Faisal A.

Digital Strategy Director @ Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

About

I’m a marketing transformation leader with over 20 years’ experience helping global brands unlock growth at the intersection of behavioural science, creativity and digital innovation. With extensive expertise in customer experience (CX), digital strategy, AI and design thinking, my career spans Retail, Pharma, Sport, Entertainment and Government, where I’ve built and scaled strategies that consistently deliver commercial results and industry firsts. Some career highlights include: Sport & Entertainment – Delivered the first e-commerce and mobile content strategies for 90+ football clubs (Chelsea, Newcastle United, Rangers) and launched Europe’s first free-to-play PC games portal. Pharma & Healthcare – Co-founded the pioneering Digitally Sick podcast, launched the industry’s first diversity campaign, developed the first AI platform for HCPs in Pharma, Trained 1000s of people on digital, introduced CX, UX, design thinking principles to the industry, and was recognised as a Top 10 Pharma Innovator by Pharmaphorum, wrote the first book in the industry on how to digital marketing. Public Sector – Served as Marketing Director for the UK Cabinet Office’s PLOTR, a nationwide digital careers inspirational service. Amazon UK Start-up Team – Spearheaded the launch of Refer-a-Friend, Student Bookstore, Marketplace and the Video Games Store, laying the foundations for Amazon’s long-term growth in the UK. As a four-time published author and documentary producer on diversity, I’ve shaped industry thinking through bestselling guides (Skip Ad in 5, Digital Unlocked) and campaigns that have redefined inclusion standards in advertising. I’ve led teams of up to 10 people, managed multi-million-pound budgets, and partnered with C-suite leaders to deliver marketing transformation, digital-first growth and organisational change. My passion lies in applying behavioural science to marketing strategy, developing tools and playbooks that set new industry benchmarks while championing diversity and sustainability.

Country

City

United Kingdom

Industry

Pharmaceuticals

Skill

Chief Experience Officers, cx, Generative AI, Product Development, Negotiation, Branding & Identity, Communication, Leadership, Marketing Effectiveness, Large Language Models (LLM), Digital Channels, Customer Engagement, Business Case Development, Data Analysis, Budgeting, Brand Innovation, Analytical Skills, Digital Campaigns, Creative Ideation, Campaign Execution

Experience

Digital Strategy Director

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

2021-4 - Present · 5 yrs 6 mos

London, England, United Kingdom

Driving creativity and reimagining marketing for rare diseases. Partnering across teams to elevate customer experiences, design thinking, and behaviour science, AI, while blending digital marketing expertise with creative advertising to deliver impactful and meaningful engagement.

Innovation and Business excellence lead - Helping out - (temporary) as well doing digital lead role

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

2023-9 - 2024-5 · 9 mos

London Area, United Kingdom

Leading 'Innovation & Business Excellence' team at Alexion UK, part of AstraZeneca's Rare Disease Business Unit, I oversee a diverse team of seven, comprising insights specialists, digital experts, launch excellence strategists, project managers, and data analysts. My role involves driving strategic initiatives, implementing digital transformations, and providing analytical insights, business planning and re-inventing marketing for today's patients and HCP's Business planning, performance enhancement, and the development of innovative disease strategies. I have initiated creative campaigns to shift behaviors and elevate the visibility of rare diseases. In partnership with cross-functional teams, I promote external collaborations, ensuring launch and commercial success. Leadership blends empathy, creative, innovation with business acumen, steering our team toward unprecedented achievements in the rare disease domain to help patients

Co-Founder @ Digitally Sick Podcast

Digitally Sick

2011-10 - Present · 15 yrs

everywhere

Digitally Sick podcast co-founded by Faisal Ahmed, Alex Butler and Andrew Spong in 2011, longest lasting podcast on tech, innovation and marketing in Healthcare, with over 3,000 listeners.

