The Position

• The position holder will manage, with very limited direction, AI activities involving both primary and secondary data within assigned projects (from business understanding, over hands-on development, to dissemination), to ensure high-quality deliverables are on time and within budget.
• The position holder may also collaborate with CROs (Clinical Research Organizations) and manage oversight.
• The position holder will partner with internal and external stakeholders to optimize AI methodology, infrastructure, processes, and standards.
• The position holder will have advanced knowledge of AI methods and applications, especially in computer vision, and best practices, as well as strong technical skills in working with structured and unstructured data.
• The position holder will demonstrate proficient skills in continuous improvement, project management, change management, and risk management.
• The position holder will act as main AI contact for the assigned projects, in particular in cross-functional project team(s).

Roles and Responsibilities

Project Level AI Activities

• Responsible, with very limited supervision, for assigned project activities.
• Ensures timely, to budget, and accurate completion of AI deliverables, including both managing and implementing AI projects from business understanding and translation of business needs to AI tasks, over data understanding and preparation, to modeling, validation, and dissemination of results.
• Contribute, with very limited supervision, to documents submitted to Pricing Authorities.
• May participate as subject matter expert in meetings or teleconferences with Health Authorities.
• Ensures compliance with international regulations.
• Ensures inspection readiness, as well as prepares and may participate in potential audits linked to assigned studies.

Vendor Oversight

• Responsible for providing direction and executing oversight of vendor delivery, to ensure compliance with protocols, external/internal standards, applicable regulatory guidelines, policies, SOPs, and other relevant guidelines.
• Responsible for CRO selection, from RFI (Request for Information) to contract agreement, including review and negotiation of base-line budget and timelines.
• Oversees budget management activities across the study/project duration.

Operational Excellence Innovation

• May lead and/or participate in Global Evidence Generation initiatives to improve the harmonization and efficiency of processes and/or develop and implement innovative solutions.
• Maintains current knowledge of industry best practices in AI methodology, especially in computer vision.
• May act as Subject Matter Expert for AI by providing guidance and support to Data and Statistical Science team members, as well as represent the department in cross-functional teams.
• Responsible for monitoring regulatory guidance and industry best practices to formulate proposals for new functional standards.
• Demonstrates leadership within AI by partnering with internal and external stakeholders to optimize AI technology, processes, and standards (improving quality/inspection readiness, decreasing cycle times, and reducing costs).

Line Management

• Administrative responsibilities for recruiting, retaining, coaching, developing, and managing individual contributors.

Any other duties deemed pertinent to the needs of the business.

Education & Experience

Education

• MSc (PhD preferable) in computer science, statistics, computational biology, computer vision, or related fields.

Required Experience

• At least 8 years of experience in data science / AI / computer vision supporting drug development and/or post marketing in clinical research, pharmaceutical, CRO, or medical device company, with at least 2 years of experience in pharma.
• Experience in building scalable ML pipelines with Python, Docker, and cloud/HPC environments, including experiment tracking tools and CI/CD best practices.
• Experience in oncology Therapeutic Area is an advantage.

Skills and additional Requirements

• Excellent English language skills.
• Excellent storytelling and communication skills, both oral and written, in explaining complex concepts in simple terms.
• Extensive programming experience in Python technology stack (pandas, numpy, scikit-learn, scikit-survival, matplotlib, seaborn, shap, etc.), including deep learning (PyTorch/TensorFlow, ViT, DINO, etc.). Knowledge of R or other languages is a plus. Experience in working with virtual environments and version control (e.g., git).
• Excellent knowledge of machine learning algorithms for weakly supervised learning, as well as supervised, semi-supervised, and unsupervised learning, especially with applications to unstructured, imaging data.
• Exposure to cloud computing platforms.
• Knowledge in GenAI, NLP, and/or federated learning will be considered a plus.
• Proficient negotiation and project management skills.
• Demonstrates entrepreneurship, leadership, and proactive problem solving.
• Extended knowledge and understanding of the principles, concepts, methods, and standards of Clinical Research.
• Ability to work remotely with worldwide team members across cultures and time zones.