Director of ML/AI Platform Operations ​- Evinova

Job Title: Director of ML/AI Platform Operations - Evinova
Location: Gaithersburg, MD

At AstraZeneca, we pride ourselves on crafting a collaborative culture that champions knowledge-sharing, ambitious thinking and innovation – ultimately providing employees with the opportunity to work across teams, functions and even the globe. 

Recognizing the importance of individualized flexibility, our ways of working allow employees to balance personal and work commitments while ensuring we continue to create a strong culture of collaboration and teamwork by engaging face-to-face in our offices 3 days a week. Our head office is purposely designed with collaboration in mind, providing space where teams can come together to strategize, brainstorm and connect on key projects. 

Are you ready to be part of the future of healthcare? Can you think big, be bold, and harness the power of digital and AI to tackle longstanding life sciences challenges?  Then Evinova, a global health tech business might be for you!  

Transform patients’ lives through technology, data, and innovative ways of working. You’re disruptive, decisive, and transformative. Someone excited to use technology to improve patients’ health. We’re building a new Health-tech business – Evinova, a fully-owned subsidiary of AstraZeneca Group.

Evinova delivers market-leading digital health solutions that are science-based, evidence-led, and human experience-driven. Thoughtful risks and quick decisions come together to accelerate innovation across the life sciences sector. Be part of a diverse team that pushes the boundaries of science by digitally empowering a deeper understanding of the patients we’re helping. Launch pioneering digital solutions that improve the patients’ experience and deliver better health outcomes. Together, we have the opportunity to combine deep scientific expertise with digital and artificial intelligence to serve the wider healthcare community and create new standards across the sector. 

Introduction to Role:

The Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Operations team (ML/AI Ops) is a newly formed team will spearhead the design,creation, and operational excellence of our entire ML/AI data and computational AWS ecosystem to catalyze and accelerate science ledinnovations.

This team will Partner with data scientists and AI engineers to implement, deploy, and monitor health and performance of AI solutions.We manage ML/AI and broader cloud resources, automating operations through infrastructure-as-code and CI/CD pipelines, and ensurebest-in-class operations – striving to push even beyond mere compliance with industry standards such as Good Clinical Practices (GCP) and Good Machine Learning Practice (GMLP).

As our Director of ML/AI Platform Operations on our team, you will architect and oversee the global cloud ML/AI infrastructure that underpins our entire ML/AI value proposition. You will design, implement, and manage scalable cloud solutions using AWS services while establishing ML/AI governance frameworks, automating infrastructure with tools like AWS CDK and Projen, and conducting cost-benefit analyses of foundation models to drive strategic decisions across the organization. You will design and scale innovative AI capabilities for our products and operations. Specializing in AWS Services (such as Sagemaker, Bedrock, Lex, OpenSearch, etc.) and modern AI platforms and stacks, you will use the latest frameworks and methodologies in Generative AI to create real business value. Your expertise in AWS cloud infrastructure, DevOps, Foundation Models (FMs), prompt engineering, RAG, and LLMOps tools like DSPy, Letta, LlamaIndex, and LangChain will be pivotal in enhancing our AI capabilities and driving innovation.

This position requires a deep understanding of cloud-native ML/AI Ops methodologies and technologies, AWS infrastructure, and the unique demands of regulated industries, making it a cornerstone of our success in delivering impactful solutions to the pharmaceutical industry.

In addition to your technical leadership, you will also lead a global ML/AI Operations team consisting of 4 to 6 engineers.

Accountabilities:

ML/AI Cloud Operations

• Lead the design, development, and maintenance of our machine learning and AI platform.
• Ensure scalability, performance, and reliability of the platform to support our growing customer base.
• Act as the Product Manager of the platform to create a scalable and sustainable platform for your customers.
• Oversee the day-to-day operations of the AI and ML development platform.
• Ensure the availability, scalability, and reliability of software and infrastructure components.
• Collaborate with Engineering and DevOps teams to maintain server infrastructure and ensure optimal performance.
• Implement and manage CI/CD pipelines for seamless deployment of AI/ML applications.
• Lead by example in creating high-performance, mission-focused and interdisciplinary teams/culture founded on trust, mutual respect, growth mindsets, and an obsession for building extraordinary products with extraordinary people.
• Design and implement resilient cloud ML/AI operational capabilities to improve our system A-bilities (Learnability, Flexibility, Extendibility, Interoperability, Scalability).
• Drive cost efficiency, optimized system performance, and risk mitigation with a data-driven strategy, analytics, and predictive capabilities for the systems we build, manage and govern.

Team Management

• Recruit, mentor, and lead a team of dedicated engineers.
• Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning within the team.
• Set clear goals, monitor progress, and provide regular feedback to team members.

