Staff Applied Scientist

Garner Health•New York City, NY

21h•Hybrid

About The Position

Garner is seeking an exceptional Staff Applied Scientist to join our Applied Science team. We are hiring Applied Scientists to design and ship the algorithmic systems at the core of our product. Our members rely on us to answer hard questions — Which doctor should I see? What will it cost? When should we reach out, and how? — and the quality of those answers is determined by the algorithms behind them. This is not a dashboards or descriptive-analytics role. You will own production systems end-to-end: framing the problem, defining the objective function, choosing the right approach (ML, optimization, heuristics, expert systems, or a hybrid), shipping it, and improving it against real-world outcomes. The closest analog outside healthcare is a quantitative researcher at a top hedge fund. This is a player-coach role. You will be a hands-on-keys Applied Scientist, while also leading a small team that helps you deliver on your roadmap. Your time will be split between your own technical work and working with your team to shape how they approach their problems. This role is a good fit for someone who wants to develop their management toolkit while continuing to work closely on their own technical work, and it can lead either towards management or a deeper senior IC track.

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

Nice To Haves

PhDs preferred

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