Senior Data Scientist

We are looking for a senior data scientist to spearhead the development, expansion, and scientific rigor of BehavioralPulse™, Surgo Health’s flagship socio-behavioral data asset driven by large-scale predictive ML. BehavioralPulse™ decodes the WHY behind patient behaviors by combining hundreds of proprietary indicators at massive scale, across all US adults.

You will lead the technical evolution of BehavioralPulse™ — refining its machine learning models, integrating new data sources, overseeing validation studies, and ensuring real-world applicability for pharma use cases. This role demands effective execution across analytics, modeling, engineering, and validation, working closely with our R&D, Product, and Client Engagement teams.

This is a rare opportunity to have outsized impact: Surgo’s BehavioralPulse™ data is core to our mission and it powers our products like Mosaic™ and our consulting services. You’ll work in a team of driven data scientists, researchers, and behavior scientists to bring patient-centered decision making across clinical trials, medical affairs, and commercial pharma.

What you’ll achieve:

• Lead machine learning development and validation efforts to enhance the BehavioralPulse™ asset and ensure scientific rigor.
• Build and optimize hundreds of models predicting patient behaviors using Databricks and Python.
• Identify and integrate new data sources to enrich BehavioralPulse™ with novel socio-behavioral indicators, including geospatial data.
• Work cross-functionally with Product, Client Engagement, and R&D teams to deliver BehavioralPulse™-powered solutions to pharma clients.
• Promote responsible AI practices by validating model performance across key demographic groups and ensuring fairness and accuracy.

About you:

• You have at least 5 years of experience building and validating machine learning models with large behavioral or healthcare datasets.
• You are highly proficient in Python and Databricks.
• You have a deep interest in how non-clinical factors like beliefs, attitudes, and barriers impact healthcare behaviors and outcomes.
• You have strong opinions and are willing to voice them when it comes to building trusted data pipelines, machine learning models, and data assets.
• You enjoy working in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment where you can both lead strategically and build hands-on.

Location: This role is hybrid in Washington D.C. with the team coming into the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays or remote in London, UK. Travel: Some travel (up to 10%) possible.

Benefits

• Fantastic, fun and collaborative colleagues; opportunity to solve tough challenges in healthcare
• Ability to be entrepreneurial and tremendous opportunities for growth
• Public Benefit Corporation with an impact and equity mission
• Competitive compensation and health benefits
• Generous PTO, 10+ holidays
• 80% of your medical premiums covered
• 100% of your dental and vision premiums covered
• Highly competitive 401K
• Professional Development opportunities

Surgo Health is committed to fair, equitable, and transparent practices. Compensation packages are based on several factors such as skill set, prior relevant experience, education, certifications, and market considerations. In addition to base compensation, individuals may be eligible for annual performance-based bonuses and equity (if applicable). We aim to pay salaries that are competitive, benchmarked against companies that are similar in stage, size, and market to Surgo Health. Our recruiter may be able to share more about our total rewards offerings for the relevant role during the hiring process.

Our hiring philosophy

We hire for passion and core competencies.

We look for problem-solvers and lateral thinkers.

We love it if you have done different things with your time.

If you think you are ideal for this position, write to us even if your experience doesn’t match all the requirements listed above.

Equal Opportunity and Diversity Policy

Surgo believes a diverse, inclusive staff makes a stronger team and more impactful organization and we are committed to building and developing this team and environment. Qualified people of all races, ethnicities, cultures, ages, sex, genders, sexual orientation, gender identities and expressions, languages, social class, marital status, religions, veterans status, and disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.

About Surgo Health

Surgo Health is a human-centric AI company that delivers the deepest understanding of human behavior to power better health for all.

A life-saving drug or treatment is of no use if people don’t take it. Surgo Health believes that a complete understanding of what drives people’s behavior – and how their context impacts them – is critical to ensure every person lives a healthy life. Our proprietary data and AI-technology platform produce fit-for-purpose intelligence, analytics, and recommendations that enable our partners to deliver more equitable, efficient, and cost-effective programs that improve health outcomes across the globe.

Our world-class team of healthcare experts and scientists use behavioral science, data science, and artificial intelligence to build innovative, scalable solutions that power patient-centric care and improve outcomes. We are a growing team with ambitious plans, and we're searching for top-class talent who want to roll up their sleeves and dive into a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment.

As a DC-based start-up with a global footprint, this is a fantastic opportunity for someone who thrives in start-up culture and wants to help shape the future of healthcare delivery in low- and middle-income countries (this will be role specific). We believe our solutions can make healthcare more effective, personalized, equitable, and drive impact at scale.