Why Patients Need You  

Pfizer’s purpose is to deliver breakthroughs that change patients’ lives. Research and Development is at the heart of fulfilling Pfizer’s purpose as we work to translate advanced science and technologies into the therapies and vaccines that matter most. Whether you are in the discovery sciences, ensuring drug safety and efficacy or supporting clinical trials, you will apply cutting edge design and process development capabilities to accelerate and bring the best-in-class medicines to patients around the world.  

Role Summary  

Pharmaceutical Sciences Small Molecules (PSSM) develops the APIs, formulations & manufacturing processes needed to transform laboratory candidates into potential new drugs.  Simply put, PSSM is Making Today’s Discoveries Tomorrow’s Medicines. 

We are seeking a ML/AI engineer to join the newly formed Data Sciences organization within PSSM in Chennai, India. In this role the successful candidate will play a crucial part in supporting PSSM digital evolution by harnessing the power of ML/AI technology and developing PSSM applications.  The candidate will leverage your expertise in ML and DL algorithms, coding, and MLOps to unlock ML velocity, governance, and production readiness that accelerates execution of organization strategic imperatives.  Candidates should possess a deep understanding of various machine learning algorithms with hands-on experience for the entire lifecycle of ML projects, from designing and building models to deploying and monitoring them in production.  This role will collaborate with colleagues across all of PSSM, Pfizer Digital and our partner organizations to develop and implement ML/AI solutions to PSSM business workflows and knowledge systems.

The Pfizer AI/ML ecosystem is in a rapid growth phase, and we anticipate the selected candidate will be part of enhancing the impact of AI/ML within Pfizer, both by direct application to the portfolio, but also through technology and tool development. This may include advancing new technology for process automation, machine learning, generative AI application, and information system, amongst others. This is a tremendous opportunity for someone interested in continuous development of their skills in these and related areas.

ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES

• Collaborate with partner development lines and data science team members to comprehend PSSM business needs and translate them into technical requirements for applying machine learning solutions.
• Preprocess and clean large PharmSci datasets for model training and evaluation, ensuring data quality and addressing potential biases.
• Design, develop, and implement machine learning frameworks (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch, scikit-learn) to PSSM business workflows.
• Incorporating MLOps tools and best practices to support the integration of ML models into production systems, monitor and maintain models, ensuring high availability and performance.
• Continuously improve machine learning pipelines by automating tasks and optimizing workflows.
• Document machine learning projects and technical decisions clearly and concisely. Communicate results with stakeholders to enhance business decisions and/or influence strategic direction.
• Stay abreast with advancements in machine learning research for diverse environments (cloud and edge). Identify opportunities for enhanced performance and innovation.
• Support upskilling the organization on the application of ML/ AI and to help build a continuous learning culture.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Master's degree in Computer Science (with focus on ML) , Mathematics or a related field (or equivalent experience) with 3+ years’ experience. PhD degree is a plus.
• Solid understanding of machine learning algorithms and concepts (e.g., supervised learning, unsupervised learning, deep learning networks, efficient architectures for edge devices).
• Strong programming skills in Python with experience in both machine learning libraries (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch).
• Experience with data preprocessing, cleaning, and feature engineering techniques.
• Experience with model evaluation metrics and techniques for model selection and hyperparameter tuning.
• Experience with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure) for managing deployments across cloud and edge is a plus.
• Familiarity with containerization technologies like Docker and Kubernetes is a plus.
• Familiarity with MLOps tools and concepts (e.g., CI/CD for ML, model monitoring) is a plus.
• Experience with building and deploying large-scale machine learning systems is a plus.
• Experience of AI applications in pharmaceutical sciences, chemical reactions and chemical representations is a plus.
• Open-source contribution to machine learning is a plus.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a cross-functional team.
• Strong problem-solving skills and a passion for innovation.

Pfizer is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable equal employment opportunity legislation in each jurisdiction in which it operates.