Senior Applied Scientist, AI Studio

John Wiley & Sons Inc.; Hoboken (NJ); On-site; USD 145,000 - 213,000; Full time

Job summary

John Wiley & Sons Inc. is seeking a Senior Applied Scientist for its AI Studio to set scientific direction across engagements and mentor teams. You will work directly with pharma and biotech customers to embed rigorous AI into evidence-intensive workflows.

The role drives scientific credibility, shapes product direction, and collaborates with external partners to extend delivery capacity. A PhD and 8–10+ years of research experience are preferred.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree in a relevant scientific discipline (PhD preferred).
• Extensive post-doctoral or industry research experience (8-10+ years).
• Track record of setting technical direction and credibility with senior R&D leadership.

Responsibilities

• Set scientific approach and quality standards across AI Studio engagements.
• Mentor Applied Scientists and review scientific outputs for rigor and consistency.
• Partner with Forward Deployed Engineers to bridge scientific and technical domains.
• Own external delivery partner ecosystem, defining standards and KPIs.

Skills

Scientific leadership

Mentoring

Strategic thinking

Partner management

Education

PhD or equivalent

Tools

AI tools

Job description

Job Description

We believe in bold ideas, diverse perspectives, and the drive to transform knowledge into impact. Here, your curiosity fuels progress, your voice shapes innovation, and your ambition helps redefine what's possible within science and learning. We are a culture that obsesses over impact, challenges, and drives what's next to power infinite possibilities for our customers, colleagues and society at large.

About the Role

The Senior Applied Scientist serves as a senior scientific authority for AI Studio, setting the scientific approach and quality bar across multiple engagement pods and mentoring Applied Scientists embedded in individual pods. As part of Wiley’s applied AI professional services practice, the role combines deep domain expertise with applied problem-solving to translate real-world research challenges into scientifically rigorous, deployable AI-enabled solutions and ensure consistent quality across AI Studio’s full portfolio of engagements.

The position requires working directly with customers such as pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms, and materials science organizations to embed AI into evidence-intensive research processes, often on engagements with undefined or evolving scientific requirements. The Senior Applied Scientist ensures solutions are grounded in authoritative scientific knowledge and meet rigorous standards for accuracy and reliability, while shaping product direction, extending delivery capacity through external partners, and building Wiley’s scientific credibility in the market.

Job Responsibilities

Scientific leadership across engagements

• Set the scientific approach and quality standard across multiple AI Studio engagement pods, not limited to a single active engagement
• Serve as a technical escalation point and mentor for Applied Scientists on complex or high-ambiguity engagements; review scientific approach and outputs across engagements to ensure consistency and rigor
• Operate with minimal oversight on engagements with undefined or evolving scientific requirements, establishing approach where no established playbook exists
• Partner closely with Forward Deployed Engineers to bridge scientific and technical domains, ensuring successful solution implementation

Delivery partner ecosystem ownership

• Own AI Studio’s external delivery partner ecosystem (e.g., Prolego, Cactus, and other delivery providers extending AI Studio’s delivery capacity), including:
• Establishing scientific standards and governance processes partners must meet
• Defining quality expectations and evaluation criteria for partner-delivered scientific work
• Managing partner performance against those standards, including escalation and remediation when work falls short
• Define and monitor service levels, delivery KPIs, capacity commitments, and operating rhythms for external delivery partners.
• Coordinate with Procurement, Legal, Finance, and business stakeholders on partner onboarding, statements of work, contractual requirements, and renewals.
• Forecast external delivery capacity and recommend the appropriate partner allocation based on scientific expertise, delivery needs, quality, and commercial considerations.

Product and platform influence

• Partner with Product leadership to define scientific requirements, validation frameworks, and customer-driven enhancements that influence the ARI platform roadmap
• Validate product credibility and fitness for use from a scientific standpoint, and provide domain expertise that shapes product positioning

Pre-sales and customer strategy

• Lead scientific feasibility assessment in pre-sales and early scoping discussions, with authority to determine scientific viability and recommend that engagements be reshaped or declined on scientific grounds.
• Serve as a senior scientific partner for strategic accounts, building trusted relationships with R&D leaders and identifying opportunities for repeat or expanded engagements in collaboration with Sales and account leadership.

