Director, Data Science

Role Summary

The Director, Data Science will lead the development and application of advanced analytics, AI/ML, and statistical models to drive data-informed decision making and optimize omnichannel initiatives in support of product commercialization across the US affiliate at BioNTech. This role blends hands-on technical expertise, strategic thinking, and vendor management to develop and deploy AI/ML and statistical solutions, oversee vendor-delivered analytics projects, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to generate actionable insights and support business objectives.

Responsibilities

• Develop and deploy AI/ML models and statistical solutions to address business needs such as patient prediction, customer segmentation, next best action and omnichannel optimization.
• Design and execute statistical analyses to interpret diverse datasets, including pharmaceutical commercial data and other relevant sources, and uncover actionable insights and meaningfully impact business performance.
• Utilize Databricks for data exploration, model development and deployment.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to define project scopes and deliver data-driven solutions.
• Stay current with industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices in data science while ensuring ethical and compliant analytics practices.
• Manage external vendors to ensure timely and high-quality delivery of analytics projects.

Qualifications

• Required: A Bachelor's degree in a related field such as Data Science, Statistics, or Computer Science.
• Required: A minimum of 10+ years in data science, with 6+ years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry focusing on AI/ML and statistical applications.
• Required: Advanced proficiency in Python, R, SQL, and AI/ML frameworks (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch, Scikit-learn), with expertise in statistical modeling techniques (e.g., regression, time series analysis, machine learning algorithms, Bayesian methods) applied to commercial and operational domains in the pharmaceutical industry.
• Required: Experience with Databricks or similar cloud-based analytics platforms.
• Required: Strong communication skills to present complex AI/ML and statistical analyses to non-technical stakeholders.
• Required: Proven ability to balance hands-on technical work with vendor management and strategic collaboration.
• Required: Passionate about leveraging data science, automation and artificial intelligence to drive value creation, optimize operations, and deliver actionable insights aligned with business needs, including learning about the Oncology therapy area and company priorities.
• Required: Adaptability to rapidly changing environments.
• Required: Ability to work effectively within large and complex organizations.
• Required: Prior team management experience.
• Preferred: A Master's degree in a related field is preferred.
• Preferred: Understanding of Oncology specific and relevant pharmaceutical industry data sets, especially for the US.
• Preferred: Having worked in a country organization or a startup is a plus.