Director Of Innovation

VML HEALTH

2019-8 - 2021-3 · 1 yr 8 mos

London, England, United Kingdom

Changing the normal Driving omni-channel strategy for for clients Creating and implementing CX for clients Digital training for internal teams

Marketing in a digital world training

Congregation Partners

2019-1 - 2021-3 · 2 yrs 3 mos

worldwide

Omni-channel training for worlds biggest brands Training on marketing innovation Training on CX Social media training

SVP Tech and Innovation director

FCB Health New York

2017-9 - 2018-12 · 1 yr 4 mos

Working across FCB network agencies, providing strategic, creative, digital and production support into Pharmaceutical clients globally Created an artificial intelligence platform for DR’s and advised clients on future innovation trends in healthcare, set up FCB innovation week with leading tech companies. Launched new offerings for clients such as voice, AI and Mixed Reality and worked with clients on digital transformation implementation.

Creative, innovation and technology director

FCB Health London | An IPG Health Company

2013-5 - 2017-8 · 4 yrs 4 mos

Europe

A boutique healthcare agency within the FCB Health Network. Building digital team, recruiting and managing UX, Design, Project management, Developers and video animators. Creating machine learning and AI apps for healthcare clients, Setting up innovation platforms, labs and products for top Pharmaceutical companies. Providing Strategy, Insights and idea generation on a daily basis for 20+ clients. Providing creative leadership on all digital outputs. Implemented Social, SEO, UX, PPC, CRM and CLM for clients on a day to day basis. Helping clients to explore and implement human insights, data and design thinking into their marketing.

Marketing Director

Plotr A Number 10 and Business project

2012-3 - 2013-5 · 1 yr 3 mos

London, United Kingdom

Educational startup by the UK Government and led by Industry, current partners are Serco, Barclays, Deloitte, Centrica, McDonald's, Starbucks, Universal Music, Williams FI, Waitrose, Home Retail Group, Eon Productions Plotr is a new career advice service offered in schools and online. I worked on creating Partnerships with FTSE 100 CEO's and CMO's, Product features, UX, Branding, Social Media Strategy, SEO, Content Creation and Marketing strategy to 11-24-year-olds. Managed the Launch at Number 10 Downing Street hosted by the Prime Minister.

Head Of Digital

Life Healthcare Communications Limited

2011-3 - 2012-3 · 1 yr 1 mo

Award winning Boutique healthcare advertising agency based in a old pub. Hired to build digital department hiring and managing designers, developers. Delivering digital strategy, content strategy, social media, SEO, PPC, online advertising, media planning and buying, analytics and research for clients. Providing thought leadership internally and externally with top 10 Pharma companies. Working on pitches, managing PR, writing thought leadership pieces for agency.

Head of Digital

Langland

2009-6 - 2011-3 · 1 yr 10 mos

Langland is the most awarded health advertising agency in the world. Creativity is at the heart of everything they do. I was hired to create the digital offering at Langland did this by building a great team of designers, developers and video animators. Worked daily with creative and account teams and helped create digital creative, strategy, products and drive new trends in healthcare marketing. Worked with clients such as Bayer, INC, Quintiles, Pfizer, Boehringer, Abbvie, Abbott. Launched digital firsts such as Augmented reality, iPhone apps and many more for the Healthcare industry and won over 45 awards within 18 months.

Digital Strategist

Silence Media

2008-1 - 2009-2 · 1 yr 2 mos

Boutique agency combining data, media and creative, before any media network agency. Developing digital strategies. Identify trends, creating ideas, recognising opportunities using new media technologies for clients. Creative, planning and media buying for advertising campaigns. Produced and seeded viral campaigns. Content creation and seeding. Online PR, SEO and PPC. Social media strategies for Books, Music, Film and Games brands. Launched one of the first Music marketing campaigns on Twitter, first Wikipedia for Authors, ARG for Syco records (Leonie Lewis) and Launched UK's first user-generated content platform for a Charity.