Job title: Senior Principal Data Scientist, Agentic AI
Location: Waltham, MA
As Agentic AI Senior Principal Scientist within our Vaccines R&D Data and Computational Sciences (DCS) organization, you’ll define and execute the Agentic AI strategy for computational design across the company's entire vaccine development portfolio. Ready to get started?
Join the team protecting half a billion lives every year with next-gen science, mRNA innovation, and AI-driven breakthroughs. In Vaccines, you'll help advance prevention on a global scale - and shape the future of immunization. Join the engine of the company's mission — where deep immunoscience meets bold, AI-powered research. In R&D, you'll drive breakthroughs that could turn the impossible into possible for millions. You'll serve as a scientific leader and cross-functional collaborator responsible for implementing agentic AI workflows across four capability areas: bioinformatics, nucleic acid design, protein AI models, and viral strain surveillance supporting also the build of AI agents for Translational Data Science workflows. This role sits at the intersection of cutting-edge science, advanced technology, and strategic leadership.
Join the team protecting half a billion lives every year with next-gen science, mRNA innovation, and AI driven breakthroughs. In Vaccines, you’ll help advance prevention on a global scale - and shape the future of immunization.
About the company:
We’re an R&D-driven, AI-powered biopharma company committed to improving people’s lives and delivering compelling growth. Our deep understanding of the immune system – and innovative pipeline – enables us to invent medicines and vaccines that treat and protect millions of people around the world. Together, we chase the miracles of science to improve people’s lives.
Requirements
Minimum Qualifications:
Masters in Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, Structural Biology, Computer Science, or a closely related quantitative discipline with 5+ years of experience in drug development, molecular design, computational biology, or a related quantitative field within pharmaceutical, biotech, or technology environments
OR
PhD in Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, Structural Biology, Computer Science, or a closely related quantitative discipline with 3+ years of experience in drug development, molecular design, computational biology, or a related quantitative field within pharmaceutical, biotech, or technology environments.
3+ years of demonstrated track record of scientific contribution or R&D work
Preferred Qualifications:
Technical Skills
Deep expertise spanning at least two domains: bioinformatics and genomics, nucleic acid sequence design, or protein structure prediction and design
Experience developing, productionizing, and deploying AI and machine learning models applied to molecular property prediction
Demonstrated experience with autonomous AI systems, large language models, or AI agents applied to scientific research or drug discovery workflows
Fluency in scientific computing (Python, R) and familiarity with cloud-based computational infrastructure (AWS, Azure, or GCP)
Fluent in English; French is a plus
Postdoctoral training
Soft Skills
Strong strategic thinking and business acumen, with ability to translate scientific vision into executable roadmaps and communicate priorities to stakeholders
Exceptional cross-functional collaboration skills with experience at the interface of R&D, digital, and CMC functions
Outstanding communication, presentation, and scientific writing skills with ability to distill complex computational concepts for diverse audiences including non-technical executives
Main responsibilities:
Define and execute Vaccines R&D agentic AI strategy — Implement and lead the adoption of agentic AI workflows across four capability areas: bioinformatics, nucleic acid design, protein AI models, and viral strain surveillance
Leverage and contribute to the company's enterprise AI infrastructure — Champion the development and deployment of AI and machine learning methods, including autonomous AI agents, multi-step reasoning systems, and large language model workflows to accelerate computational design processes
Collaborate across functions — Drive cross-functional collaboration with R&D, Digital, CMC, and Clinical teams to ensure computational design outputs are actionable, integrated, and aligned with downstream development needs
Define and adopt best practices for agentic AI — Establish and enforce best practices for code generation, software engineering, data governance, model validation, and reproducibility across all computational workflows
Pioneer AI-assisted workflows — explore autonomous workflows for scientific computing, data analysis, and application development; build internal capabilities that can be industrialized and scaled across Research, CMC, Translational and Clinical contexts.
Harmonize organization-wide agentic AI practices — build a community of agentic AI experts to implement best practices across the broader DCS organization; mentor scientists in adopting AI-assisted workflows for their R&D activities.
Why choose us?
Bring the miracles of science to life alongside a supportive, future focused team.
Discover endless opportunities to grow your talent and drive your career, whether it’s through a promotion or lateral move, at home or internationally.
Enjoy a thoughtful, well-crafted rewards package that recognizes your contribution and amplifies your impact.
Take good care of yourself and your family, with a wide range of health and wellbeing benefits including high-quality healthcare, prevention and wellness programs and at least 14 weeks’ gender-neutral parental leave.
Work at the forefront of AI-driven research, smart manufacturing, and groundbreaking mRNA platforms that are redefining the future of immunology
Help protect half a billion people every year, contributing to one of the largest global vaccination efforts in healthcare.
Develop your career with access to mentoring, international mobility programs, and opportunities to grow across four continents.
GD-SP
LI-SP
vhd
Pursue progress , discover extraordinary
Better is out there. Better medications, better outcomes, better science. But progress doesn’t happen without people – people from different backgrounds, in different locations, doing different roles, all united by one thing: a desire to make miracles happen. So, let’s be those people.
The company US endeavours to make our career center accessible to any and all users. If you are experiencing difficulty and need assistance applying online, please call 1-866-SANOFI2 (1-866-726-6342) or click here
US and Puerto Rico Residents Only
North America Applicants Only
The salary range for this position is:
$148.500,00 - $214.500,00
All compensation will be determined commensurate with demonstrated experience. Employees may be eligible to participate in Company employee benefit programs, and additional benefits information can be found here.