Medical Director, Clinical AI

Pelago•New York, NY

1d•$275,000 - $325,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Pelago is a leading specialty substance use care provider that focuses on matching care intensity to individual member needs, rather than defaulting to expensive interventions. Their programs support members through various stages of substance use, offering personalized treatment for different substances based on individual health factors. With the integration of Sona, their AI Mental Health Specialist, Pelago extends this model to mental health, combining clinical expertise with technology to enhance access and quality of care. They believe technology should augment, not replace, clinical judgment. Pelago serves hundreds of employers and health plans, having already assisted over 750,000 members. This role is for individuals passionate about AI and making a significant impact on health. This is a senior leadership position at the intersection of clinical medicine and AI product development. The ideal candidate will be a physician-leader who establishes and maintains clinical standards across Pelago's care programs and serves as the clinical authority for the AI-powered care platform. The role involves close collaboration with VPs, the Chief Scientific Officer, and cross-functional teams in Product, Engineering, Clinical Research, and Growth to ensure care is safe, effective, and scalable, and that AI products are clinically sound. It requires a leader with integrity, who can thrive in a fast-paced environment, and communicate effectively in both medical and machine learning contexts. This is a hybrid role requiring 3 days per week in the NYC office.

Requirements

MD, DO or Ph.D. with an active, unrestricted license in good standing.
Board-certified in Addiction Medicine, Psychiatry, or a closely related specialty.
7+ years of clinical experience.
Prior leadership experience in a digital health, health tech, or multi-site clinical setting strongly preferred.
Deep expertise in substance use disorder treatment, including MAT/MOUD protocols.
Familiarity with co-occurring mental health conditions, CBT, and motivational interviewing.
Experience working at the intersection of clinical care and AI/technology as a clinical collaborator within a product or engineering team.
Strong AI fluency: familiar with the current state of the art, able to iterate on prompts, evaluate model outputs, and understand LLM capabilities and failure modes in a clinical context.
Exceptional communicator: able to translate clinical complexity for product teams, employer clients, and executive stakeholders.
Comfort navigating a fast-moving startup environment where clinical judgment and pragmatism both matter.
Multi-state licensure or willingness to obtain is preferred.
NYC-based or willing to relocate; hybrid presence expected.

Nice To Haves

Experience with value-based care models, employer-sponsored health programs, or health plan contracting is a plus.

Responsibilities

Own clinical protocols, guidelines, and quality standards across Pelago's care model.
Provide oversight and supervision to the care team, acting as the primary escalation point for complex clinical cases.
Ensure clinical practice remains current with evidence-based research, regulatory requirements, and licensing standards.
Lead ongoing clinical quality review, including outcomes measurement and protocol refinement.
Oversee medication-assisted treatment (MAT/MOUD) programs and ensure prescribing practices meet clinical and regulatory standards.
Serve as clinical supervisor for Pelago's AI-driven care programs, ensuring AI-assisted care meets standards for quality, compliance, and documentation.
Act as the embedded clinical voice in product development, participating in design reviews, prompt iteration, annotation, and model output evaluation.
Oversee clinical operations of the AI arm, including annotation strategy, safety protocols, clinical routing logic, and escalation pathways.
Provide structured clinical feedback and ongoing quality review to Product, Engineering, and Design teams to ensure AI tools are evidence-based.
Define and maintain clinical governance for AI-assisted care, including QA standards, escalation pathways, and documentation.
Help define how care team roles evolve with increasing automation.
Build feedback loops between AI-assisted and human-delivered care to ensure seamless transitions and escalations.
Support clinical credentialing, licensure, and compliance workstreams.
Partner with the Chief Scientific Officer on clinical standards, research alignment, and program validation.
Partner with the VP of Care Delivery on the clinical strategy for the member experience roadmap.
Represent clinical priorities in cross-functional strategy discussions.
Support hiring, onboarding, and clinical development of care team members.
Lay the groundwork for growing the Clinical AI function into a team within 12-18 months.