Senior Director, Data Development

About the role

You will report directly to the Chief Data & Science Officer and solve complex real-world problems across multiple therapeutic areas, including urology, ophthalmology, and oncology. The team develops machine learning systems using structured and unstructured electronic health record (EHR) data, including clinical text and imaging data, to support Verana Qdata® products and real-world insight generation. Day-to-day activities for this team include algorithm development, data pre- and post-processing, code implementation, modeling, inference, and interpretation.

As a Senior Director working cross-functionally with Product Management, Engineering, and Medical, you will ensure our data products are generated with fit-for-purpose approaches and meet the necessary quality requirements. You will oversee a team that works with highly heterogeneous clinical datasets derived from EHR systems and imaging workflows, requiring rigorous approaches to validation, explainability, and scientific quality. Built on the values of cross-functional collaboration, scientific rigor, and continuous learning, the Data & Science team strives to improve patient care by advancing the use of real-world clinical data, machine learning, and clinical expertise to generate meaningful healthcare insights. This role is ideal for a leader who enjoys translating advances in machine learning and foundation models into reliable, clinically meaningful systems deployed in real-world healthcare environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team developing and operationalizing machine learning solutions for structured and unstructured healthcare data, including clinical text and imaging workflows
• Guide the evaluation, fine-tuning, deployment, and monitoring of pretrained language models for healthcare applications
• Help define technical strategy and development priorities for machine learning capabilities supporting Verana’s data products
• Establish best practices for model lifecycle management, validation, reproducibility, explainability, and documentation
• Partner cross-functionally with Product, Engineering, Medical, and Commercial teams to align technical solutions with scientific and business objectives
• Drive high standards for data quality, model governance, and clinical relevance in production data products
• Mentor and develop machine learning scientists and technical leaders across the organization

Requirements

• Master’s or doctorate in a quantitative discipline (e.g., data science, computer science, machine learning, biostatistics, biomedical informatics, etc.)
• 10+ years of experience applying machine learning to clinical or healthcare datasets, including recent experience deploying, fine-tuning, evaluating, or operationalizing foundation models and applied machine learning systems
• 5+ years managing technical teams
• Strong programming experience using Python, SQL, PySpark, R, or similar tools
• Experience working within modern cloud-based machine learning ecosystems and deployment environments (e.g., Databricks, SageMaker, MLflow, distributed compute platforms, or similar tooling)
• Experience moving machine learning systems from experimentation into production environments, including model evaluation, monitoring, performance optimization, and cross-functional operationalization
• Familiarity with machine learning approaches for clinical imaging data
• Experience working with clinical datasets derived from EHR systems and related healthcare data sources
• Clear communication skills and able to deliver internal/external presentations, particularly to executive teams
• Ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams, including to inform data product roadmap
• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple initiatives with high attention to detail
• Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States. We are unable to provide visa sponsorship (e.g., H-1B) or OPT/STEM extension support for this position at this time.
• All employees are required to have permanent residency in one of the following states: AZ, CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, IL, LA, MA, MN, NC, NJ, NV, NY, OH, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WA. Candidates based in the Bay Area, New York City, and Knoxville, Tennessee will be given priority consideration. For these locations, the position will follow a hybrid work model, with 3 days per week in office and the remaining days working from home.

Benefits

• Market-leading medical, dental, and vision insurance plans
• 401(k) match
• Flexible time off programs
• Paid parental leave
• Annual learning and wellness stipend

Pay

Salary Range: $245,000 - $275,000 (A geographic premium may be applied to base salary)

About Verana Health

Verana Health is a digital health company that delivers quality drug lifecycle and medical practice insights from an exclusive real-world data network. We are driven to create quality real-world data in ophthalmology, neurology, urology, and oncology to accelerate quality insights across the drug lifecycle and within medical practices. Additionally, we are driven to advance the quality of care and quality of life for patients.

Verana Health recently secured a $150 million Series E led by Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc. (JJDC) and Novo Growth, the growth-stage investment arm of Novo Holdings. Existing investors GV (formerly Google Ventures), Casdin Capital, and Brook Byers also joined the round, as well as notable new investors, including the Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, THVC, and Breyer Capital.

We believe that diverse teams build better products and experiences. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment where every employee feels valued, respected, and empowered to do their best work. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, identities, and lived experiences.