Associate Director - Real World Data Scientist (Billerica MA)

Work Your Magic with us! Start your next chapter and join EMD Serono.

Ready to explore, break barriers, and discover more? We know you’ve got big plans – so do we! Our colleagues across the globe love innovating with science and technology to enrich people’s lives with our solutions in Healthcare, Life Science, and Electronics. Together, we dream big and are passionate about caring for our rich mix of people, customers, patients, and planet. That's why we are always looking for curious minds that see themselves imagining the unimaginable with us.

United As One for Patients, our purpose in Healthcare is to help create, improve and prolong lives. We develop medicines, intelligent devices and innovative technologies in therapeutic areas such as Oncology, Neurology and Fertility. Our teams work together across 6 continents with passion and relentless curiosity in order to help patients at every stage of life. Joining our Healthcare team is becoming part of a diverse, inclusive and flexible working culture, presenting great opportunities for personal development and career advancement across the globe.

This role does not offer sponsorship for work authorization. External applicants must be eligible to work in the US.

Your Role

The Associate Director is a senior scientific contributor responsible for leading the design and delivery of complex real-world evidence generation activities. This role integrates strong methodological expertise with applied judgment, shaping research questions and selecting fit-for-purpose approaches to generate robust, decision-relevant insights.

The Associate Director connects methodological rigor with practical application and works across functions to support development and evidence-generation decisions. This role is differentiated by strong design capability, growing strategic influence, and the ability to connect methods to real business and development needs.

Key Responsibilities

Scientific & Strategic Leadership

Lead the design of complex observational studies and analytical strategies.

Frame research questions and define fit-for-purpose evidence approaches.

Contribute to evidence strategies that support development, regulatory, and broader product lifecycle decisions.

Anticipate methodological risks and propose practical solutions.

Methodological Expertise

Evaluate and select study designs, data sources, and analytical methods.

Apply advanced methodologies, including causal inference, comparative effectiveness, and disease or outcome modeling, where appropriate.

Assess the assumptions, strengths, and limitations of alternative analytical approaches.

Ensure analyses are scientifically rigorous, transparent, and interpretable.

Decision Enablement

Translate analyses into clear, actionable insights for decision-making.

Support study- and program-level decisions related to evidence generation, data selection, and analytical strategy.

Help ensure evidence is relevant to the question being asked and the decision it is intended to support.

Innovation, Methods & Data Integration

Evaluate emerging methods, technologies, and data paradigms for scientific relevance and practical use.

Evaluate and select appropriate data sources and structures aligned with research questions and decision needs.

Ensure data used in analyses is well understood, interpretable, and fit for purpose.

Contribute to improving how data is prepared, structured, and made accessible for use across studies.

Collaborate with data science and engineering partners to ensure effective and appropriate use of data pipelines and transformations.

Selectively apply new approaches where they improve rigor, efficiency, or insight.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Collaborate across clinical development, biostatistics, regulatory, medical, HEOR, and data science teams.

Integrate scientific perspectives across disciplines to support coherent evidence strategies.

Build trusted working relationships that enable effective execution and alignment.

Who You Are

Minimum Qualifications

PhD in statistics, biostatistics, epidemiology, applied mathematics, data science, or a related quantitative discipline.

8+ years of relevant experience in real-world evidence, biostatistics, epidemiology, or a related field.

Strong expertise in observational study design, causal inference, and statistical analysis of complex healthcare data.

Experience evaluating data sources, study designs, and analytical strategies for fitness for purpose.

Ability to translate analytical work into decision-relevant insight.

Strong scientific communication and collaboration skills.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience shaping evidence strategies across development programs or therapeutic areas.

Demonstrated ability to evaluate and apply new methods in complex, real-world settings.

Experience working across development and regulatory contexts.

Scientific publication record or meaningful contribution to external methodological discussions.

Location: On-site Billerica MA

Pay Range for this position: $131,300 - $216,600

The offer range represents the anticipated low and high end of the base pay compensation for this position. The actual compensation offered will be determined by factors such as location, level of experience, education, skills, and other job-related factors. Position may be eligible for sales or performance-based bonuses. Benefits offered by the Company include health insurance, paid time off (PTO), retirement contributions, and other perquisites. For more information click here .

What we offer: We are curious minds that come from a broad range of backgrounds, perspectives, and life experiences. We believe that this variety drives excellence and innovation, strengthening our ability to lead in science and technology. We are committed to creating access and opportunities for all to develop and grow at your own pace. Join us in building a culture of inclusion and belonging that impacts millions and empowers everyone to work their magic and champion human progress!

Apply now and become a part of a team that is dedicated to Sparking Discovery and Elevating Humanity!