Pfizer

Senior Director, Engineering

Pfizer$214K — $358K *
Healthcare
11 - 15 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field
  • 12+ years of progressive software/data engineering experience
  • 4-5+ years in an engineering leadership or management role
  • Experience building and shipping production AI/ML or LLM-based systems
  • Hands-on with modern cloud architecture (AWS or Azure) and CI/CD/DevOps practice
  • Proven people-management experience in hiring and coaching engineering talent
  • Experience in Agile/Scrum delivery frameworks.

Responsibilities

  • Own end-to-end engineering delivery for the Medical AI Acceleration portfolio
  • Set engineering standards, coding practices, and technical quality bars across the team
  • Establish and continuously improve CI/CD pipelines and environment strategy
  • Direct the build of Agentic AI systems and oversee data integration engineering
  • Implement and maintain LLMOps/MLOps practices in partnership with Solution Architecture
  • Own production reliability for shipped systems and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements
  • Directly manage, coach, and develop engineering talent within the team.

Benefits

  • 401(k) plan with Pfizer Matching Contributions
  • Paid vacation, holiday and personal days
  • Paid caregiver/parental and medical leave
  • Health benefits including medical, prescription drug, dental, and vision coverage
  • Comprehensive benefits to help colleagues lead healthy lives.
Full Job Description

ROLE SUMMARY

This role owns the engineering build accountability for the Medical Affairs Digital and AI portfolio.  This role leads the team that turns solution architecture and product requirements into shipped, production-grade AI systems at enterprise scale. It carries direct people-leadership accountability for a build team of three Build Engineers and a Data Integration Engineer, and hands-on technical accountability for engineering standards, delivery velocity, and production reliability across Medical Affairs globally.

This is a peer role to the Senior Director, Solution Architecture and the Senior Director, Product Management — and works closely together with these peers to deliver enterprise scale solutions -- product management defines what gets built and why, architecture defines how a solution is built and engineering builds and ships it.   This role drives engineering standards, build quality, and delivery discipline that ensures reliability and speed for every AI system deployed to production.

The Senior Director operates with significant technical and managerial autonomy, translating architecture blueprints and product roadmaps into committed delivery plans, and is accountable for realistic delivery commitments, production reliability, and engineering risk — including the technical debt, security, and compliance consequences of build decisions.

The Senior Director, Engineering leads and builds the engineering organization responsible for constructing, integrating, and shipping Medical Affairs' AI-powered products and platforms. This is a hands-on technical leadership role owning software engineering practice, data integration execution, CI/CD and LLMOps/MLOps discipline, and production reliability for the portfolio of Medical Affairs Tier 1 Agentic AI and LLM-based systems. Reporting into the lead of Medical AI Acceleration and Delivery and partnering with peer Senior Directors of Solution Architecture and Product Management, this leader turns architecture and product intent into working, tested, deployed software — while building, coaching, and retaining an engineering team capable of operating at enterprise AI scale.

ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES

Engineering Strategy & Delivery Leadership

  • Own end-to-end engineering delivery for the Medical AI Acceleration portfolio, translating solution architecture and product requirements into working, production-grade software.

  • Set engineering standards, coding practices, and technical quality bars across the build team, ensuring consistency, maintainability, and reuse across products.

  • Establish and continuously improve CI/CD pipelines, environment strategy, and release management practice across AI/ML and traditional software components.

  • Own sprint and iteration execution in partnership with the Scrum Master, ensuring committed work is delivered on time and to standard.

AI/ML Build & Data Integration

  • Direct the build of Agentic AI systems, LLM integrations, and RAG pipelines, translating architectural design into deployed, functioning services.

  • Oversee data integration engineering across core enterprise systems (e.g., Veeva CRM, PromoMats, Salesforce Life Sciences/Marketing Cloud), ensuring reliable, well-governed data pipelines feed AI and analytics platforms.

  • Implement and maintain LLMOps/MLOps practice — model deployment pipelines, monitoring, retraining triggers, and performance measurement — in partnership with Solution Architecture.

