Building tomorrow’s experts today: A strategic graduate program design helped Astrazeneca transform ad hoc talent exploration into a systematic pipeline for developing Market Access experts attracting over 100 applicants and establishing genuine career commitment.

The challenge:

Astrazeneca's Market Access team wanted to establish a pipeline of people genuinely committed to pursuing a career in their specialty. As specialists navigating Australia's complex pharmaceutical reimbursement landscape, they needed a more systematic pathway for developing and retaining new talent.

• The team was supporting five colleagues from other business units, each dedicating around 20% of their time, who were curious about Market Access but not necessarily committed to staying long-term
• Fresh graduates had joined only to realise they didn't want to work in such a specialised field
• The informal approach lacked structure to consistently develop and retain talent with genuine dedication

The team needed a structured approach that would attract truly committed candidates while ensuring strong return on investment in people development.

Our approach: From informal to intentional

Simple Nimble designed a three-phase engagement that combined external benchmarking with deep internal stakeholder engagement.

Phase 1: Understand and propose

• Internal review of Market Access cycle, PBAC requirements, and competency frameworks
• External benchmarking of graduate programs across pharmaceutical and health industries
• Extended workshop with the team to reveal patterns of success and stumbling blocks

Phase 2: Build with internal ownership

• Identified a highly motivated senior team member to champion the program internally
• Co-designed the complete program: recruitment approach, rotation calendar, competency-aligned outcomes, and assessment criteria
• Developed Graduate Program Playbook with mentor frameworks and implementation guidelines
• Internal champion facilitated team feedback sessions, enabling rapid iteration

Phase 3: Transfer capability

• Coached the internal champion to take full ownership of implementation
• Supported establishment of university partnerships and competitive recruitment processes
• Transferred responsibility for ongoing program refinement

Key insights

• Internal ownership drives sustainability: Identifying and developing an internal program champion—someone who could lead implementation without ongoing external support—was critical. We didn't just deliver a program; we transferred the capability.
• Meaningful work drives engagement: Graduates contributing to real PBAC submissions from day one created genuine team value while demonstrating clear career pathways.
• Strategic selectivity validates quality: Employing only one graduate but sharing strong runners-up with consulting firms AstraZeneca uses regularly maximised value while creating additional career pathways.

The transformation

The engagement delivered a complete 2-year Graduate Program Playbook with comprehensive structure and guidelines, including role definitions, competency rubrics, feedback templates, rotation plans, and recruitment frameworks targeting priority universities.

The results validated the approach: the program attracted over 100 applications. A competitive one-day assessment centre refined applicants to a select few for interview and one appointment—making it exciting for candidates while ensuring genuine commitment.

Most importantly, the team gained an internal champion equipped to lead the program independently, creating a sustainable pipeline for this highly specialised function.

The Lesson: Co-creation transfers capability  

What began as informal arrangements with no guaranteed outcome evolved into a sophisticated talent development system and a pipeline of interested students. The transfer of skills to an internal owner didn't just create buy-in—it fundamentally enhanced the program design through insights that only emerged from genuine co-creation with people who understood both the work and the industry.