Senior Director, Agentic AI and Automation

Madrigal is a biopharmaceutical company focused on delivering novel therapeutics for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), a liver disease with high unmet medical need. Madrigal’s medication, Rezdiffra (resmetirom), is a once-daily, oral, liver-directed THR-β agonist designed to target key underlying causes of MASH. Rezdiffra is the first and only medication approved by both the FDA and European Commission for the treatment of MASH with moderate to advanced fibrosis (F2 to F3). An ongoing Phase 3 outcomes trial is evaluating Rezdiffra for the treatment of compensated MASH cirrhosis (F4c).

Job Title: Senior Director, Agentic AI & Automation

Department: IT

Manager: Executive Director, AI and Data Science

Job Profile Summary

• Madrigal Pharmaceuticals is seeking an innovative, systems-thinking leader to set the vision, design, and enterprise-wide deployment of agentic workflows-AI-enabled, plan-act-reflect automations that learn over time and augment human decision-making. You will orchestrate autonomous or semi-autonomous digital agents across R&D, Commercial, Medical Affairs, and Corporate functions, accelerating operational efficiency and unlocking the full potential of generative and agentic AI within a regulated biotech environment.

Role & Responsibility

• Define and execute a multi-year agentic AI & RPA roadmap converging hyperautomation, process-mining, and LLM-driven workflows.

• Operationalize an Agentic Automation Center of Excellence (CoE) governing standards, reusable assets, and ROI tracking.

• Partner with cross-functional executives to prioritise high-value automations across the business.

Responsibility Statements

• Strategic Leadership & Hyperautomation Vision

• Define and execute a multi-year roadmap converging agentic AI, RPA, and process-mining.

• Operationalize an Agentic Automation CoE-governing standards, reusable templates, and ROI tracking.

• Partner with executive stakeholders to prioritise high-value automations (clinical, commercial, PV, manufacturing).

• Champion MCP and agent-orchestration patterns for future-proof integration.

• Technology & Architecture

• Architect modular multi-agent systems powered by frontier LLMs and leading agent frameworks (LangChain family, AutoGen, CrewAI, etc.).

• Design secure agent-to-agent (A2A) communication with shared memory, credential vaults, RBAC.

• Implement enterprise MCP engine and Agent Protocol standards enabling human-agent-bot collaboration.

• Standardise integration with vector stores and cloud MLOps platforms (Azure AI Search, Databricks, SageMaker, Vertex AI).

• Automation, Integration & Governance

• Build event-driven, low-code pipelines (n8n, Dify, Glean) to trigger agentic RPA tasks in real time.

• Implement observability and governance (Arcade.dev, AgentOps, Langfuse).

• Establish robust testing harnesses and GxP-compliant validation for every autonomous workflow.

• Leverage process- & task-mining insights to auto-generate automation backlogs and measure value.

• Intelligent Process Discovery & Product Execution

• Lead a multi-disciplinary squad of AI automation architects, prompt engineers, and product managers.

• Drive iterative product delivery using agile OKRs, rapid POCs, and continual KPI evaluation.

• Innovation & Partnerships

• Experiment with cutting-edge agent research (ReWOO, SuperAGI, CAMEL) and open-source Agentic RPA.

• Collaborate with open-source communities, cloud partners, and leading vendors.

• Set standards for agent safety, ethical AI, and closed-loop feedback.

• Forge deep partnerships with Enterprise Data, IT Infrastructure, and Cybersecurity teams.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree (Ph.D. preferred) in AI, Data Science, Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, Engineering, Physics, or related field.

• 15+ years leading AI/ML or intelligent-automation initiatives; 10+ years hands-on with Python, SQL, R, MATLAB, PyTorch, Keras, Git.

• 12+ years architecting ML/deep-learning solutions incl. LLMs (GPT-4, BERT, LLaMA, Dolly) and RAG pipelines.

• 8+ years building web apps (Dash, Streamlit, Shiny) and advanced data products.

• 8+ years implementing scalable AI/ML on platforms like Databricks or Dataiku, with strong AI/MLOps.

• Deep knowledge of cloud data platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and compliance (GxP, HIPAA, GDPR).

• Strong theoretical foundation in ML/AI with contributions to papers and presentations.

• Exceptional written & verbal communication skills translating complex research to executives.

Leadership/Autonomy

• Leads multi-disciplinary squads and influences enterprise-wide AI & automation strategy.

• Operates with significant autonomy to set technical direction and allocate resources.

Problem Solving

• Applies deep expertise in ML, generative AI, and systems engineering to solve complex, cross-domain challenges.

• Leverages quantitative skills to inform data-driven decisions and optimize agentic workflows.

Impact

• Accelerates operational efficiency, compliance, and patient outcomes by embedding intelligent automation across critical functions.

• Establishes Madrigal as a leader in safe, regulated agentic AI deployment.

Typical Degree & Years of Experience

• Ph.D. in a quantitative field plus 15+ years in AI/ML and intelligent automation.

• Extensive leadership experience managing cross-functional technology teams in regulated industries.

Madrigal’s Total Rewards strategy is based on a biotech industry peer group comparator and is inclusive of base pay, bonus and equity. Our equity offers meaningful opportunity allowing our employees to share in the success they help create. By aligning individual and company performance, we empower employees to think like owners, giving them a stake in the organization.

All employees receive equity, which we believe reinforces our ownership culture. Base salary is determined by several factors including the candidate’s qualifications, skills, education, experience, business needs and market demands. The base salary range for this position is $255,600 - $312,000 per year.

All full-time employees receive equity, which reinforces our ownership culture and offers meaningful opportunity for our employees to share in the success they help create. By aligning individual and company performance, we empower employees to think like owners, giving them a stake in the organization.

Full-time employees are also eligible for comprehensive benefits, including flexible paid time off, medical, dental, vision and life/disability insurance, and 401(k) offerings (i.e., traditional, Roth, and employer match) in accordance with applicable plans. We also offer additional voluntary benefits like supplemental life insurance, legal services, and other offerings. In addition, we offer mental health benefits through our Employee Assistance Program for employees and their family. The company also provides other benefits in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities throughout the hiring process. If you need assistance, please contact [email protected].

Madrigal is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit, and business need. Applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran or disabled status, or other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

Unsolicited resumes from agencies should not be forwarded to Madrigal. Madrigal will not be responsible for any fees arising from the use of resumes through this source. Madrigal will only pay a fee to agencies if a formal agreement between Madrigal and the agency has been established.

Applications are being accepted on an ongoing basis and can be submitted through our Madrigal Careers site.

Please be aware that we have received reports of individuals misrepresenting themselves as Madrigal Pharmaceuticals’ Hiring Managers, seeking to engage with job candidates through fraudulent online advertisements or job posting sites. These unauthorized individuals are using Madrigal’s name and logo in an attempt to solicit up-front fees and obtain personal information from interested job candidates. Please know that Madrigal does not conduct interviews via text or in chat rooms; conduct interviews via Skype, RingCentral or solely via telephone; charge candidates an advance fee of any kind (e.g., fees for purchasing equipment); nor does it offer positions of employment without undergoing a thorough recruiting process.

Please also note that any correspondence with regard to employment would come from an authorized madrigalpharma.com email address or from an email address from one of our trusted search firm partners. We are aware that incorrect/fraudulent email addresses, with Madrigal misspelled, have been utilized in these most recent fraud attempts. If you receive unsolicited employment offers from people claiming to work for or on behalf of Madrigal, we recommend that you: do not respond to their questions; do not open any attachments; and do not click on any hyperlinks. Any questions regarding the legitimacy of job-related contacts can be directed to [email protected].