VP of Engineering

Description

Our Mission and Vision

Unlearn exists to transform clinical development by making every trial smarter. We harness data, AI, and digital twins to enable faster, more robust studies that bring life-saving treatments to patients faster. This mission drives everything we do as we partner with biopharmaceutical companies to redesign how clinical trials are planned, run, and analyzed.

We are defining the future of clinical development with unmatched scientific credibility, replacing uncertainty with AI-powered precision so decisions are clearer and trials are stronger. We don’t just disrupt the pharmaceutical industry, we create lasting change.

We believe AI will define the future of medicine, and we are committed to building that future responsibly, rigorously, and in close collaboration with our partners in clinical development.

About Our Team

We come from a variety of backgrounds ranging from machine learning to marketing—but regardless of where we come from, Unlearners share some common traits:

Unlearners are ambitious ; we aren’t intimidated by big, challenging goals.

Unlearners are disciplined experimenters ; we break down our big goals into smaller chunks and meet as often as necessary to track our velocity and iterate quickly.

Unlearners are gritty ; we never give up, setbacks just make us try harder.

Unlearners are receptive to new ideas ; in fact, we hate being stuck with the status quo

Unlearners are storytellers ; sharing information with each other and with the world is super important, too important to be boring. And, last but not least,

Unlearners are team-oriented ; we put the mission first, the company second, the team third, and individuals last.

Headquartered in San Francisco, Unlearn was founded in 2017 by a team of world-class machine learning scientists. We have raised venture capital from top tier investors such as Altimeter, Insight Partners, Radical Ventures, 8VC, DCVC, and DCVC Bio, and completed our $50 million Series C in January 2024.

If our purpose and culture resonate with you, we invite you to apply.

Responsibilities

• Leading Pharma and Biotech companies trust Unlearn to deliver scientifically rigorous work using digital twins on studies where the stakes are high and the timelines are real. A digital twin of a patient is a comprehensive prediction of expected outcomes under a defined standard of care, made by a machine learning model built using our proprietary technology. Working at scale across the industry requires a strong engineering foundation built around data, models, and AI in a regulated, compliance-heavy environment.
• As the VP of Engineering, you will lead our engineering function, an organization of engineers spanning core engineering, applications, ML/AI Ops, and infrastructure. The team includes engineers across experience levels, anchored by strong senior technical leaders. Engineering plays a critical role in our ability to deliver AI technology through models, applications, and agentic systems, and this role will ensure the potential of AI systems are realized across that technical stack.
• This is an execution-focused leadership role, focused on the core engineering systems, software applications, infrastructure, and forward deployment that drive AI-heavy, tech-enabled services. You will work with your teams on scoping and delivery, and lead an engineering organization known for shipping what it commits to. You will partner closely with Product, Delivery, and R&D teams to understand requirements, integrate engineering with our customer delivery teams, and build the platform and tools they use to do their best work.
• Just as importantly, you will connect engineering to the company's direction, understanding company strategy, translating it into a concrete engineering roadmap that integrates a workflow across data, modeling, applications, compliance, and security, and holding the team accountable for delivering to that roadmap on timeframes that match company objectives. You will work as a member of the leadership team, maintaining consistent communication and clear expectations in both directions, so that leadership always knows where engineering stands, and engineering always knows why its work matters.
• Lead Unlearn's engineering function across technical disciplines, owning the quality, reliability, compliance, and security of the systems that power our work. Ensure AI tools and systems are used heavily for efficiency and impact.
• Drive execution: define projects, partner with teams on scoping and estimation, and run delivery practices that turn commitments into shipped work. Partner with Product, R&D, and Delivery leadership to understand requirements, shape technical approaches, and deliver on value for customers.
• Translate company strategy to sequence and prioritize work so that engineering output directly advances company objectives, and hold teams accountable for delivering to that roadmap on the timeframes the business requires.
• Operate as a member of the leadership team: report clearly and consistently on engineering progress, capacity, and risk; maintain aligned expectations between leadership and the engineering team; and communicate priorities and context down into the organization.
• Establish an AI-centric engineering culture, one that scales the impact of the organization and likewise equips team members with strong, modern toolsets to help them grow and succeed in their careers at and beyond Unlearn.
• Own hiring and team design for engineering, deliberately growing the organization aligned with company needs.

Requirements

• 10+ years in software engineering with significant experience leading engineering organizations at the Senior Director or VP level, including managing managers and senior technical leaders across multiple engineering disciplines.
• A track record of strong execution in highly collaborative and cross-functional environments where engineering has delivered on timelines that mattered to the business.
• Experience leading across the stack: infrastructure/DevOps, backend or platform engineering, and application/front-end development, with experience in regulated environments where compliance is a key factor on system design.
• Demonstrated ability to translate company strategy into an engineering roadmap, communicate the "why" behind priorities, and hold teams accountable for delivering against commitments.
• Experience partnering closely with Product, R&D, and customer-facing delivery teams; you have built internal tools and platforms that made technical teams measurably more effective.
• Experience in growth-stage or early-stage companies where you built engineering processes and delivery discipline in small teams while shipping. Experience in life sciences, healthcare, or another regulated, data-intensive domain is a plus.

Benefits

• The following benefits and perks are for full time roles only.
• Meaningful equity participation
• 100% company-covered medical, dental, & vision insurance plans
• 401k plan with matching
• Flexible PTO plus company holidays
• Annual company-wide break December 24 through January 1
• Commuter benefits
• Paid Parental Leave
• Unlearn is an equal opportunity employer.
• At Unlearn, we are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, because inclusion and diversity are essential to achieving our mission. If you’re excited about this role, and your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply nevertheless.