Associate Director, Biostatistics and AI/ML - REMOTE

Penfield Search Partners Ltd; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Penfield Search Partners Ltd invites applications for an Associate Director, Biostatistics & AI. The role blends pharmaceutical statistics with AI/ML to enhance trial design, analysis, and regulatory submissions, with development of AI-powered tools for automation and data quality in a regulated setting.

Candidates may come from pharmaceutical biostatistics with AI experience or AI/ML engineering with life sciences exposure.

Qualifications

• PhD or Master’s required in biostatistics, statistics, CS, AI, data science, or related field.
• Advanced SAS and/or R skills; Python knowledge.
• Experience with clinical trials, CDISC standards, regulatory submissions.
• Exposure to AI/ML tools; strong interest in AI capabilities.
• 3+ years hands-on AI/ML engineering experience.

Responsibilities

• Support statistical design, analysis, and reporting for Phase II–IV trials and regulatory submissions.
• Develop and implement AI-powered tools to automate statistical programming, reporting, and data quality checks.
• Build, test, validate, and monitor AI/ML solutions in a GxP-compliant environment.
• Ensure AI tools meet regulatory, documentation, and governance requirements.
• Collaborate with Clinical Development, Regulatory Affairs, Medical Affairs, Pharmacovigilance, IT, and vendors.
• Oversee CRO statisticians and programmers on assigned programs.
• Develop SOPs and best practices for statistical analysis, programming, and AI implementation.

Skills

SAS

R

Python

Statistical programming

Communication skills

Education

PhD or Master’s in Biostatistics / Statistics / CS / AI / Data Science

Tools

LLMs

RAG pipelines

MLOps

Clinical data handling

Job description

Our client is an established biotech whose latest need is for an Associate Director, Biostatistics & AI to combine pharmaceutical statistical expertise with artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) to improve clinical development workflows. This role will support clinical trial design, statistical analysis, regulatory submissions, and the development of AI-powered tools that automate processes, improve data quality, and increase efficiency. You will also help ensure AI solutions meet applicable pharmaceutical quality, compliance, and regulatory requirements.

***Please Note: We welcome candidates from either a pharmaceutical biostatistics background with applied AI experience or an AI/ML engineering background with exposure to clinical or life sciences data.

Key Responsibilities

• Support statistical design, analysis, and reporting for Phase II–IV clinical trials and regulatory submissions.
• Develop and implement AI-powered tools to automate statistical programming, reporting, data quality checks, and regulatory documentation.
• Build, test, validate, and monitor AI/ML solutions in a GxP-compliant environment.
• Ensure AI tools follow applicable regulatory, documentation, and governance requirements.
• Collaborate with Clinical Development, Regulatory Affairs, Medical Affairs, Pharmacovigilance, IT, and external vendors.
• Oversee CRO statisticians and programmers on assigned programs.
• Develop SOPs and best practices for statistical analysis, programming, and AI implementation.

Qualifications

Candidates should hold a PhD or Master’s degree in Biostatistics, Statistics, Computer Science, AI, Data Science, or a related field and meet the requirements of one of the following pathways.

• 5+ years of pharmaceutical biostatistics experience with a PhD, or 7+ years with a Master’s degree.
• Advanced SAS and/or R skills, with working knowledge of Python.
• Experience with clinical trials, CDISC standards, and regulatory submissions.
• Exposure to AI/ML tools and a strong interest in expanding AI capabilities.
• 3+ years of hands-on AI/ML engineering experience.
• Strong Python skills and experience with LLMs, RAG pipelines, AI workflows, or MLOps.
• Exposure to clinical or life sciences data and familiarity with statistical concepts.
• Working knowledge of SAS and/or R and an interest in pharmaceutical development.

All Candidates

• Strong communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills.
• Understanding of applicable statistical and regulatory principles relevant to their background.
• A proactive approach to building and implementing AI-powered solutions in a regulated environment.

If you are interested to learn more, please send me a message to [e-mail]