  • Ensure engineering-level enforcement of responsible AI safeguards (data access controls, prompt injection defenses, model output monitoring) defined by the architecture function.

Technical Quality, Reliability & Risk Management

  • Own production reliability, uptime, and incident response for the Medical AI Acceleration portfolio's shipped systems.

  • Partner with Security, Compliance, and Solution Architecture to ensure engineering practice meets regulatory requirements (GxP, HIPAA, GDPR) and passes required technical gates before release.

  • Identify and remediate technical debt, balancing delivery speed against long-term system health.

Cross-Functional Partnership

  • Partner as a peer with the Senior Director, Solution Architecture to review and co-author architecture blueprints prior to finalization, to ensure architecture blueprints are buildable, and with the Senior Director, Product Management to ensure delivery sequencing reflects business priority.

  • Partner as a peer with the Senior Director, Solution Architecture to define and review RFIs, RFPs and perform vendor selection.

  • Represent engineering capacity, velocity, and risk in portfolio governance forums, providing realistic delivery commitments to senior stakeholders.

  • Collaborate with the AI Experience and Workflow Design lead to ensure interface and workflow designs are engineered faithfully to specification.

  • Serve as the Medical Affairs Engineering interface to the Digital Technology platform teams.  Educate Medical Affairs colleagues in the Federated Model on the use of the centrally deployed platforms.

People Leadership & Talent Development

  • Directly manage, coach, and develop three Build Engineers and one Data Integration Engineer, setting objectives, conducting performance management, and building career growth paths.

  • Build a high-performing, AI-native engineering culture — hiring, onboarding, and upskilling engineers in modern AI/ML build practice.

  • Establish engineering community-of-practice norms (code review, pairing, documentation) that scale beyond the immediate team.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS

Candidate demonstrates a breadth of diverse leadership experiences and capabilities including: the ability to influence and collaborate with peers, develop and coach others, oversee and guide the work of other colleagues to achieve meaningful outcomes and create business impact.

  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field; 12+ years of progressive software/data engineering experience, including 4-5+ years in an engineering leadership or management role.

  • Demonstrated experience building and shipping production AI/ML or LLM-based systems at enterprise scale.

  • Hands-on experience with modern cloud architecture (AWS or Azure), API-first design, and CI/CD/DevOps practice.

  • Hands-on experience with LLMOps/MLOps tooling, vector databases, RAG pipeline engineering, and agent orchestration frameworks.

  • Experience with data integration engineering and pipeline development across enterprise systems.

  • Proven people-management experience, including hiring, coaching, and performance management of engineering talent.

  • Experience partnering with Solution Architects and Product Managers/Owners in a matrixed delivery model.

  • Experience with Agile/Scrum delivery frameworks.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

  • Master's degree in a technical field.

  • Experience in pharmaceutical, life sciences, or another regulated industry, with familiarity with GxP, HIPAA, and GDPR compliance requirements for engineered systems.

  • Familiarity with Veeva CRM, Salesforce Life Sciences Cloud, or Salesforce Marketing Cloud integration patterns.

  • Relevant certifications (AWS/Azure Solutions Architect or Developer, Certified Scrum Master or equivalent for engineering leaders).

Non-Standard Work Schedule, Travel, or Environment Requirements

  • Must be able to travel to Pfizer offices, vendor offices, and other team meeting locations when required.

  • Project work can sometimes be demanding and require work during off-hours to coordinate with global stakeholders or respond to production incidents.

