Staff Applied Scientist

Garner Health•New York, NY

7h•$300,000 - $390,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Garner is seeking an exceptional Staff Applied Scientist to join our Applied Science team. This role is responsible for designing and shipping the algorithmic systems at the core of Garner's product, which helps members answer critical questions about healthcare providers, costs, and outreach. This is a hands-on role where you will own production systems end-to-end, from problem framing and objective function definition to choosing the right approach (ML, optimization, heuristics, expert systems, or a hybrid), shipping, and improving the systems based on real-world outcomes. The role also involves a player-coach aspect, where you will lead a small team, set their technical direction, unblock them, and share accountability for their growth and the quality of their work. This position can lead towards formal management or a senior individual contributor track. The role requires a deep understanding of the healthcare economy and Garner's position within it. Examples of near-term roadmap problems include provider tiering optimization, developing an AI primary care doctor experience using LLMs, and building a member engagement model to influence behavior towards better care.

Requirements

6+ years of industry experience as an Applied Scientist, Machine Learning Engineer, Research Scientist, or equivalent; or 4+ years of industry experience with a relevant advanced degree, PhDs preferred
A bias toward action, quickly translating ideas into working prototypes to test approaches
Strong applied problem-solving skills, with the ability to define good metrics and then deliver solutions that improve them
Recognized technical authority, with the judgment to ensure the techniques used across an organization are sound
Strong interest in mentoring or technically leading other Scientists — formal management experience is welcome, but not required
Strong judgment in choosing between statistical models, heuristics, optimization approaches, and simpler algorithmic methods depending on the problem
Strong communication skills, including at the executive level, with a track record of driving alignment across an organization
A desire to be a part of a high-performing, mission-driven team that operates with urgency, a strong sense of individual accountability, and a commitment to authentic feedback
Python, SQL, AWS, Snowflake, pandas, XGBoost, PyTorch, HuggingFace, modern LLM tooling and eval frameworks

Responsibilities

Own the most ambiguous, high-stakes problems facing the company end-to-end, and set how the team frames and approaches them
Frame messy, real-world healthcare and business constraints into clear objectives, tradeoffs, and decision frameworks
Define the set of metrics needed to judge whether a solution is working, and validate solutions before they ship
Choose the right approach for each problem, from machine learning to optimization to heuristics to simple rules, based on what the problem actually calls for, and set the standard for how the team selects and applies these approaches
Deliver algorithmic breakthroughs that move the company's most important metrics, pioneering approaches that become how applied science is done at Garner
Lead a small team — set their technical direction, unblock them when they're stuck, and share accountability for their growth and the quality of what they ship
Review Applied Science work at the highest level across the company, ensuring the methods used across teams are sound and correctly applied
Build a deep understanding of the healthcare economy and Garner's place in it