Director, AI Engineering & Innovation

Description

Searching for a player-coach who can both architect breakthrough AI solutions and build the culture and talent that will keep us on the cutting edge. As Director of AI Engineering & Innovation, you will own the end-to-end strategy, delivery, and governance of advanced AI products that transform how our teams serve their clients with new capabilities and/or more efficient workflows.

You'll operate at three altitudes - strategic visionary, hands-on technologist, and enterprise collaborator - partnering with communications teams, commercial innovation leadership, IT and product development, medical, legal/regulatory, and executive leadership to move ideas from whiteboard to production in a highly regulated environment.

Responsibilities

Strategy & Vision

• Define and socialize a 3-year AI roadmap that aligns with corporate growth goals and the future of healthcare delivery.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and translate them into pragmatic investment and innovation decisions.

Hands-on Technical Leadership

• Architect, code-review, and occasionally prototype high-impact solutions using Python, SQL; cloud stack (Azure/GCP/AWS), and enterprise MLOps platforms.
• Establish best-practice CI/CD, automated testing, and responsible-AI guardrails.

People & Program Management

• Collaborate and lead innovation workstreams across the business connecting technical development with account-level end-point solutions delivery staff.

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Work closely with IT and Commercial Innovation leadership to guide, drive, and deliver cross-functional product development.

Qualification Requirements

• 7+ years building & deploying ML/AI products; 3+ years of Marketing/Communication organization experience.
• Proven coding ability (Python, SQL) and cloud stack fluency (Azure preferred).
• Experience delivering in a regulated domain-ideal: pharma, med-tech, CRO, or payer.
• Working knowledge of FHIR/HL7, HIPAA, model explainability, and data-privacy best practices.
• Strong communicator able to translate technical detail into business value for executives and staff.
• Adaptable "Structure Agnostic" Leadership - Demonstrated success delivering complex AI products without the support of a classic, end-to-end product team pod. Thrives in fluid org charts, quickly calibrates to diverse work styles, and can rally cross-functional partners toward measurable impact.

The annual base salary for this position ranges from $121,900 to $150,000. The base salary range represents the anticipated low and high of the Syneos Health range for this position. Actual salary will vary based on various factors such as the candidate's qualifications, skills, competencies, and proficiency for the role. In addition, some positions may include eligibility to earn commissions/bonus based on company and / or individual performance.

At Syneos Health, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace. If your past experience doesn't align perfectly, we encourage you to apply anyway. At times, we will consider transferable skills from previous roles. We also encourage you to join our Talent Network to stay connected to additional career opportunities.

Why Syneos Health Communications? We are powered by Syneos Health, a global professional services organization designed to help the biopharmaceutical industry shorten the distance from lab to life. We have a proven pedigree in health, with industry titans in every facet of healthcare. This eliminates guesswork and fuels our passion for total, life-changing solutions. At the heart of health, we're uniquely poised to predict what's next and respond to the market's demand for smarter and faster answers. We are able to help our customers make important decisions within their business due to our unique understanding of the complexities that come along with working in the healthcare industry. Syneos Health Communications is able to make the complex, simple.

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Syneos Health companies are affirmative action/equal opportunity employers (Minorities/Females/Veterans/Disabled)

Syneos Health has a voluntary COVID-19 vaccination policy. We strongly encourage all employees to be fully vaccinated. Additionally, certain local governments or Syneos Health customers may have vaccine requirements that apply to some of our employees. These employees are required to submit proof of vaccination to Syneos Health and maintain compliance with these requirements.
At Syneos Health, we believe in providing an environment and culture in which Our People can thrive, develop and advance. We reward and recognize our people by providing valuable benefits and a quality-of-life balance. The benefits for this position will include a competitive compensation package, Health benefits to include Medical, Dental and Vision, Company match 401k, flexible paid time off (PTO) and sick time. Because certain states and municipalities have regulated paid sick time requirements, eligibility for paid sick time may vary depending on where you work. Syneos Health complies with all applicable federal, state, and municipal paid sick time requirements.