating performance and ensuring reproducibility across internal sites and CMOs.
- Product Characterisation and Stability: Lead drug product characterisation and stability programmes to inform formulation choices, specifications, shelf-life and critical quality attribute understanding, translating data into decisive action.
- Regulatory Authoring and Interaction: Author analytical CMC content for IND/IMPD/NDA/MAA, validation reports, method transfers and specifications; anticipate and respond to regulatory queries with clear, evidence-based narratives.
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- MSc or PhD or equivalent experience in a relevant scientific subject area (Analytical Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Biochemistry, Biotechnology or related).
- Experience in pharmaceutical analytical science with current knowledge of regulatory CMC requirements for clinical and/or marketing applications and experience authoring CMC analytical content and responding to regulatory queries.
- Strong proficiency with chromatographic techniques (HPLC/UPLC; LC–MS), dissolution, and complementary methodologies for small and/or large molecules.
- Excellent communication, stakeholder management and influencing skills; ability to operate confidently and collaboratively across global, cross skill environments.
- Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot technical challenges and drive data driven decisions.
- Fundamental digital and data capability relevant to analytical development, including: proficiency with multivariate experimental design and basic DoE concepts for method and process understanding.
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- Experience applying advanced predictive analytics beyond foundational skills (e.g., Bayesian optimisation for robustness tuning, chemometrics for pattern recognition, mechanistic/hybrid models for dissolution or degradation kinetics, advanced statistical methods for specification setting and uncertainty quantification).
- Practical experience with basic scripting in Python/R for data wrangling, visualisation, and deployment of predictive models in an analytical context.
Call to Action:Own the analytical strategy that speeds life-changing medicines to patients while building a legacy in science and sustainability—submit your application and make your impact felt from day one.
Date Posted
08-out.-2026
Closing Date
Our mission is to build an inclusive and equitable environment. We want people to feel they belong at AstraZeneca and Alexion, starting with our recruitment process. We welcome and consider applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of characteristics. We offer reasonable adjustments/accommodations to help all candidates to perform at their best. If you have a need for any adjustments/accommodations, please complete the section in the application form.
This description is the source posting as it read when we added it. We are not affiliated with AstraZeneca, so check their own site for the current details.
Where this offer sits in the market
Chemical scientists (SOC 2111) · UK · ONS ASHE 2025 · basic pay · ~19k in sampleSOC 2111
- Middle half £32,084–~45,604
- Median £38,844
- Minimum £41,700
- Going rate £39,900
- New entrant £33,400–35,900
Similar sponsored roles
See all UK visa jobsNo close matches live right now.
Browse more sponsored jobs at AstraZenecaAbout sponsorship for this role
Does this job guarantee visa sponsorship?
Not necessarily. AstraZeneca holds a sponsor licence, but sponsorship for a specific hire is always the employer's decision. Be upfront in your application that you'll require it.
What salary is needed for this role to be eligible?
The offer must clear both the general threshold and the SOC 2111 going rate of £39,900. New-entrant and shortage discounts can lower it.