Senior Principal Scientist (Senior Director Level), Digital Biomarker Strategy & Data Science, Global Digital Analytics & Technologies (GDAT)

Key Skills

Big Data Technology, Data Analysis, Data science techniques, Design, Java Programming, Leadership, Machine learning techniques, Management, Mathematics, MATLAB Programming, Python Programming, R Programming, SQL, Statistics

Job Description

New hires in office-based roles in the US & Puerto Rico will be required, subject to applicable law, to demonstrate that they have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19 or qualify for a medical or religious exemption to this vaccination requirement that can be accommodated without an undue burden to the operation. However, subject to applicable law, employees working in roles that the Company determines require routine collaboration with external stakeholders, such as employees in customer facing commercial or research based roles, will be required to be fully vaccinated as a condition of employment.

The Global Digital Analytics and Technologies group within Translational Medicine at our company leads the development, validation, and adoption of digital and patient-centric measures for use within our clinical programs to reduce trial participant burden, inform drug development decision-making, and support demonstration of value-evidence for our novel therapeutics across multiple therapeutic areas.

The Senior Principal Scientist role is a Senior Director equivalent position. The Senior Principal Scientist, Digital Biomarker Strategy & Data Science (GDAT) will develop, oversee, and execute data science strategies to support the use of digital health solutions to objectively measure aspects of disease and treatment benefit, inclusive of the development and validation of digital endpoints for use across drug development programs. The successful candidate will partner across functional areas, as well as with external vendors and partners, to enable use of digital technologies and endpoints that will impact program strategies and drug development decision-making.

Responsibilities include and are not limited to the following:

• Leading a team of data scientists within GDAT, including people management and scientific oversight, under the direction of the Executive Director of GDAT
• Provide strategic leadership in the development of digital health and data science strategies to identify, develop, and validate digital biomarkers and endpoints for deployment in clinical drug development programs across a portfolio of projects
• Partner cross-functionally, including with Translational Medicine and Global Clinical Development, to frame the critical drug development questions that digital clinical measures can address and develop appropriate corresponding digital health strategies and solutions
• Influence clinical trial design and drug development strategies via use of technology and digital endpoints
• Oversee and/or execute analysis of digital health technology data to extract meaningful insights and inform decision-making
• Maintains knowledge of the rapidly evolving digital health technology landscape and digital medicine field to identify, prioritize, and execute on opportunities for impact
• Serve as the scientific point of contact for various technology companies and external vendors, identifying how they align with our strategy/meet our organization’s business needs and partnering as appropriate
• Effectively communicate strategy and results to internal and external partners
• Providing functional representation on drug development teams, committees and task forces spanning beyond GDAT, and in cross-functional and governance discussions
• Setting priorities for direct reports and driving performance management, staff development and training

Education Minimum Requirements:

• Ph.D. or equivalent degree with at least 10 years of experience – OR- Master or equivalent degree with at least 14 years of experience, where “experience” means having a record of increasing responsibility and independence in a similar role in digital health, data science, pharmaceutical drug development, or academia.
• Educational background in biomedical engineering, computer science, applied mathematics, statistics, or a related field

Required Experience and Skills:

• An integrated understanding of the digital medicine field and clinical drug development
• Strong scientific background and achievements in digital biomarker research and analysis of sensor data with application to pharma or healthcare
• Background and expertise in machine learning, and/or signal processing
• Proficient in Python, R, SQL and/or Matlab
• Experience with handling high dimensional big data
• Keeps current with emerging trends in data science
• Expert skills in experimental design and critical data analysis and interpretation
• Experience in clinical drug development, clinical trial design, and interactions with regulators
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, presentation, and problem scoping and planning skills
• Ability to work effectively across boundaries to build strong collaborative relationships with internal and external partners
• Strategic thinker with a proven track record of successfully delivering projects
• Ability to influence up and challenge the status quo
• Demonstrated ability to lead a crossfunctional team and to oversee the work of other scientists
• Resourceful and self-motivated

Preferred Experience and Skills

• Demonstrated strategic ability to develop innovative solutions to undefined problems and business processes to meet the needs of key stakeholders
• Experience in managing external vendors
• Research experience in disease areas such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease or other neurodegenerative disorders

We are a research-driven biopharmaceutical company. Our mission is built on the simple premise that if we “follow the science” that great medicines can make a significant impact to our world. We believe that a research-driven enterprise dedicated to world-class science can succeed by inventing medicine and vaccine innovations that make a difference for patients across the globe.