Head of R&D AI Engineering 

Position Title: Head of R&D AI Engineering 

About the Job

At Sanofi, we’re committed to providing the next-gen healthcare that patients and customers need. It’s about harnessing data insights and leveraging AI responsibly to search deeper and solve sooner than ever before. Join our R&D Data & AI Products and Platforms Team as Head of R&D AI Engineering and you can help make it happen. 

What you will be doing:

Sanofi has recently embarked into a vast and ambitious digital transformation program. A cornerstone of this roadmap is the acceleration of its data transformation and of the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) solutions, to accelerate R&D, manufacturing and commercial performance and bring better drugs and vaccines to patients faster, to improve health and save lives. 

The R&D Data & AI Products and Platforms Team is a key team within R&D Digital, focused on developing and delivering Data and AI products for R&D use cases. This team plays a critical role in pursuing broader democratization of data across R&D and providing the foundation to scale AI/ML, advanced analytics, and operational analytics capabilities. 

As a Head of R&D AI Engineering, you will be a leader on a dynamic team committed to driving strategic and operational digital priorities and initiatives in R&D. You will work with R&D-based Product and Product Line Owners and manage engineering teams within an agile environment to drive the design, development, and deployment of robust, scalable, and performance-based AI/ML endpoints and workflows.  

Our vision for digital, data analytics and AI 

Join us on our journey in enabling Sanofi’s Digital Transformation through becoming an AI first organization. This means:  

• AI Factory - Versatile Teams Operating in Cross Functional Pods: Utilizing digital and data resources to develop AI products, bringing data management, AI and product development skills to products, programs and projects to create an agile, fulfilling and meaningful work environment. 

• Leading Edge Tech Stack: Experience build products that will be deployed globally on a leading-edge tech stack. 

• World Class Mentorship and Training: Working with renown leaders and academics in machine learning to further develop your skillsets.

We are an innovative global healthcare company with one purpose: to chase the miracles of science to improve people’s lives. We’re also a company where you can flourish and grow your career, with countless opportunities to explore, make connections with people, and stretch the limits of what you thought was possible. Ready to get started? 

Main Responsibilities:

AI Product Engineering (workflows, API endpoints, databases):

• Develop and execute a vision & strategy for AI/ML product development 

• Lead AI product development within R&D in alignment with R&D data strategy, business goals, and objectives, making AI models accessible and usable by end users through the deployment of AI/ML models and exposure through APIs/endpoints 

• Use best practices to implement bias protection and foster fairness and transparency within AI/ML technologies; consult with Responsible AI stakeholders to ensure compliance, ethical, and responsible use 

• Collaborate closely with AI/ML model development team to coordinate on development handover activities  

• Manage project timelines, resource allocation, and priorities to ensure timely delivery of AI/ML products engineering activities 

Innovation & Team Leadership:

• Build and lead a high-performing team engineers, providing oversight, mentorship, training, resources, and best practices to empower the team to deliver engineering with excellence 

• Design, implement, and continuously improve a model for AI/ML product delivery within the Data and AI Product Delivery Team 

• Provide specific guidance and escalation support for any challenges faced by AI Engineers during the delivery of AI products 

• Communicate and advise against AI/ML strategies, potential, limitations, Progress, and results to stakeholders and leadership to ensure alignment across R&D business 

Cross-Team Collaboration:

• Collaborate and coordinate with Platform and Data Engineering Teams to maintain data pipelines and consistent ways of working across teams 

• Partner with Enterprise Digital and oversee AI/ML data protection, governance, and compliance  

About You:

Key Functional Requirements & Qualifications:

• Master’s in computer science, engineering, AI/ML, or a related field; 8-10 years of experience in software engineering, data science, AI, or analytics and 6+ years of experience in AI/ML engineering or related field 

• Proven track record leading successful AI/ML data product projects across design, development, scaling, and maintenance 

• Understanding of R&D business and data environment strongly preferred 

• Strong communication between technical and non-technical stakeholders and collaborators 

• Demonstrated team leadership, mentorship, and management skill

Key Technical Requirements & Qualifications:

• Strong expertise in machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, and other related ML/AI technologies 

• Expert experience with AI/ML frameworks and tools and in programming languages such as Python, R, Java 

• Expert experience with the design and development of APIs/Endpoints (e.g., Flask, Django, FastAPI) 

• Expertise in cloud platforms and software involved in the deployment and scaling of AI/ML models 

• Expertise with data analytics and statistical software (incl. SQL, Python, Java, Excel, AWS, Snowflake, Informatica) 

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 

Sanofi careers - it all starts with you!

Pursue Progress

Discover Extraordinary

Better is out there. Better medications, better outcomes, better science. But progress doesn’t happen without people – people from different backgrounds, in different locations, doing different roles, all united by one thing: a desire to make miracles happen. So, let’s be those people. 

Watch our ALL IN video and check out our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion actions at sanofi.com! 

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.