Director Clinical Research

One of our premiere clients is building next‑generation cancer screening and survivorship programs at the intersection of oncology, diagnostics, epidemiology, and AI‑enabled technology. As they scale, they are hiring a Director, Clinical Research to own clinical research strategy and medical AI validation agenda.

This role has two core mandates. First, you will design and lead the validation strategy for their foundation models, including academic medical center partnerships, cohort‑based studies across cancer types and subpopulations, and the methodological rigor required for clinicians, regulators, and internal teams to trust the results. Second, you will shape and run the broader clinical research strategy, including prospective and observational studies that build the evidence base for their screening and survivorship programs, real‑world evidence collaborations with clinical partners, and the scientific output that establishes the company’s clinical credibility.

This role reports directly to the Co‑Founder leading the medical team and will be one of their medical hires. The scope is broad today and will expand quickly as the company grow.

• Design and lead prospective and cohort‑based validation studies for our foundation models across screening and survivors.
• Shape and execute the broader clinical research agenda, including observational studies, real‑world evidence efforts, and protocol design for screening and survivorship programs.
• Define endpoints, study populations, statistical plans, and bias controls with the rigor required for clinical adoption.
• Translate broad model capabilities into focused validation plans for specific cancer types and subpopulations, such as recurrence prediction in breast cancer or risk prediction in colorectal cancer.

• Provide scientific and clinical input into the identification and structuring of new academic medical center partnerships alongside the leadership team that owns those relations.
• Partner closely with academic medical centers and cancer research centers as validation and clinical research programs move forward.
• Own the scientific execution of studies within those partnerships, including IRB strategy, data agreements, multi‑site coordination, and day‑to‑day study leadership.
• Serve as a credible medical and scientific counterpart to academic principal investigators.

• Work alongside the AI research team to define the clinical questions our models should answer, prioritize validation targets, and pressure‑test research direction against clinical reality.
• Translate model outputs into clinically meaningful signals, endpoints, and evidence strategies.
• Help shape the medical roadmap as validation findings and clinical evidence feed back into what gets built.

• Own clinical‑grade rigor across the research and validation effort, including endpoints, bias, generalizability, interpretability, and regulatory readiness as needed.
• Co‑author publications on clinical research and validation in collaboration with the AI research team and academic partners.
• Represent the company’s clinical research externally to academic, scientific, and clinical audiences.

• MD, MD‑PhD, or PhD in Oncology, Epidemiology, Biostatistics, or a related field.
• 7+ years of post‑training experience leading oncology clinical research, including prospective, cohort‑based, or observational studies focused on diagnostics, screening, surveillance, or risk stratification.
• Demonstrated ability to independently design and execute clinical studies end to end, including endpoint definition, protocol writing, statistical analysis planning, study powering, and bias and generalizability controls.
• Hands‑on experience collaborating with academic medical centers on multi‑site studies, including IRB submissions, data use agreements, and ongoing scientific leadership.
• Strong oncology background with familiarity in cancer screening, survivorship, or early detection.
• Proven ability to operate as a credible scientific counterpart to academic PIs and cross‑functional partners across clinical, product, and AI/ML…