Senior Director of Data Science and Machine Learning

At Real Chemistry, making the world a healthier place isn’t just an aspiration—it’s our everyday reality. Our drive to transform healthcare is informed by our blend of deep scientific expertise, human-centred creativity, and AI-driven insights, fostering a unique environment where innovation thrives and our people are impact-obsessed. As a global agency, we provide a full suite of services across healthcare communications and marketing to our clients, including top players in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries.

Our #LifeatRealChem culture is rooted in our people—we believe we are best together and are committed to excellence for both our clients and colleagues. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting your career, if you share our passion for healthcare and connection, we invite you to explore our opportunities.

Discover your purpose. Embrace innovation. Experience #LifeatRealChem.

We are seeking a strategic and hands-on Data Science and Machine Learning leader for our data science and AI/ML initiatives. This role sits in our AI organization and will report to the Chief AI Products and Solutions Officer.  In this pivotal senior leadership role, you will be responsible for defining and executing the data science strategy and ensuring that our AI solutions create significant, measurable business value.

Key Responsibilities

• Data Science and ML Strategy: Define, articulate, and execute the data science/ML strategy, aligning it with the overall AI strategy and the overarching business objectives. Identify high-impact opportunities where data science can drive growth, efficiency, and a competitive advantage.
• Hands-On Technical Contribution: Act as a subject matter expert and a technical leader for the team. You are expected to contribute directly to complex modeling, architecture design, and code reviews. You will set a high technical bar for the team and lead by example.
• Team Leadership & Development: Build and lead a high-performing team of data scientists and machine learning engineers. Foster a culture of excellence, innovation, and continuous learning, providing both strategic and hands-on guidance.
• Stakeholder Management: Serve as a trusted advisor to senior executives and business leaders, translating complex analytical findings into clear, compelling business narratives. Influence strategic decisions and champion the adoption of data-driven solutions.
• End-to-End Delivery: Manage the entire lifecycle of data science projects, from initial problem framing, hypothesis generation, data exploration and model development to the production deployment and monitoring of AI/ML models. Ensure projects are delivered on time, within budget, and in compliance with data governance and ethical standards.
• Operational Excellence & Governance: Champion and implement MLOPs principles – building and managing CI/CD pipelines, automating model deployment and establishing robust monitoring systems. Partner with legal and compliance teams to ensure the responsible and ethical use of AI, mitigating risks and building trust.

Qualifications & Skills

• Education & Experience:
  • An advanced degree (Master's or PhD) in a quantitative field such as Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, or a related discipline is highly preferred.
  • Minimum of 10+ years of progressive experience in data science, with at least 2+ years in a senior leadership role (e.g., Director) managing teams of data scientists.
• Technical Acumen:
  • Demonstrated expertise in building and deploying scalable AI/ML solutions in a cloud environment (e.g., AWS, Azure, or GCP).
  • Proven experience with generative AI models (e.g., Large Language Models like Claude, GPT, Llama), frameworks such as RAG and their applications in business.
  • Experience and familiarity in developing agentic AI systems that can perform multi-step, autonomous tasks.
  • Deep understanding of statistical concepts and experimental design (A/B testing)
  • Deep understanding of the theoretical and practical application of a wide range of machine learning techniques, including supervised, unsupervised learning, and reinforcement learning.
  • Strong hands-on proficiency in programming languages like Python (with a deep knowledge of ML libraries such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, Scikit-learn, and Keras) or R, and expertise in SQL. You should be comfortable writing production-level code.
• Leadership & Strategic Skills:
  • Proven track record of building, scaling, and leading diverse, high-performing technical teams.
  • Exceptional communication, presentation, and influence skills with a strong executive presence.
  • Strong business acumen with the ability to translate data insights into tangible business outcomes.
  • Experience managing vendor relationships, and cross-functional programs.
• Preferred skills:
  • Experience in marketing, commercial and sales functions in biotech, pharma or healthcare domain is highly desired.

Pay Range: $220,000 - $240,000 

This is the pay range the Company believes it will pay for this position at the time of this posting.  Consistent with applicable law, compensation will be determined based on job-related, non-discriminatory factors including but not limited to work experience, skills, certifications, and geographical location. The Company reserves the right to modify this pay range at any time. 

Real Chemistry is proud to be Great Place to Work® certified; check out what our people shared about our culture and workplace on our Great Places to Work Profile here.

We believe we can do our best when feeling our best, which is why we’ve put together a benefits program designed to give you the support you and your family need at every stage of life. Real Chemistry offers a comprehensive benefit program and perks, tailored to your region. Globally, this includes offices in our key markets with free snacks to keep you running all day long, generous holiday and paid time off, options for private medical, dental, and vison plans, and support in saving for the future. Other perks include mental wellness coaching and support and access to more than 13,000 online classes with LinkedIn Learning.  Learn more about our great benefits and perks and search specific offerings in your region at: www.realchemistrybenefits.com.

Working with Real HART: Since the pandemic, we have adapted to how our people told us they want to work. We have office locations in cities in the US, UK, and Europe with many employees and clients that serve as hubs where and when they need us. For employees who are within an hour of one of our offices, we expect attendance in the office two days per week, either at a Real Chemistry office or onsite with clients. We are also actively opening new office locations, so if one opens near you, our Real HART policy will apply. We are not looking for attendance for the sake of attendance but believe that the opportunity to coordinate in-office team meetings, 1:1 meetings with managers, taking advantage of on-site learning, and connecting with client partners is a critical to delivering on our purpose of making healthcare what it should be. Outside of these offices, we have regions, where people work remotely but come together quarterly for collaboration, culture and learning opportunities. We call this our Real Hybrid and Regional Teams (Real HART) approach. Real Chemistry believes we are best together – and our workplace strategy fosters connection and collaboration in person – but also supports flexibility for our people.

Real Chemistry is an Equal Opportunity employer. We continually strive to build and sustain an inclusive and equitable work environment where our employees feel empowered to leverage all they bring from their personal lived experience and professional expertise, to make our team the best in the industry. We encourage motivated and qualified applicants to apply without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, ethnic or national origin, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, marital information, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local employment discrimination laws where Real Chemistry operates. Should you require accommodations throughout the interview process please let your recruiter know.

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