Other Job Details:

  • Last Date to Apply for Job: September 23, 2026

  • Locations: NYHQ or PA-Collegeville

  • NOT Eligible for Relocation Package 

  • Position is hybrid and will require to work 2 to 3 days per week site 

#LI-PFE

The annual base salary for this position ranges from $214,900.00 to $358,100.00. In addition, this position is eligible for participation in Pfizer’s Global Performance Plan with a bonus target of 22.5% of the base salary and eligibility to participate in our share based long term incentive program. We offer comprehensive and generous benefits and programs to help our colleagues lead healthy lives and to support each of life’s moments. Benefits offered include a 401(k) plan with Pfizer Matching Contributions and an additional Pfizer Retirement Savings Contribution, paid vacation, holiday and personal days, paid caregiver/parental and medical leave, and health benefits to include medical, prescription drug, dental and vision coverage. Learn more at Pfizer Candidate Site – U.S. Benefits | (uscandidates.mypfizerbenefits.com). Pfizer compensation structures and benefit packages are aligned based on the location of hire. The United States salary range provided does not apply to Tampa, FL or any location outside of the United States. This role is posted in multiple locations. If you are applying for the role in an secondary job posting location where pay transparency regulations apply, your Talent Advisor will share the local pay information with you during the first interview.

Relocation assistance may be available based on business needs and/or eligibility.

Candidates must be authorized to be employed in the U.S. by any employer.

U.S. work visa sponsorship (such as TN, O-1, H-1B, etc.) is not available for this role now or in the future.

Information & Business Tech

About Pfizer

Hospira, Inc. is the provider of injectable drugs and infusion technologies. Through its broad, integrated portfolio, Hospira is uniquely positioned to Advance Wellness™ by improving patient and caregiver safety while reducing healthcare costs. The company is headquartered in Lake Forest, Ill., and has approximately 16,000 employees.

Pfizer Careers

Joining Pfizer’s global team offers more than just job opportunities; it’s a chance to be a part of a company that leads with science and innovates for better health. As a leading biopharmaceutical company, Pfizer is at the forefront of transforming lives through innovation, leadership, and diversity. Work You’ll Do At Pfizer, you will collaborate with some of the brightest minds in the industry, engaging in work that enhances global health and saves lives. Our culture thrives on intellectual curiosity, professional growth, and inclusivity, making every day a learning opportunity. Here, your skills will be honed, your professional acumen will be expanded, and you will be part of a team that values the power of diverse insights to drive success. Pfizer’s Leadership and Growth Lead and innovate with Pfizer, where we value the growth of each employee. Our leadership is committed to providing employees with the training and resources needed to excel in their careers. Pfizer offers a variety of career paths, including roles in research, marketing, finance, technology, and more, each offering a unique blend of challenges and rewards. Internship and Employment Opportunities Start your career with Pfizer through our internship programs or dive straight into a full-time position. We are hiring individuals who are passionate about healthcare and who seek to make a difference in the world. Our internships provide invaluable industry experience, networking opportunities, and a potential pathway to full-time employment. Benefits and Culture Pfizer is dedicated to fostering a workplace where all employees feel valued and can achieve their full potential. We offer competitive benefits packages that support the health, well-being, and financial security of our employees and their families. At Pfizer, you’ll find a culture that encourages collaboration, innovation, and continuous learning. Join Our Team Explore the numerous job opportunities at Pfizer by searching open positions that match your skills and interests. We look for driven, curious, and innovative team players who are ready to advance their careers in a transformative company. Stay Connected Keep up to date with career tips, insider perspectives, and industry-leading insights you can put to use today—all from the people who work here. Personalize your subscription to receive job alerts, latest news, and insider tips tailored to your preferences. Discover the exciting and rewarding career opportunities that await at Pfizer. Interview and Resume Tips Prepare for your future with Pfizer by utilizing our resources for resume building and interview preparation. We provide guidance on how to effectively showcase your skills and experiences to align with the needs of a position at Pfizer. Our goal is to help you succeed in securing a role that suits your professional goals and personal growth aspirations. Pfizer: A Place Where You Can Make a Difference Every position at Pfizer contributes to our mission of making the world a healthier place. Whether through direct patient care, research innovation, or corporate roles that support our operations, your work will have global impact. Join us in our journey to change lives—explore Pfizer careers today.
Learn more about Pfizer
Size
79,000 employees
Market Cap
$285.9 billion
Industry
Net Income
$9.6 billion
Founded
1849
5 Year Trend
+9%
Revenue
$41.9 billion
NASDAQ

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