Senior Data Innovation Specialist (RWD)

Roche • South San Francisco, CA

4d • $117,600 - $218,400

About The Position

The Senior Data Innovation Specialist (RWD) is part of Roche’s Real-World & Clinical Data Strategy team, which develops data strategies and capabilities to support evidence generation, decision-making, and innovation across Product Development. The role identifies, prototypes, and scales novel methods and technologies for using clinical, real-world, and operational data. It focuses on emerging capabilities such as agentic AI, semantic integration, and knowledge graphs, including building AI-enabled tools and agentic workflows to support real-world data analyses and scientific workflows. The position reports to the Data Innovation Lead and collaborates with scientists, engineers, product teams, and external partners to design proof-of-concepts, validate solutions, and assess feasibility for wider use.

The role leads technical evolution and data initiatives by piloting innovations, developing reusable analytical components and frameworks, and assessing unconventional data sources. Solutions should support scientific rigor, traceability, human oversight, privacy, and security. The position is based in South San Francisco, California; relocation benefits are not available.

Requirements

• Master’s or PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, Life Sciences, Data Science, or a related field.
• At least 5 years of experience in data science or healthcare innovation.
• Track record of implementing successful AI-driven pilots or products.
• Strong problem-solving and critical-thinking skills, with the ability to make independent decisions based on sound principles.
• Familiarity with agile, product-thinking, and innovation frameworks such as Lean Startup or Design Thinking.
• Hands-on experience designing and building production-oriented AI agents or agentic systems, including tool/function calling, retrieval, structured outputs, routing or orchestration, and multi-step or multi-agent workflows.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Demonstrated respect for cultural differences in a global workplace.

Nice To Haves

• Exposure to real-world data or research informatics in a biomedical setting.
• Interest in emerging technologies such as machine learning, knowledge graphs, or clinical AI.
• Ability to summarize results for technical and non-technical audiences.

Responsibilities

• Apply specialized knowledge of emerging data types, technologies, and methods to lead innovation activities and complex analytical projects.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to pilot data innovations and integrate them into clinical development and data science workflows.
• Design, build, and evaluate agentic workflows that enable models to use tools, access data, execute analytical tasks, and support scientific decision-making while maintaining scientific rigor, traceability, and human oversight.
• Identify innovation areas through competitive landscaping and evaluate the feasibility and quality of unconventional data sources.
• Develop tools and frameworks to support scalable evaluation, reuse, and streamlining of experimental data approaches and workflows.
• Serve as an expert on innovation methodology, guide peers through new data modalities, and mentor junior team members.
• Maintain compliance with data privacy and security regulations, including HIPAA and GDPR.
• Collaborate with scientists, engineers, product teams, and external partners to design proof-of-concepts, validate solutions, and assess their long-term feasibility.

Benefits

• A discretionary annual bonus may be available based on individual and Company performance.
• The position qualifies for the benefits detailed at the linked benefits page; specific benefits are not listed in the posting.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior