Senior Director, Head of Engineering

Role Summary

Senior Director, Head of Engineering role leading Pfizer Digital & Technology’s R&D Forward Impact Engineering & Engagement Team (FIEET). The leader will oversee a global team of Forward Deployed Engineers, Full-Stack Developers, Data Engineers, and AI Engineers who co-create solutions that help R&D scientists, clinicians, and operations teams harness the power of AI and data. The role ensures rapid prototyping and enterprise delivery move in sync, balancing innovation velocity with integration, governance, and operational excellence, and partners with R&D leaders, Enterprise Architecture, Creation Centers, Platform Engineering, and Data Management to contribute to a sustainable, scalable digital ecosystem. The mandate is to accelerate experimentation without fragmentation, ensuring the Forward Deployed Engineering model works with existing R&D and Digital & Technology teams to deliver business value and advance science.

Responsibilities

• Lead a global team of engineers and data/AI professionals to co-create solutions for R&D, clinical, and operations use cases.
• Align rapid prototyping with enterprise delivery, governance, and operational excellence.
• Partner with R&D leaders and cross-functional groups (Enterprise Architecture, Creation Centers, Platform Engineering, Data Management) to ensure prototypes and MVPs contribute to a scalable digital ecosystem.
• Accelerate experimentation while preventing fragmentation and ensuring the Forward Deployed Engineering model integrates with existing teams.
• Drive architectural and strategic decisions that balance innovation velocity with stability, security, and maintainability of production systems.

Qualifications

• Required: Enterprise-Scale Leadership ‚Äî 12+ years leading large, distributed software, data, or AI engineering teams in a matrixed, global environment.
• Required: Bachelor‚Äôs degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Bioinformatics, Engineering, or related field.
• Required: Cross-Functional Collaboration ‚Äî ability to align innovation teams with enterprise architecture, platform, and application groups to deliver cohesive solutions.
• Required: Technical Credibility ‚Äî strong grounding in cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP), data pipelines, AI/ML architectures, and modern application frameworks; capable of engaging with technical teams at an executive level.
• Required: AI and Data Fluency ‚Äî understanding of machine learning, large language models, NLP, and generative AI; ability to translate technologies into practical R&D use cases.
• Required: Operational Maturity ‚Äî experience guiding prototypes into sustainable enterprise solutions with attention to security, scalability, and maintainability.
• Required: Strategic Communication ‚Äî ability to convey technical vision to R&D and business executives; skilled at aligning stakeholders with differing incentives.
• Required: Talent Development ‚Äî track record of building high-performing, inclusive teams and developing next-generation engineering leaders.
• Required: Business Orientation ‚Äî demonstrated success delivering measurable business outcomes (e.g., cycle-time reduction, insight acceleration, cost optimization) through digital solutions.
• Preferred: Pharma/Life Sciences R&D experience in regulated environments (GxP, clinical, regulatory).

Skills

• Integrator ‚Äî Bridges innovation and operations to keep R&D and Digital in rhythm.
• Architect of Trust ‚Äî Builds shared frameworks enabling multiple teams to innovate confidently.
• Strategic Technologist ‚Äî Combines engineering depth with vision for AI and data transformations in science.
• Servant Leader ‚Äî Elevates others through empowerment, empathy, and clear purpose.
• Outcome Catalyst ‚Äî Defines success by impact on science, patients, and the enterprise.

Education

• Bachelor‚Äôs degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Bioinformatics, Engineering, or related discipline.

Additional Requirements

• Work Location: Hybrid