Associate Director, Data Science & AI Solutions
About the role
The mission of the Analytics & Technology Systems QA group is to provide the foundation to identify, explore, and efficiently develop solutions to enhance our quality oversight activities. Under the direction of the Senior Director, Analytics & Technology Systems of our Research & Development Division QA, we are seeking an Associate Director, Data Science & AI Solutions, to join our R&D Quality Assurance Analytics & Tech Systems team.
Responsibilities
Technical Delivery: Build, deploy, and maintain advanced AI applications (including custom RAG pipelines and agentic systems) alongside traditional analytics solutions (forecasts, simulations, and optimizations) to solve critical research & development quality business challenges.
Environment Management: Work within enterprise analytics platforms (e.g., Dataiku, Posit Workbench) to monitor, enhance, and scale existing operational analytics systems.
GxP AI Governance & Compliance: Collaborate with the GxP AI Governance Program to develop frameworks that ensure AI solutions adhere to regulatory requirements, validation playbooks, and standardized monitoring protocols.
Business Partnership & Technical Translation: Act as the primary technical translator, explaining complex AI algorithms, models, and limitations to non-technical stakeholders and leadership in a clear, business-friendly manner.
Demand Intake: Collaborate with business leaders to identify operational challenges and propose high-value data science and AI use cases.
Business Acumen: Demonstrates a strong willingness to learn and understand business processes, priorities, and stakeholder’s needs to drive meaningful outcomes.
Requirements
Educations/Experience: BS/BA degree in relevant area and 5+ years of experience in the pharmaceutical, biotech or technology related industry.
Analytical & Programming Core: Minimum 5 years of professional experience using Python, R, and advanced SQL to design and deploy machine learning, forecasting, or optimization models.
Modern AI Engineering: Hands-on experience developing custom RAG architectures, working with LLM APIs, and utilizing core MLOps practices (version control/Git, monitoring, and model maintenance).
Data Engineering & Visualization: Proficiency in designing user-friendly dashboards (PowerBI or Spotfire) and a foundational understanding of Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) pipelines and data structures.
Cloud & Architecture: Familiarity with hosting and deploying AI solutions or agentic pipelines in cloud environments (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
Regulated Industry Experience: Prior experience in a regulated pharmaceutical (GxP) environment, with exposure to software validation or AI governance frameworks.
Communication & Influence: Exceptional communication skills with a proven ability to distill complex technical terminology into actionable insights for non-technical business partners.
Global Collaboration: Experience working with and supporting different, cross-functional teams in a global, matrixed organization.
Passionate Learner: Continuously explores emerging technologies, including generative AI, and identifies opportunities to apply them to drive innovation and business value.
Qualifications
BS/BA degree in relevant area and 5+ years of experience in the pharmaceutical, biotech or technology related industry.
Minimum 5 years of professional experience using Python, R, and advanced SQL to design and deploy machine learning, forecasting, or optimization models.
Hands-on experience developing custom RAG architectures, working with LLM APIs, and utilizing core MLOps practices (version control/Git, monitoring, and model maintenance).
Proficiency in designing user-friendly dashboards (PowerBI or Spotfire) and a foundational understanding of Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) pipelines and data structures.
Familiarity with hosting and deploying AI solutions or agentic pipelines in cloud environments (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
Prior experience in a regulated pharmaceutical (GxP) environment, with exposure to software validation or AI governance frameworks.
Exceptional communication skills with a proven ability to distill complex technical terminology into actionable insights for non-technical business partners.
Experience working with and supporting different, cross-functional teams in a global, matrixed organization.
Continuously explores emerging technologies, including generative AI, and identifies opportunities to apply them to drive innovation and business value.
Skills
AI Programming
Audience View
Biopharmaceutical Industry
Business Acumen
Business Intelligence (BI)
Business Processes
Business Process Modeling
Database Design
Data Engineering
Data Literacy
Data Modeling
Data Science
Data Visualization
Extract Transform Load (ETL)
Generative AI
Git Version Control System
Large Language Models (LLMs)
Machine Learning (ML)
Python (Programming Language)
Software Development
Stakeholder Relationship Management
Version Control
Benefits
The salary range for this role is $156,900.00 - $247,000.00. This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. An employee's position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, government requirements, and business or organizational needs.