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Job offer - Associate Director at AstraZeneca, CANADA
Company Reviews/FeedbackI always feel like i see this similar comment, xyz pays lower than other large pharma… but am wondering which large pharma is on the higher end of the median curve of large pharma pay then.
Large pharma as a whole is already generally lower than small or medium biotech
Merck and JnJ pay highly and then medium biotechs like Incyte
Gilead is probably in there too?
Cool, good to know! Thanks
Thanks for sharing! I renegotiated the base salary but I don’t think they’ll match my expectation. Will likely decline the offer.
Think it depends on the country because that definitely wasn't the case in the UK. Pfizer paid the worst out of the big pharm still left (Pfizer, GSK, Merck, AZ)
Thanks for the update, 135K CAD seemed quite low for an AD role. Senior Scientists make closer to 200k CAD in my area
Damn son that seems low
God damn we're actually cooked in Canada, starting pay for an OPP officer can be as much as that. Wow.
Are you saying you're "down with OPP?"
AD is a mid position, not a senior position. It does seem a little light. Maybe try to negotiate 150?
My current role pays about 150k so it really doesn’t make much sense for me to leave with a pay cut
OP has answered their own question, close the thread.
Which department/role is it ? I can provide some insight. 135k is low even for Canada.
Dm me
Thanks!
Wow. Intuitively it feels low.
What function/city is this? Are you employed currently, and if so, is this better/worse comp than current?
Do you want to move (back?) to Canada for personal reasons? As a Canadian working in the US, I would take a cut for a decent gig back home, highly context dependent.
I’m currently employed at another big pharma in Canada. An AD position in my current company ranges above 170k. That’s why I was surprised AZ gave such low number
This offer sucks
AD at AZ is a more junior position. You can get to this position in AZ with 5 YOE at PhD level.
I hate how low salaries are in Canada compared to the US!
What is the global career level they assigned to this position?
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2mo
Not always. I have seen a lot AD at F level. A E is more aligned with (Sr) manager.
Can I ask how many years of experience you have?
AZ had its career levels/titles consolidated a couple of years ago with no change in the compensation. AD is career level E, which used to be for a senior manager/senior scientist position at MedImmune. Not surprised by this.
Isn’t their CEO bitching about his, “low” pay? lol
I work in the UK as an AKTA specialist so I sit outside their system but I have a good insight. There's a lot of title inflation at AZ. I see loads of Associate Director and even Director titles for people who only have 5-6 years industry experience.
Don’t even think about the LTI since it doesn’t get distributed till your 3th year. The bonus for the past 2 years has been higher than the base 17% for the US sites.
Big pharma in the US- AD role for clinical scientists range 140-260( can vary with role ) first half is for growth from newbie to seasoned, the 2nd half is for lifers who don’t want to go up so they get their yearly add on without hitting the ceiling ( overlaps with Director pay range)
Is it low for a Canadian or Canada based role? From my experience it’s not for AD
I was in an AD position at Roche Canada and my starting salary was 135K. For the volume of work, responsibilities, and travel I was doing, it was low.
I'm not surprised. AZ generally pays below big pharma average for all levels.
That’s robbery brother. I was offered 115k for a manager role at Bluerock therapeutic with 85k stocks 3 years ago. I
You deserve higher for an AD role.
If it’s your first AD role. Take it and transfer to the US of A for higher pay after 1 year.
What did they ask you during interviews ?
Two rounds of panel interviews plus a case study.
Med comms? Saw a bunch of posts on LinkedIn recently for that kinda role. Congrats on getting it!
Hey OP how are you feeling now that more time has passed?
Can you pm your current role and yoe? I can send you mine. It’s hard to find data in Canada at the upper levels
That seems very low, especially for CAD, granted I’m not familiar with typical CAN Pharma salaries.
I had a similar issue with AZ . Couldn’t meet my salary expectations plus having to be in the office 3 plus days a week the benefits didn’t outweigh the cons for the offer they gave . Went through the whole interview process , to offer even though the knew my requests prior to . They do need to recalibrate a bit with the market to get some more talent .
Thanks for sharing these info as a fellow Canadian in pharma. I was also recently interviewed at this level with AZ, probably might be similar to yours. Would love to connect with you if possible to chat about more pharma related topics like career paths or company cultures.
I’m in med device, that salary if for two levels lower than AD in our company in NJ, US.
How much does similar position pay in the US? Also AD is not a senior position.
AD can vary but usually 165-185 ish. Just depends on the Company.
At least
And paid in USD. That's a meaningful difference, with the exchange now being 1.00 : 1.37, USD to CAD.
it definitely is wild.
Probably around $180k base in Boston. LTI varies but I'd expect to be around $250k total comp for AD
Plus, USD to CAD is quite bad for Canadian's getting paid in CAD. That $135K CAD is $98,400 USD.
OP said $135K CAD, so that is really low for AD level, even if title inflated at AZ.
AD not even remotely a senior position. You probably won’t even have a direct report.
Still low pay for AD, that's more like scientist I
Why am I being downvoted?
Prob cuz it's mid level to upper. It's not exactly not senior.
Ehh, a reasonably ambitious person in their low-mid 30s would hold an AD title.
I’ll let their reader interpret for themselves how senior this is.
I totally agree with you. AD is such a weak title. Many companies Senior Scientist = AD. Not sure why so many Reddit people fancy AD. Maybe they are just too young too naive..
I interviewed with a director level position at AZ (Gaithersburg) - finance- a couple years ago and it was pretty darn low. I was coming from another local mid sized biotech and it was about 20% lower in base salary.
That said, I have an ex colleague that’s been there for a while and they offer pretty compelling benefits, supposedly. But, it wasn’t enough for me to make up for the cash shortfall
Several friends are at AZ in Boston. Most of them were previously in other Big Pharma and they were shocked how poor the benefits are at AZ, especially medical coverage, compared to places like Pfizer and J&J. From what they describe it’s even poorer than some mid-sized biotechs. It’s especially bad for those at Alexion, who are seeing benefits cut as they complete the alignment process with AZ’s compensation and benefits.
Hmm that’s interesting. My friend is a legacy medimmune employee so maybe there’s benefits from that that he’s getting.
That’s likely the difference. Legacy employees often have better benefits.
Hi! I am an undergrad pursuing BTech Biotechnology and want to go ahead with business oriented program in biotechnology rather than core research program. If you could share insights on this will be great.
Not sure how useful but I’ve seen many mentions that AZ generally pays lower compared to other large pharmas for the same level.