Senior Director, Vaccines Medical AI and Innovation Lead

Pfizer • Cambridge, MA

3d • $214,900 - $358,100 • Hybrid

About The Position

You will provide independent scientific and strategic leadership for the identification, design, governance, and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced analytics solutions across the Vaccines Medical portfolio. You will define a long-term vision for how AI transforms medical affairs work — including evidence generation, scientific communications, medical content, insights, and field medical enablement — while ensuring that every solution is scientifically rigorous, compliant, and grounded in genuine medical need.
Operating with a high degree of autonomy, you will partner with senior Medical, Development, Digital, Evidence Generation, and cross-functional leaders to translate enterprise medical priorities into a coherent AI solutions roadmap. Through strategic oversight of AI-enabled medical solutions, you will ensure that Vaccines Medical adopts trustworthy, future-ready technology that accelerates scientific work, elevates the quality and consistency of medical outputs, and safeguards scientific integrity — reinforcing Pfizer’s leadership and reputation in vaccines science.

Requirements

• MD and at least 5 years of experience in Medical Affairs, scientific communications, evidence generation, medical or scientific strategy, clinical development, or a related scientific field OR PhD and at least 7 years of experience in Medical Affairs, scientific communications, evidence generation, medical or scientific strategy, clinical development, or a related scientific field
• At least 5 years of experience applying artificial intelligence and advanced analytics in scientific or medical settings, including hands-on experience developing, evaluating, or deploying machine learning, natural language processing, and large language model / generative AI solutions in a life sciences, medical, or scientific context, and their responsible use.
• Experience defining and shaping AI or digital solution strategy — not only executing tactics — including prioritizing use cases, building roadmaps, and translating enterprise medical priorities into high-impact solutions.
• A comprehensive understanding of Medical Affairs — including medical strategy, evidence generation, scientific communications, and scientific engagement — with the ability to identify where AI creates genuine value, and strong verbal, written, and presentation skills to translate complex concepts into clear narratives.
• Experience operating in a highly regulated environment, with familiarity with the evolving global regulatory and policy landscape governing AI in healthcare and pharmaceutical settings and experience anticipating regulatory, legal, privacy, and ethical considerations and applying responsible, trustworthy AI principles such as model validation, human oversight, data governance, bias mitigation, and transparency.
• Experience overseeing the delivery of technology or analytics solutions from concept through validation, deployment, and sustained adoption, including vendor and partner management, and building credibility across senior, cross-functional matrix teams.
• Candidates must be authorized to be employed in the United States.
• U.S. work visa sponsorship (such as TN, O-1, H-1B, etc.) is not available for this role now or in the future.

Nice To Haves

• Vaccines experience, particularly influencing global medical or scientific strategy across multiple assets or lifecycle stages.
• Candidate demonstrates a breadth of diverse leadership experiences and capabilities including: the ability to influence and collaborate with peers, develop and coach others, oversee and guide the work of other colleagues to achieve meaningful outcomes and create business impact.

Responsibilities

• Define and govern the Vaccines Medical AI strategy and roadmap, integrating input from internal and external stakeholders into long-term, global planning aligned to Vaccines Global Business Unit and R&D priorities.
• Serve as a senior scientific and technical advisor to Vaccines Medical leadership, Global Medical franchises, and Global Product Teams, guiding the responsible identification, prioritization, and adoption of high-impact AI and advanced analytics use cases.
• Establish and govern the frameworks, standards, and controls for responsible AI use — including model validation, human oversight, data provenance, bias monitoring, and documentation — so that solutions are compliant, defensible, and grounded in genuine medical need.
• Define the business case, value framework, and success metrics for AI investments, prioritizing initiatives on measurable medical impact rather than technology for its own sake.
• Lead the design, piloting, and scaled deployment of AI-enabled solutions that accelerate medical affairs work, such as evidence synthesis and literature surveillance, scientific content generation and review, medical insights aggregation, and field medical support tools.
• Oversee the end-to-end delivery lifecycle for prioritized solutions — from use-case definition and proof-of-concept through validation, deployment, adoption, and ongoing performance monitoring — ensuring scientific accuracy and fit-for-purpose in a highly regulated environment.
• Partner with Digital and enterprise AI platform teams to influence architecture, data access, and tooling decisions, ensuring solutions are scalable, secure, and interoperable, and represent Vaccines Medical in enterprise AI councils and governance forums.
• Drive change management, training, and capability building so that global, regional, and local Medical Affairs colleagues can adopt AI solutions effectively and responsibly, and adapt centrally developed solutions to local needs.
• Provide senior-level oversight of financial projections, budget strategy, and resourcing for AI initiatives, including vendor, agency, and offshore team management, ensuring investments demonstrate measurable value.
• Anticipate and interpret evolving US and global regulatory, legal, privacy, and ethical guidance on AI in medical and scientific settings, shaping strategy to ensure compliant, innovative, and future-ready adoption.

Benefits

• 401(k) plan with Pfizer Matching Contributions and an additional Pfizer Retirement Savings Contribution
• paid vacation, holiday and personal days
• paid caregiver/parental and medical leave
• health benefits to include medical, prescription drug, dental and vision coverage
• Relocation assistance may be available based on business needs and/or eligibility.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree