Principal Data Scientist – AI/ML and Optimization

Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine; Barcelona; On-site; EUR 62,000 - 106,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonus

Vacation days

Parental leave (12 weeks)

Bereavement leave

Caregiver leave

Well-being reimbursement

Career growth programs

Insurance plans

Job summary

Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine is seeking a Principal Data Scientist – AI/ML and Optimization in Madrid, with global deployment across clinical operations. You will build ML models, optimization engines, and GenAI solutions to forecast enrollment, cost, and site decisions while leveraging RWD, EHR, and CTMS data.

The role requires deep expertise in time-series forecasting, multi-objective optimization, and LLM-enabled analytics, plus experience with MLOps and healthcare data standards.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in a quantitative discipline required.
• 5+ years of industry experience delivering data science projects with ML, optimization, NLP, and GenAI.
• Hands-on experience with multi-modal ML and stochastic simulations for time-series forecasting.
• Experience with multi-objective optimization engines using evolutionary algorithms, reinforcement learning, or MILP.
• GenAI and clinical LLMs for document parsing and harmonization.
• Proficiency in MLOps (MLflow, Kedro); Git; CI/CD stacks (Jenkins, GitLab).
• Proficiency with Python and SQL.
• Experience with Python LLM tools (DSPy, LangChain), optimization tools (pymoo), and ML tools (Scikit-learn, XGBoost, Optuna, PyMc).
• Experience with clinical operational data, real-world data, EHR and claims, and financial data.

Responsibilities

• Conceive, develop, and implement ML, optimization, and GenAI solutions to support clinical trial operations.
• Leverage data to develop ML models and optimization engines for data-driven decision making in operational planning.
• Develop predictive ML models to forecast time-series outcomes and KPIs.
• Formulate and solve optimization problems to balance cost, timelines, patient burden, quality, and efficiency.
• Integrate predictive modeling with optimization to evaluate scenarios and recommend strategies.
• Build explainable decision-support systems translating analytics into actionable insights.
• Adapt LLMs for information extraction and clinical protocol analytics.
• Run stochastic enrollment simulations to forecast outcomes.
• Communicate technical results to diverse audiences and stakeholders.
• Coach and train junior colleagues in techniques and processes.

Skills

Python

SQL

GenAI

NLP

Optimization

Multi-modal ML

Time-series forecasting

MLOps

Git

Jenkins

GitLab

LangChain

DSPy

pymoo

XGBoost

Optuna

Scikit-learn

EHR/Real-world data

Education

Ph.D. degree in a quantitative discipline

Tools

MLflow

Kedro

Git

CI/CD (Jenkins)

GitLab

LangChain

Job description

At Johnson & Johnson,we believe health is everything. Our strength in healthcare innovation empowers us to build aworld where complex diseases are prevented, treated, and cured,where treatments are smarter and less invasive, andsolutions are personal.Through our expertise in Innovative Medicine and MedTech, we are uniquely positioned to innovate across the full spectrum of healthcare solutions today to deliver the breakthroughs of tomorrow, and profoundly impact health for humanity.Learn more at jnj.com.

As guided by Our Credo, Johnson & Johnson is responsible to our employees who work with us throughout the world. We provide an inclusive work environment where each person is considered as an individual. At Johnson & Johnson, we respect the diversity and dignity of our employees and recognize their merit.

Job Function

Data Analytics & Computational Sciences

Job Sub Function

Data Science

Job Category

Scientific/Technology

All Job Posting Locations:

Barcelona, Spain, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America, Madrid, Spain, Spring House, Pennsylvania, United States of America, Titusville, New Jersey, United States of America

Job Description

J&J Innovative Medicine – Data, Data Science, and AI - Global Development (DDSAI GD) is recruiting a Principal Data Scientist – AI/ML and Optimization. The ideal candidate will leverage, adapt, and extend machine learning (ML), optimization techniques, and GenAI techniques to create computational pipelines supporting global clinical operations including enrollment forecasting, cost estimation and optimization, and country/site selection.

The primary location is Madrid, Spain. Other listed locations will be considered if approved by the business.

