✦ Luna Orbit — Data & Analytics

Assoc. Dir , Data Science & Advanced Analytics

at Merck

📍 2 Locations Hybrid 💰 $156K – $247K USD / year Posted March 31, 2026
Salary $156K – $247K USD / year
Type Full-Time
Experience lead
Exp. Years 8+ years
Education BS (or equivalent) in Data Science, Mathematics, Economics, Computer Science, Statistics, Decision Science, Marketing, Engineering, or Public Health is required.
Category Data & Analytics

Distinguished AI Engineer role to develop and deploy AI-powered products and foundational AI systems. You will lead cross-functional teams to design, train, deploy, and govern large-scale AI solutions, with emphasis on LLM inference, vector databases, guardrails, and scalable infrastructure.

  • Partner with cross-functional teams to deliver AI-powered products
  • Design, develop, test, deploy AI software components (foundation models, LLM inference, guardrails)
  • Leverage OSS and SaaS AI tech (AWS Ultraclusters, HuggingFace, VectorDBs, Nemo Guardrails, PyTorch)
  • Develop state-of-the-art LLM optimization techniques
  • Contribute to technical vision and roadmap

Stack includes Python, Go, Scala, Java, C++, C#, Go; PyTorch; Hugging Face; VectorDBs; Nemo Guardrails; LLM inference; foundation model training; AWS Ultraclusters; cloud platforms (AWS, Google Cloud, Azure).

The ideal candidate is an senior-level AI/ML engineer with 8+ years delivering AI/ML in production, strong Python and PyTorch experience, and a proven ability to lead cross-functional teams to deploy scalable AI systems using cloud platforms. They should be fluent in LLM inference, vector databases, and guardrails, and capable of aligning AI work with business outcomes in a regulated financial services context.

BS (or equivalent) in Data ScienceMathematicsEconomicsComputer ScienceStatisticsDecision ScienceMarketingEngineeringor Public Health is required.5+ years of relevant experience delivering complex analytical projects in the pharmaceuticalbiotechconsultingor healthcare industry.Experience mining patient medical claims/EMR data as well as other healthcare datasets with a strategic mindset and proven record of being able to produce actionable business insights that drive positive commercial results.Story-telling and executive presence with senior leaders.Effective interpersonal skillscommunication skillsand stakeholder managementincluding experience collaborating in a matrixed organization and ability to align stakeholders on data-driven decisions.Strong business acumen and consultative skillswith proven ability to comprehend business processes and commercial strategies in detail and translate these into detailed business standards/questions that power analytics.Effective organizational and project management skills to work effectively across the organization and manage a team of business analysts and data scientists efficiently and effectively.Innovative thinking with affinity toward experimentation and appropriate risk-takingincluding curiosity about how agentic AI and automation can enhance commercial analytics and insight generation.Awareness of the opportunitieslimitationsand responsible use of AI (including agentic AI) in a regulated environment (e.g.data privacyvalidation of AI-generated outputs).Prior hands-on experience working with healthcare data especially EMR/EHRClaims Data (i.e. IQVIA APLD) and various data offerings.Ability to develop efficient programming code and software assets that provide advanced analytical functionality.Proven data science experience leveraging advanced statistical methodsMachine Learning/ Artificial IntelligenceNatural Language Processing (NLP)modeling and model evaluation is a plus.Knowledge of both machine learning and descriptive algorithms/modeling using such languages as PythonR studioSASSQL etc.Travel may be required <20%.
Preferred: Prior hands-on experience working with healthcare dataMBAMS or PhD degree is a plus.
IQVIA APLDEMR/EHRR StudioPythonSASSQL
BS or MS in Computer ScienceAIElectrical EngineeringComputer Engineering or related; 8+ years AI/ML; PythonGoScalaJava; LLM Inference; VectorDBs; Guardrails; Memory; PyTorch; Hugging Face; AWS/GCP/Azure; Foundation Model Training; NLP; NLP; IQVIA APLD
PythonR StudioSASSQLNatural Language ProcessingNLPMachine LearningArtificial IntelligenceGenAIGenerative AIAgentic AIIQVIA APLDEMR/EHRclaims dataDDDdata visualization
LeadershipCommunicationStakeholder managementCollaborationStorytellingExecutive presenceStrategic thinkingProblem solving

Preferred

MBAMSPhD
Industry Healthcare & Medical
Job Function Lead development and deployment of scalable AI systems and platforms
Role Subtype ML Engineer
Tech Domains Python, Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure, PyTorch, VectorDBs, Nemo Guardrails, LLM Inference, Foundation Model Training
Visa Sponsorship Yes
Distinguished AI EngineerAI EngineerPythonR StudioSASSQLNLPNatural Language ProcessingMachine LearningArtificial IntelligenceGenAIGenerative AIAgentic AILLM InferenceFoundation Model TrainingVectorDBsNemo GuardrailsAWS UltraclustersAmazon Web ServicesGoogle Cloud PlatformMicrosoft AzureIQVIA APLDEMR/EHRClaims DataData ScienceLLM inferenceFoundation model trainingPyTorch

Less than 8 years of AI/ML production experience, No degree in CS/AI or related field, Lack of cloud platform experience (AWS/GCP/Azure)

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