Senior Principal AI/ML Scientist

Abbott • Santa Clara, CA

1d

About The Position

Abbott is a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Our portfolio of life-changing technologies spans the spectrum of healthcare, with leading businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines. Our 115,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries. JOB DESCRIPTION: Our medical devices help more than 10,000 people have healthier hearts, improve quality of life for thousands of people living with chronic pain and movement disorders, and liberate more than 500,000 people with diabetes from routine fingersticks. Working at Abbott At Abbott, you can do work that matters, grow, and learn, care for yourself and family, be your true self and live a full life. This Senior Principal AI/ML Scientist position can work out of our Santa Clara, CA location. Senior Principal AI/ML Scientist will lead the technical execution of Abbott’s Medical Devices Digital (MDD) AI initiatives, bridging advanced algorithm research with scalable engineering solutions. You will be vital in building and commercializing enterprise grade Product AI solutions and services from concept through launch in both consumer tech and med tech.

Requirements

• Bachelors Degree (± 16 years) in Computer Science, Engineering Mathematics, or related field
• Minimum 10+ years of experience, Master’s Degree with 8+ years of related experience, or Ph.D. with 5+ years of related experience
• Experience in building and deploying Machine Learning solutions using various ML algorithms and hands-on experience with Python programming
• Excellent understanding of Machine Learning techniques and proficiency in foundational models including fine tuning, algorithm selection and model development lifecycles
• Experience with GenAI and Agentic AI development including grounding, RAG, MCP and prompt engineering.
• Experience in data security best practices, data anonymization, synthetic data generation, and federated learning.
• Experience with cloud databases and ML development in the cloud.
• Publications, patents, or notable contributions to open-source projects.
• Certifications and specializations in AI/ML, LLMs and Cloud platforms
• Excellent oral, written and presentation communication skills
• Team leadership experience and demonstrated mentorship capabilities
• Experience with senior executive/leadership engagement

Nice To Haves

• PhD in Computer Science, Data Science, Data Engineering, or related field
• Experience working in an FDA-regulated business (e.g. validated software related to medical, pharmaceutical, or life sciences products) is preferred.
• Solid understanding of the design thinking process, as well as a passion and know-how for influencing design strategy.
• Experience with FDA 510(k) submissions and clinical-grade ML product development.
• Background in signal processing, computer vision, or multimodal learning.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end AI product development and delivery, including model development, feature engineering, training, validation, deployment, and monitoring.
• Develop state of the art ML algorithms using medical images, sensors signals and EHR data for Abbott’s medical device customers along the entire care pathway.
• Partner closely with scientists and ML researchers, translating innovative concepts into reliable, production-ready software and act as the team’s bridge between science and engineering.
• Ensure strict compliance with regulatory and privacy standards such as HIPAA, GDPR, and Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) guidelines.
• Evaluate and pilot emerging technologies, including large language models, multimodal machine learning techniques, and advanced hardware accelerators.
• Mentor and guide ML engineers and data scientists, establish coding standards, and conduct detailed design and architectural reviews.
• Contribute to peer-reviewed publications and generate Intellectual Property materials to drive scientific understanding and innovation in the field.

Benefits

• Career development with an international company where you can grow the career you dream of.
• Employees can qualify for free medical coverage in our Health Investment Plan (HIP) PPO medical plan in the next calendar year
• An excellent retirement savings plan with high employer contribution
• Tuition reimbursement, the Freedom 2 Save student debt program and FreeU education benefit - an affordable and convenient path to getting a bachelor’s degree.
• A company recognized as a great place to work in dozens of countries around the world and named one of the most admired companies in the world by Fortune.
• A company that is recognized as one of the best big companies to work for as well as a best place to work for diversity, working mothers, female executives, and scientists.

What This Job Offers

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