External credibility and thought leadership

• Represent Wiley’s scientific credibility through publications, speaking engagements, authored technical content, and engagement with customers and the broader scientific community, establishing AI Studio’s authority in pharma AI and other relevant domains.

Standards and delivery model

• Ensure all solutions across engagements and partner-delivered work leverage authoritative data sources, including peer-reviewed research, and adhere to relevant scientific and regulatory standards
• Operate effectively in sprint-based delivery models with defined outcomes, tight timelines, and direct accountability to customers - while setting the bar others are held to

Required Qualifications

• Advanced degree in a relevant scientific discipline (PhD preferred)
• Extensive post-doctoral or industry research experience (8-10+ years), ideally in:
• Pharmaceutical or biotech organizations
• Contract research organizations (CROs)
• Materials science or engineering environments
• Track record of setting technical or scientific direction across teams, and of building credibility with senior R&D or scientific leadership (VP/Chief Scientist level)

Demonstrated ability to:

• Make final scientific calls on ambiguous or contested AI outputs without escalation
• Evaluate AI-generated outputs and third-party/partner-delivered scientific work for accuracy, grounding, and reliability
• Apply critical thinking to determine fitness of AI solutions for real-world scientific use
• Experience with research workflows in evidence-intensive environments and deep understanding of how scientific knowledge is generated, validated, and applied
• Strong communication skills, including the ability to:
• Translate between scientific and technical audiences
• Present complex findings to senior stakeholders, including in pre-sales and executive contexts
• Write clearly for both expert and non-expert audiences, including externally published or presented content
• Experience operating outside traditional academic environments, including:
• Managing ambiguous, undefined problems with minimal oversight
• Delivering against defined outcomes under time constraints
• Working directly with external stakeholders, including third-party delivery partners
• Experience managing or governing third-party vendors or delivery partners (preferred)
• Familiarity with AI tools or applications in a research context (preferred)
• Industry-specific expertise (depending on focus area), such as:
• Life sciences (e.g., pharmacology, clinical research, regulatory science) and understanding of regulatory standards
• Chemistry, materials science, or engineering, with experience in experimental or quantitative research

We power infinite possibilities.

For more than 200 years, we’ve transformed knowledge into discoveries that shape the world. Today, our global team of innovators, creators, and experts is driving what’s next in science, education, and publishing-creating impact that reaches everywhere.

We’re not just observers of progress. We’re the ones accelerating scientific breakthroughs, advancing learning, and sparking innovation that redefines entire fields and improves lives.

Here, your talent matters. Your ideas have room to grow. And your work creates breakthroughs that can change everything.

Wiley is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. We evaluate all qualified applicants and treat all qualified applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, or based on any individual’s status in any group or class protected by applicable federal, state or local laws. Wiley is also committed to providing reasonable accommodation to applicants and employees with disabilities. Applicants who require accommodation to participate in the job application process may contact [e-mail] for assistance.

We are proud that our workplace promotes continual learning and internal mobility. We offer meeting-free Friday afternoons allowing more time for heads down work and professional development, and through a robust body of employee programing we facilitate a wide range of opportunities to foster community, learn, and grow.

We are committed to fair, transparent pay, and we strive to provide competitive compensation in addition to a comprehensive benefits package. The range below represents Wiley’s good faith and reasonable estimate of the base pay for this role at the time of posting roles in the United Kingdom, Canada, USA, Austria, Czechia, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Romania, or Spain. It is anticipated that most qualified candidates will fall within the range, however the ultimate salary offered for this role may be higher or lower and will be set based on a variety of non-discriminatory factors, including but not limited to, geographic location, skills, and competencies.

Salary Range

145,200.00 USD to 212,800.00 USD