Senior Manager of Machine Learning (SaMD)

WHOOP; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible Vacation

Parental Leave

Stock options

WHOOP membership

Health benefits

Wellness stipend

Sleep performance bonus

Job summary

WHOOP is seeking a Senior Manager, SaMD to lead ML engineers and applied ML scientists delivering regulated health features. You will set direction, grow leaders, and partner with regulatory, quality, clinical science, product, software, and firmware to meet clinical-grade standards.

You will own delivery across multiple workstreams, drive quarterly plans, hire at scale, and shape onboarding and growth. Excellence in regulated ML and clear communication are essential.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in ML, applied science, or software engineering with 3+ years in team leadership.
• Fluency across regulatory, quality, and clinical stakeholders; familiarity with V&V and traceability.
• Bachelor’s degree in CS, engineering, applied math, or related field.
• Direct experience shipping ML-enabled software in regulated environments (FDA/IEC/ISO).
• Ability to set strategy, prioritize under uncertainty, and lead ICs to raise the bar.
• Proven AI-tooling experience improving speed, quality, or decision confidence.
• Deep familiarity with the ML lifecycle from data to deployment and monitoring.
• Clear communicator for technical and executive audiences.

Responsibilities

• Own delivery and people outcomes across ML SaMD teams.
• Set direction, develop leaders, and partner across regulatory, quality, clinical, product, software and firmware.
• Maintain rigor for regulated development and audit readiness.
• Translate strategy into quarterly plans with milestones and success criteria.
• Build and hire at scale; define onboarding, leveling, and growth practices.
• Develop leadership and coach ICs to operate above their level.
• Define operating model with cadences, reviews, and data governance.
• Create AI-enabled workflows to improve speed, quality, and decisions.
• Present work to executives with brevity, evidence, and clarity.

Skills

ML

Applied science

Software engineering

People management

Education

BS in CS/Engineering

Tools

V&V

Traceability

Change control

Design history

Audit readiness

Job description

• As a Senior Manager, SaMD, you will own delivery and people outcomes across the machine learning engineers and applied ML scientists developing WHOOP’s regulated health features
• You will set direction for your teams, develop the next generation of leaders within the function, and partner deeply across regulatory, quality, clinical science, product, software, and firmware to deliver health products that meet a clinical-grade bar
• You will be accountable for both the engineering velocity of your teams and the rigor required to operate inside a regulated medical device development environment (FDA, IEC 62304, ISO 13485, ISO 14971)
• Own delivery, team health, and people outcomes across multiple workstreams within ML SaMD team
• Translate department strategy into clear quarterly plans, milestones, and success criteria; align the team on the highest-leverage work and adapt deliberately as the business evolves
• Build the team: lead hiring at scale, calibrate the bar for regulated development, and shape onboarding, leveling, and growth practices
• Develop the next layer of leadership, coach junior and seniorICs, manage performance with clarity and care, and create the conditions for people to operate above their level
• Set the standard for how regulated ML gets built at WHOOP: methodology, work quality, validation rigor, and audit readiness
• Partner directly with regulatory, quality, product, software, and firmware leaders to align on roadmap, dependencies, and submission timelines; broker trade-offs between iteration speed and regulatory rigor
• Own the risk posture for your function; anticipate execution, technical, and regulatory risks, design mitigation into the operating model, and keep senior leadership clearly informed of the most consequential decisions
• Define and own the operating model for your function; planning cadences, design reviews, decision forums, data governance, and quality gates appropriate to a SaMD context
• Build and continuously raise AI-enabled workflows that create measurable leverage across the team; for development, evaluation, documentation, traceability, and stakeholder communication
• Represent the team’s work credibly to executive and cross-functional audiences with brevity, evidence, and clarity

Benefits

• Flexible Vacation: WHOOP has a flexible vacation policy that allows you to unwind, laptop-free, when you need it most.
• Focus on Family: We offer 18 weeks paid parental leave, plus an additional 2 weeks to gradually return to work.
• Get Invested: In addition to a competitive base salary and 401k, you’re eligible to receive stock options to share in the future of WHOOP.
• WHOOP +1: Everyone on the team gets a complimentary WHOOP membership—plus another membership to share with a loved one.
• Health Matters: Our competitive benefits package covers medical, dental, and vision, in addition to mental health services, life and disability insurance, and more.
• Find Your Fit: Full-time employees get $500 a year to spend on wellness in whatever way they see fit, from fitness classes and memberships, to recovery services.
• It Pays to Sleep: Our Sleep Performance Program incentivizes employees to get more sleep. Log an average sleep performance of 85% or higher for the month and get a $100 bonus.
• Location, Location, Location: You can’t beat the views from the rooftop of One Kenmore Square. Feel inspired daily as you work, enjoy free snacks and coffee, and collaborate in the heart of Boston.

Success in this role requires a profile with both ML and SaMD depth to evaluate your team’s most important decisions, plus the people leadership skill to grow ICs, drive cross-functional alignment, and deliver with both pace and rigor in a regulated environment7+ years of experience in ML, applied science, or software engineering, with 3+ years managing engineering and/or science teamsFluency operating across regulatory, quality, and clinical stakeholders, including familiarity with V&V, traceability, change control, design history, and audit readiness in fast-moving ML programsBachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Applied Math, Biomedical Engineering, or a related fieldDirect experience shipping algorithms or ML-enabled software in a regulated environment (Software as a Medical Device, medical device development, or comparable QMS-controlled product development under FDA, IEC 62304, ISO 13485, ISO 14971)Demonstrated ability to set strategy and make timely prioritization calls under uncertainty, keeping the team focused on the highest-leverage workDemonstrated track record junior and senior ICs, including hiring, performance management, and developing people who in turn raise the bar around themDemonstrated AI-tooling sophistication: a track record of building or adopting AI-enabled workflows that materially improved team speed, quality, or decision confidenceDeep familiarity with the ML development lifecycle: data collection, model training, evaluation, validation, deployment, and monitoring, sufficient to evaluate the most important technical and methodological decisions your team makesClear, high-signal communicator who can move fluidly between deeply technical ML/regulatory discussions and executive-level summaries of risk, trade-offs, and direction.

At WHOOP, we believe there is much more to a candidate than what is written on paper, and we value character as much as experience.

As we continue to build a diverse and inclusive environment.