AstraZeneca
Drug discovery and development, from Cambridge labs to global manufacturing.
About AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca runs the full pipeline: target discovery, clinical development, regulatory work and manufacturing at scale. Its Discovery Centre in Cambridge is one of the largest life-science research buildings in Europe.
Early-career entry splits roughly into laboratory science, manufacturing/process, data science and commercial. Lab apprenticeships at Macclesfield and Speke are a strong non-degree route into pharma.
The company hires heavily into data and bioinformatics — biology plus coding is currently the most in-demand combination on their intake.
It is a regulated environment. Documentation, GMP and traceability shape everyday work far more than most students expect.
Why work here
- Placements are real projects with named supervisors, and a high proportion convert into graduate offers.
- You can move between science and commercial functions internally — rare in smaller biotech.
- Strong support for further study, including part-funded MSc routes.
- Big-company pace: projects run for years, and you may only see one phase of a molecule's life.
STEM roles they hire
Entry routes
Laboratory Scientist Apprenticeship (L3/L5)
- Starts
- September
- Duration
- 2–4 years
- Degree needed
- No
- Salary
- £19,000–£24,000
Graduate Programme (R&D, Ops, Data)
- Starts
- September
- Duration
- 2–3 years
- Degree needed
- Yes
- Salary
- £33,000–£38,000
Industrial Placement
- Starts
- July
- Duration
- 12 months
- Degree needed
- Preferred
- Salary
- £21,500
Salary and benefits
- Annual bonus and share purchase plan
- Funded professional qualifications (RSC, RSB routes)
- On-site labs with modern instrumentation
- Health cover, generous parental leave, and flexible hours in non-lab roles
- Relocation support for site-based roles
Application tips
- 1.Talk about technique specifics — PCR, HPLC, cell culture — not just 'lab experience'.
- 2.Their video interview scores communication clarity. Practise explaining an experiment in 90 seconds to a non-scientist.
- 3.Highlight anything showing care with records: a well-kept lab book is a genuine selling point in a GMP environment.
- 4.Apply to Macclesfield and Speke as well as Cambridge — the competition ratio is far lower outside Cambridge.
- 5.Some coding (Python or R) on your CV moves you ahead of most biology applicants.