Pfizer
Breakthroughs That Change Patients' Lives
Machine learning & AI jobs at Pfizer
Pfizer has 7 open machine learning, AI and data science roles on CompBioJobs. Across 31 of its AI/ML postings that state pay, the typical posted range is $139K–$232K.
- Senior Machine Learning Research Scientist · United States - Massachusetts - Cambridge
- Manager, Clinical Data Scientist, Clinical Data Sciences · India - Chennai
- Head of AI Clinical Excellence · United States - Pennsylvania - Collegeville
- Applied AI and Machine Learning Scientist · Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Principal ML/AI Cheminformatics Scientist · United States - Connecticut - Groton
- Senior ML/AI Cheminformatics Scientist · United States - Connecticut - Groton
- Senior AI/ML Engineer - Research Data AI and Predictive Modeling (Vaccine R&D) · United States - New York - Pearl River
| Level | Posted pay, AI/ML roles | Postings |
|---|---|---|
| Mid level | $123K–$204K | 10 |
| Director | $158K–$263K | 8 |
Median posted minimum to median posted maximum, base salary, open and closed postings; levels with fewer than 6 postings left out. Industry-wide: AI drug discovery & ML salaries.
About Pfizer
Funding & Growth
✓ Pros
- • Global pharma leader
- • Job stability
- • Excellent benefits
- • Multiple locations
- • Strong R&D investment
✗ Cons
- • Large company bureaucracy
- • Slower innovation pace
- • Corporate culture
- • Layoffs possible
🏢 Working Here
Pfizer's computational biology groups are distributed across Cambridge, MA (significant R&D presence), Groton, CT, La Jolla, CA, and international sites.
Each location has different focuses: Cambridge emphasizes early discovery and computational innovation; Groton focuses on oncology and internal medicine; La Jolla specializes in cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.
As a large pharma, Pfizer offers stability, extensive resources, and exposure to drugs at every development stage.
Bioinformaticians work on diverse projects - analyzing clinical trial data for Comirnaty (COVID vaccine developed with BioNTech), biomarker discovery for Ibrance (breast cancer), and early target validation.
The BioNTech mRNA vaccine collaboration expanded computational capabilities in immunogenomics.
Work-life balance is generally good with structured hours and comprehensive benefits.
The large organization means clear career paths though slower decision-making than smaller companies.
The Cambridge presence allows access to Boston's computational biology talent pool and academic partnerships while maintaining connection to Pfizer's broader resources.
🧬 Bioinformatics Focus
Pfizer's bioinformatics efforts span the full drug development pipeline. Key areas:
- Target identification and validation - integrating GWAS, eQTLs, and multi-omic data to prioritize drug targets,
- Clinical genomics - analyzing patient samples from trials to identify biomarkers and stratify patient populations,
- mRNA vaccine bioinformatics - optimizing vaccine antigens, predicting immunogenicity (partnership with BioNTech),
- Oncology precision medicine - analyzing tumor sequencing to guide clinical development of drugs like Lorbrena (lung cancer),
- Drug safety and pharmacogenomics - predicting adverse events based on patient genetics. Pfizer has massive proprietary datasets from decades of clinical trials across therapeutic areas. The computational challenges include harmonizing legacy data, scaling to thousands of trials, developing interpretable ML models for regulatory submissions, and handling the complexity of combination therapies. The team maintains internal tools and increasingly contributes to open-source projects.
📈 Career Growth & Development
Career Paths
Scientist Track
Management Track
Compensation
Competitive base salaries are offered, along with 10-20% annual bonuses and stock options.
Development
Pfizer invests heavily in training through internal university programs, external coursework, and leadership development.
Mobility
The large organization allows lateral moves between therapeutic areas, sites, and even countries.
Network
Pfizer's alumni network is vast, with alumni throughout biotech and pharma in leadership positions.
Expertise
Computational biologists can gain clinical development expertise and move into biomarker strategy or translational medicine roles.