Business Technology Solutions Associate Consultant R&D

ZS is a place where passion changes lives. As a management consulting and technology firm focused on improving life and how we live it
, we transform ideas into impact by bringing together data, science, technology and human ingenuity to deliver better outcomes for all. Here you’ll work side‑by‑side with a powerful collective of thinkers and experts shaping life‑changing solutions for patients, caregivers and consumers, worldwide. ZSers drive impact by bringing a client‑first mentality to each and every engagement. We partner collaboratively with our clients to develop custom solutions and technology products that create value and deliver company results across critical areas of their business.

Bring your curiosity for learning, bold ideas, courage and passion to drive life‑changing impact to ZS.

Business Technology Solutions Associate Consultant in the Technology Services area will provide business insight and oversight for AI‑driven transforms in pharmaceutical R&D and related life‑sciences challenges.

• Design, build, and deploy production‑grade AI/ML solutions to solve complex R&D and life‑sciences problems
• Develop and maintain end‑to‑end AI pipelines, including data ingestion, feature engineering, model training, evaluation, deployment, and monitoring
• Implement generative AI and agentic AI solutions, including orchestration frameworks, prompt engineering, and model integration into enterprise workflows
• Collaborate with data engineering and cloud teams to operationalize AI models at scale
• Apply software engineering best practices (versioning, testing, CI/CD) to AI systems
• Monitor model performance, data drift, and reliability; iterate based on real‑world usage and feedback
• Contribute directly to the implementation of AI/ML solutions, including data preparation, model development, and deployment support
• Develop Python‑based analytics and AI components under the guidance of senior technical leads
• Support testing, validation, and performance evaluation of AI models in real‑world scenarios
• Collaborate with ZS internal teams and client teams to shape and implement high quality technology solutions that address critical business challenges
• Develop a deep understanding of the business challenges and effectively translate them into technical designs
• Lead modules and work streams within projects while actively participating in hands on implementation
• Work with technical architects to validate the technical design and implementation approach
• Apply appropriate development methodologies and best practices to ensure exceptional client and project team experience
• Support the project lead in project delivery, including project planning, people management, staffing, and risk mitigation
• Manage a diverse team with various skill sets while providing mentorship and coaching to junior members
• Lead task planning and distribution among team members for timely completion of projects with high‑quality results
• Lead the project deliverables such as business case development, solution vision and design, user requirements, prototypes, technical architecture, test cases, deployment plans and operations strategy

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Business Analytics, Computer Science, MIS or related field with academic excellence
• 3-5+ years of relevant professional experience in delivering small/medium-scale technology solutions
• Experience in R&D technology projects including large-scale clinical transformation programs
• Good knowledge of R&D business processes enhancements based on experience/best practices, business knowledge, and gaps in current vs. future state in one or more of the following R&D domains:
  Clinical, Quality, Regulatory, and/or Safety
• Hands‑on experience with Python‑based data science or AI development through coursework, projects, or professional work
• Exposure to deploying or supporting AI solutions on cloud platforms
• Interest in growing into full‑stack AI engineering and solution delivery roles
• Experience in implementing Agentic AI solutions, preferred to have formal education or certifications in AI & ML courses
• Ability to lead project teams, drive end‑to‑end activities, meet milestones, and…