Lead Data Scientist

Sanofi; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 130,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible work policy

Health benefits

Professional development

Job summary

Sanofi is seeking a Lead Data Scientist in Toronto with expertise in AI, GenAI, and multi-agent systems. You will drive enterprise AI initiatives across Commercial functions, partnering with product, data, and platform teams to deliver measurable business value.

You will mentor teammates, promote responsible AI practices, and stay ahead of AI trends, shaping Sanofi Digital’s data-first approach in a hybrid work environment.

Qualifications

• Master or PhD in Computer Science, Data Science, AI, Mathematics, Physics, Computational Linguistics or related field.
• 4+ years in Data Science/ML/AI with business impact, plus 1+ years in GenAI/LLM
• Strong programming in Python/Java, SQL/NoSQL, Spark, REST APIs; familiarity with cloud services

Responsibilities

• Lead design, development, deployment, and scaling of enterprise AI, ML, Generative AI, and Agentic AI solutions across Commercial functions.
• Serve as SME for complex AI initiatives, guiding architecture, model selection, experimentation, and implementation best practices.
• Own end-to-end lifecycle of AI products from framing to deployment, monitoring, and continuous improvement.
• Partner with Product Owners and data/platform teams to translate requirements into scalable AI solutions.
• Drive adoption by communicating complex outputs to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Contribute to evolution of Commercial AI strategies with technical expertise and industry best practices.
• Ensure Responsible AI, governance, security, and policy compliance.
• Develop reusable frameworks, accelerators, documentation, and coding standards.
• Stay current with AI/GenAI advancements and evaluate opportunities to create business value.
• Mentor junior Data Scientists and AI Engineers; support talent development initiatives.

Skills

Python

Java

Spark

REST APIs

LangChain

Transformers

NLP

SQL

NoSQL

AWS

GCP

Azure

Jira

Confluence

English

Education

Master or PhD in CS/DS/AI

Tools

LangChain

LangGraph

Transformers

Snowflake

Job description

Reference Number: R2868512

Position title: Lead Data Scientist

Department: Commercial Data Science

Location: Toronto, ON (Flexible working - 40% home office / week)

About the job

Ready to push the limits of what’s possible? Join Sanofi in one of our corporate functions and you can play a vital part in the performance of our entire business while helping to make an impact on millions around the world.

About the Sanofi Digital:

We are an innovative global healthcare company, driven by one purpose: we chase the miracles of science to improve people’s lives. Our team, across some 100 countries, is dedicated to transforming the practice of medicine by working to turn the impossible into the possible. We provide potentially life-changing treatment options and life-saving vaccine protection to millions of people globally, while putting sustainability and social responsibility at the centre of our ambitions.

Sanofi’s Digital organization’s mission is to transform Sanofi into a data-first and AI first organization by empowering everyone with good data. Through custom developed AI products built on world class data foundations and platforms, the team builds value and a unique competitive advantage that scales across our markets, R&D and manufacturing sites. The team is located in major hubs in Paris, Lyon, Barcelona, Cambridge, Bridgewater, Toronto, Budapest and Hyderabad. Join a dynamic, fast paced and talented team, with world class mentorship, using AI to chase the miracle of science.

We are seeking a highly skilled and visionary Lead data scientist to drive innovation and impact at the intersection of AI and Commercial Pharma operations. This role will be a part of the Digital Commercial Advanced Analytics and AI team, which operates under the Digital Global Business Units and is an integral part of Sanofi Digital Organization.

About Sanofi

We’re an R&D-driven, AI-powered biopharma company committed to improving people’s lives and delivering compelling growth. Our deep understanding of the immune system – and innovative pipeline – enables us to invent medicines and vaccines that treat and protect millions of people around the world. Together, we chase the miracles of science to improve people’s lives.

Main Responsibilities:

• Lead the design, development, deployment, and scaling of enterprise AI, Machine Learning, Generative AI, and Agentic AI solutions that drive measurable business value across Commercial functions, some examples of use cases are
  • Enhancing the patient journey through intelligent and personalized support
  • Autonomous agents for omnichannel engagement
  • AI & GenAI driven transformation of market access and payer strategies
  • Conversational AI for data interactions and insights (Talk-to-data capabilities)
  • Development of unified platform of sales, marketers and MSL users powered by multi-agent systems
  • Agentic AI powered Market research and competitive intelligence platform
• Serve as the subject matter expert for complex AI initiatives, providing guidance on solution architecture, model selection, experimentation approaches, and implementation best practices
• Own the end-to-end lifecycle of AI products, from business problem framing and prototype development through deployment, operationalization, monitoring, and continuous improvement
• Partner closely with Product Owners, business stakeholders, Data Engineers, AI Engineers, and platform teams to translate business requirements into scalable AI solutions.
• Drive adoption of AI solutions by effectively communicating complex technical concepts, model outputs, and business insights to technical and non-technical audiences
• Contribute to the evolution of Commercial AI, data, and platform strategies through technical expertise, innovation, and industry best practices
• Ensure AI solutions comply with Responsible AI principles, governance requirements, security standards, and enterprise policies
• Develop and promote reusable frameworks, coding standards, accelerators, documentation, and best practices to improve delivery quality and efficiency
• Stay current with advancements in AI, Generative AI, and Agentic AI, evaluating emerging technologies and identifying opportunities to create business value
• Mentor junior Data Scientists, AI Engineers, and interns through technical coaching, code reviews, solution reviews, and knowledge sharing
• Contribute to innovation initiatives, technical publications, patents, and AI communities of practice
• Support talent acquisition, workforce planning, and capability-building initiatives to strengthen the organization's AI and Data Science capabilities

