VP, Foundation AI

Whoop • Boston, MA

2d • $200,000 - $300,000 • Onsite

About The Position

At WHOOP, we are building the future of human performance and healthspan. Our wearable and platform translate continuous physiological data into insights that help millions of members train smarter, recover better, and live longer, healthier lives. As WHOOP enters its next phase of AI-driven innovation, foundation models will sit at the core of how we understand human physiology, personalize guidance, and deliver clinically meaningful insights at scale. We are seeking a VP, Foundation AI to lead the development of WHOOP’s multimodal foundation models. These systems unify wearable sensor data, language, blood biomarkers, clinical information, and self-reported inputs to power the next generation of health intelligence. This is a rare opportunity to shape foundational technology with direct impact on real-world health outcomes, enabled by one of the world’s richest longitudinal physiological datasets and a clear mandate to deploy AI responsibly in production. In this role, you will report to the SVP of Research, Algorithms, and Data and serve as WHOOP’s most senior technical leader for in-house foundation model development. You will define modeling and architectural strategy, guide training and scaling decisions, and ensure these models mature into robust, production-grade systems that deliver measurable value to members. Partnering closely with executive leadership, product, engineering, and clinical teams, you will align technical execution with WHOOP’s broader AI strategy and long-term business goals. The ideal candidate combines deep technical expertise in large-scale AI with proven experience building and leading high-performing organizations. You bring scientific rigor, strong judgment, and strategic leadership to advance the frontier of applied AI in health while maintaining reliability, integrity, and member trust.

Requirements

• Deep expertise in modern AI and machine learning, demonstrated through significant professional or academic experience building large-scale learning systems deployed in real-world environments
• At least 10 years of experience in AI and machine learning, including a minimum of 5 years leading and scaling high-performing technical teams or organizations
• Proven hands-on experience developing large models from scratch using distributed training frameworks such as PyTorch or JAX, including ownership of data pipelines, training infrastructure, optimization strategies, and evaluation methodologies
• Direct experience designing or leading foundation models or similarly generalizable representation learning systems that support multiple downstream tasks or modalities
• Demonstrated ability to translate cutting-edge research into durable, user-facing products that deliver sustained and measurable real-world value
• Experience working with complex, high-dimensional, and noisy data sources, including time-series sensor data or multimodal datasets
• Strong judgment around model robustness, evaluation, and failure modes, with an understanding of how modeling decisions impact user trust, safety, and outcomes in high-stakes applications
• Experience partnering closely with product, engineering, and infrastructure teams to deliver AI systems that balance scientific ambition with scalability, performance, and maintainability
• Track record of operating effectively in regulated, safety-critical, or trust-sensitive domains, or of applying equivalent rigor in environments where correctness and reliability are essential
• Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to articulate technical vision, tradeoffs, and progress to executive leadership and to both technical and non-technical audiences
• A leadership style that combines high technical standards with empathy, clarity, and a strong commitment to developing inclusive teams and future technical leaders

Responsibilities

• Lead a world-class team in the design, training, evaluation, and deployment of large-scale multimodal foundation models spanning wearable sensor data, language, blood biomarkers, clinical datasets, and self-reported inputs
• Serve as the senior technical authority on foundation model architecture, representation learning, and training strategy, guiding critical design and investment decisions
• Build, grow, and mentor a high-performing AI organization, fostering a culture of technical excellence, collaboration, accountability, and continuous learning
• Partner closely with MLOps, data engineering, and software engineering teams to scale and serve foundation models in high-throughput, production environments
• Define and drive WHOOP’s long-term AI strategy, ensuring alignment between foundational research, product innovation, and company goals in health, performance, and longevity
• Establish rigorous standards for model evaluation, validation, and monitoring, with a focus on robustness, generalization, and real-world performance
• Communicate technical vision, milestones, and tradeoffs clearly to executive leadership and cross-functional stakeholders to ensure alignment and organizational buy-in

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive
• Education Level: No Education Listed
• Number of Employees: 501-1,000 employees