Infrastructure Maintenance:

• Monitor and maintain data storage, compute resources, and networking infrastructure.
• Proactively identify and address infrastructure bottlenecks, security vulnerabilities, and performance issues.
• Know the latest emerging technologies and recommend upgrades or enhancements to the platform.

Quality, Security and Compliance

• Implement and enforce security protocols and standard processes to protect sensitive data.
• Ensure compliance with data privacy regulations and industry standards (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA).
• Collaborate with security teams to conduct regular vulnerability assessments and audits.
• Implement rigorous testing and quality assurance processes to maintain high product quality.

Resource Allocation

• Work closely with AI/ML development teams to understand their resource requirements.
• Allocate resources efficiently, balancing computational needs with cost considerations.
• Optimize resource utilization to reduce operational expenses.

Documentation and Training

• Create and maintain documentation related to platform configuration, processes, and standard methodologies.
• Provide training and support to development teams on platform usage and optimization.

Essential Skills/Experience:

• HS Diploma and 8 years of experience in Engineering/IT solutions OR BA/BS Degree and 5 years of experience or equivalent capabilities.
• Minimum of 5 years in ML/AI engineering.
• Proven track record of designing and implementing ML/AI end-to-end workflows.
• Demonstrated ability to identify real business and product opportunities and implement cutting-edge technologies and methodologies in production environments to drive tangible and quantifiable product and business value.
• Experience leading diverse teams to achieve product and organizational objectives through automation.
• Ability to lead a team, including coaching, mentorship, and development.

• Deep understanding of the Data Science Lifecycle (DSLC) and the ability to shepherd data science projects from inception to production within the platform architecture and development process (AWS TypeScript CDK, Argo CD, Helm, Kubernetes, Fargate, Lambdas).
• Expertise in RAG methodologies and AWS Bedrock, Sagemaker, Lex and OpenSearch for developing AI and automation solutions.
• Expertise of the latest GenAI frameworks and tools like DSPy, Letta, LlamaIndex, and LangChain.
• Advanced coding skills in relevant programming languages (Python/JavaScript/TypeScript) and frameworks.
• Similar CI/CD cloud operations skills as an Cloud Solutions Architect of DevOps engineer, with additional expertise in data science and ML/AI engineering.

Desirable Skills/Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree and 5 years of experience or equivalent capabilities in the ML/AI industry.

Where can I find out more?

• Learn more about Evinova www.evinova.com
• Our Social Media, Follow AstraZeneca on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/1603/
• Follow AstraZeneca on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/astrazenecacareers/
• Follow AstraZeneca on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/astrazeneca_careers/?hl=en
• Our US Footprint: Powering Scientific Innovation - YouTube

Why Evinova?

Evinova is a global health tech business, separate company part of the AstraZeneca group. Together, we can accelerate the delivery of life-changing medicines, improve the design and delivery of clinical trials for better patient experiences and outcomes, and think more holistically about patient care before, during, and after treatment.  We know that regulators, healthcare professionals, and care teams at clinical trial sites do not want a fragmented approach. They do not want a future where every pharmaceutical company provides its own, different digital solutions. They want solutions that work across the sector, simplify their workload, and benefit patients broadly. By bringing our solutions to the wider life sciences community, we can help build more unified approaches to how we all develop and deploy digital technologies, better serving our teams, physicians, and ultimately patients.  Evinova represents a unique opportunity to deliver meaningful outcomes with digital and AI to serve the wider healthcare community and create new standards for the sector.  Join us on our journey of building a new kind of health tech business to reset expectations of what a bio-pharmaceutical company can be. This means we’re opening new ways to work, pioneering cutting-edge methods, and bringing unexpected teams together. Interested? Come and join our journey.

Total Rewards:
The annual base pay for this position ranges from $167,772.00 to $251,658.00. Hourly and salaried non-exempt employees will also be paid overtime pay when working qualifying overtime hours. Base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.  In addition, our positions offer a short-term incentive bonus opportunity; eligibility to participate in our equity-based long-term incentive program (salaried roles), to receive a retirement contribution (hourly roles), and commission payment eligibility (sales roles). Benefits offered included a qualified retirement program [401(k) plan]; paid vacation and holidays; paid leaves; and, health benefits including medical, prescription drug, dental, and vision coverage in accordance with the terms and conditions of the applicable plans. Additional details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment. If hired, employee will be in an “at-will position” and the Company reserves the right to modify base pay (as well as any other discretionary payment or compensation program) at any time, including for reasons related to individual performance, Company or individual department/team performance, and market factors. 

AstraZeneca is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion and providing a workplace that is free from discrimination. AstraZeneca is committed to accommodating persons with disabilities. Such accommodation is available on request in respect of all aspects of the recruitment, assessment and selection process and may be requested by emailing AZCHumanResources@astrazeneca.com.

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Our mission is to build an inclusive environment where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and employees. In furtherance of that mission, we welcome and consider applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of their protected characteristics. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please complete the corresponding section in the application form.