About you

Required Qualifications:

• Master or PhD Degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Mathematics, Physics, Computational Linguistic or a related field
• 4+ years of experience in Data Science, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Advanced Analytics, or related disciplines, with a proven track record of delivering business impact through data-driven solutions, with 1+ years hands-on experience in GenAI or LLM-based applications and familiarity of Agentic AI frameworks
• Strong programming skills in PythonorJavaor other enterprise programming languagesSQL/NoSQL query, familiarity with Spark, REST APIs, Golang, NodeJS, Angular, Typescript etc.
• Experience developing AI applications using modern frameworks and libraries such asLangChain,LangGraph & Transformers
• Strong expertise in machine learning methodologies including predictive modeling, classification, regression, forecasting, recommendation systems, optimization, causal inference, experimentation, and statistical analysis
• Strong understanding of agentic AI architectures, multi-agent systems, prompt engineering, tool/function calling, workflow orchestration, and AI application evaluation frameworks
• Knowledge of NLP tools like regex and fuzzy string matching
• Proficiency in working with variety of data assets (Structured and un-structured) hosted in different databases like Snowflake, vector databases, and cloud-native AI services
• Good understanding of agentic workflows, prompt engineering, and orchestration of multi-step AI steps by building AI agents Experience creating and deploying code libraries using functions, classes in Python in AI product-focused development under an agile environment
• Experience in production-ready model & software development
• Deep understanding on managing AI/Gen-AI end-to-end life-cycle management
• Experience working in cloud-based environment such as AWS or GCP or Azure and using cloud-technologies and native ML/GenAI tools for building AI-solutions
• Experience with various enterprise-level Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)
• Knowledge of regulatory, compliance and ethical considerations in AI/GenAI
• Nice to be already involved in an Agile/Scrum environment and Comfortable utilizing tools like Jira & Confluence

Functional Skills:

• Proven ability to lead complex AI and Data Science initiatives involving multiple stakeholders and cross-functional teams
• Ability to influence technical direction and design decisions through expertise and thought leadership rather than formal authority
• Strong stakeholder engagement skills with the ability to translate business challenges into analytical and AI solutions.
• Experience presenting technical concepts and recommendations to both technical and business audiences
• Excellent communication, storytelling, problem-solving, and collaboration skills
• Ability to balance innovation, technical excellence, business priorities, and delivery timelines
• Nice to have experience in life sciences and healthcare and experience in a complex global organization
• A demonstrated ability to work and collaborate in a team environment, working with multi-cultural global team
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, constantly evolving environment and to manage multiple priorities
• Fluent in English (Other languages a plus)

When joining our team, you will experience:

• An international work environment, in which you can develop your talent and realize ideas and innovations within a competent team
• An attractive, market-oriented salary and other benefits
• Flexible home office policy, with a possibility to work up to 40% of time from home / where you can easily schedule your office days
• Collective life and accident insurance
• Enjoy a thoughtful, well-crafted rewards package that recognizes your contribution and amplifies your impact
• Exposure to training and certification pathways for technical and functional skills from AWS, SnowFlake, Informatica and others
• An individual and well-structured introduction and training of new employees and we will dedicate a Buddy for you to better navigate in your first weeks
• Your professional and personal development will be supported purposefully

Why Choose Us?

• Bring the miracles of science to life alongside a supportive, future-focused team.
• Discover endless opportunities to grow your talent and drive your career, whether it’s through a promotion or lateral move, at home or internationally.
• Enjoy a thoughtful, well-crafted rewards package that recognizes your contribution and amplifies your impact.
• Take good care of yourself and your family, with a wide range of health and wellbeing benefits including high-quality healthcare, prevention and wellness programs.

This position is for a new vacant role that is now open for applications.

AI Usage

"Artificial Intelligence” refers to any systems that use automated processes, including algorithms and machine learning, to analyze data and make predictions, inferences, decisions, or recommendations without direct human involvement. These systems may process personal information to identify patterns, improve services, or support decision-making. The Company may use Artificial Intelligence for purposes including, but not limited to, resume screening and hiring, scheduling interviews or meetings, conducting surveys, matching skills with potential job openings, interview scoring, ensuring compliance with regulations applicable to our industry, and activities related to performance evaluation. Information collected and processed by the Company’s Artificial Intelligence systems may include the personal information detailed above and calendar availability. It excludes the information collected and processed for monitoring purposes. You should contact Human Resources if you have a question or concern regarding your personal information. You can also contact Canada’s Privacy Officer via Sanofi’s datasubject request portal, Data Subject Rights Webform. The Data Subject Rights Webform can also be used to request access or correction of your personal information and file a complaint.

Sanofi is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion. Our goal is to attract, develop and retain highly talented employees from diverse backgrounds, allowing us to benefit from a wide variety of experiences and perspectives. We welcome and encourage applications from all qualified applicants. Accommodations for persons with disabilities required during the recruitment process are available upon request.

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All compensation will be determined commensurate with demonstrated experience. Employees may be eligible to participate in Company employee benefit programs, and additional benefits information can be found here.

Toute compensation sera déterminée en fonction de l'expérience démontrée. Les employés peuvent être admissibles à participer aux programmes d'avantages sociaux de l'entreprise. Des informations supplémentaires sur les avantages sociaux peuvent être trouvées ici.