J&J Innovative Medicine develops treatments that improve the health of people worldwide. Research and development areas encompass oncology, cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, immunology, pulmonary hypertension, neuroscience, and infectious disease. Our goal is to help people live longer, healthier lives. We have produced and marketed many first-in-class prescription medications and are poised to serve the broad needs of the healthcare market – from patients to practitioners and from clinics to hospitals. To learn more about J&J Innovative Medicine, visit https://www.jnj.com/innovative-medicine

Key Responsibilities

• Conceive, develop, and implement ML, multi-objective optimization, GenAI solutions to support clinical trial operations.
• Leverage operational, real-world (RWD), and cost data to develop ML models and optimization engines that support data-driven decision making across operational planning. Specifically:
• Develop predictive ML models to forecast operational time-series outcomes and KPIs.
• Formulate and solve optimization problems that quantify tradeoffs among competing objectives, such as cost, timelines, patient burden, quality, and operational efficiency.
• Integrate predictive modeling with optimization techniques to evaluate alternative operational scenarios, assess potential outcomes, and recommend optimal strategies.
• Build explainable decision-support systems that translate complex analytics into actionable insights, enabling proactive planning, early risk identification, and informed business decision making.
• Adapt large language models (LLMs) for tailored information extraction and to create solutions including conducting comparative analytics on clinical trial protocols and trial similarity assessment, clinical trial data harmonization and standardization, schedule of activity optimization, and eligibility criteria evaluation
• Stochastic enrollment simulations to forecast operational and patient journey outcomes including enrollment and study completion.
• Clearly articulate highly technical methods and results to diverse audiences and partners to drive decision-making.
• Coaches and trains junior colleagues in techniques, processes, and responsibilities.

Required Qualifications

• A Ph.D. degree in a quantitative discipline (e.g., computer science, electrical and computer engineering, biostatistics, health economics, biomedical informatics, applied mathematics, or similar),
• 5+ years of industry experience delivering on data science projects using ML predictive modeling, multi-objective optimization, natural language processing, and GenAI.
• Hands-on experience with multi-modal ML predictive modeling and stochastic simulations for time-series forecasting.
• Experience building multi-objective optimization engines to navigate complex trade-offs using evolutionary algorithms, reinforcement learning, or mixed-integer linear programming.
• Experience with GenAI and clinical LLMs for document parsing and clinical concept disambiguation and harmonization.
• Proficient in MLOps practices and tools (MLflow, Kedro); Git usage, CI/CD stacks (Jenkins, GitLab) DevOps tools.
• Proficiency with programming languages Python and SQL,
• Experience with python LLM tools (e.g., DSPy, LangChain), optimization tools (e.g., pymoo) and ML tools (e.g., Scikit-learn, XGBoost, Optuna, PyMc),
• Demonstrated experience and familiarity with clinical operational data, real world data, electronic health records and claims, and financial data.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience in a data science AI/ML role in healthcare, MedTech, and pharmaceutical industries.
• Hand-on experience utilizing clinical trial protocols, registry, cost data, CTMS, EDC and/or EHR to build ML models for estimating operational outcomes or RWE outcomes.

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#JNJDataScience

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Preferred Skills:

Advanced Analytics, Coaching, Critical Thinking, Data Analysis, Data Privacy Standards, Data Quality, Data Reporting, Data Savvy, Data Science, Data Visualization, Digital Fluency, Econometric Models, Organizing, Process Improvements, Strategic Thinking, Technical Credibility, Workflow Analysis

The Anticipated Base Pay Range For This Position Is

€61,800.00 - €106,260.00

Benefits

In addition to base pay, we offer the following benefits*: an annual bonus with set target (% of pay) depending on pay grade / location, where the actual amount is based on the employees’ and companies’ performance of the previous calendar year, or sales commissions. Moreover, we offer vacation days, parental leave for a minimum of 12 weeks, bereavement leave, caregiver leave, volunteer leave, well-being reimbursement, programs for financial, physical and mental health. We also offer service anniversary and recognition awards, and subject to the terms of their respective plans, employees - and in some location’s eligible dependents - can participate in several insurance plans. For more information, visit Employee benefits | Supporting well-being & career growth | Johnson & Johnson Careers.

• This is for informative purposes only. Amounts and actual benefits may vary by location and are subject to change.