Machine Learning Research Manager

Frontera Health is revolutionizing pediatric healthcare by developing a cutting-edge, tech-enabled platform that delivers essential therapies to rural families. Our platform leverages AI/ML to create a robust video-based data model for early intervention and developmental disorders. By collaborating closely with parents, caregivers, and clinical partners, we’re bridging the gap in access to care, improving health equity, and providing personalized treatment plans. Backed by leading investors like Lightspeed and Lux, Frontera Health is poised for rapid growth.

Our ABA direct services are designed to meet the unique needs of children in underserved communities, providing them with the support and resources they require to reach their full potential. We are passionate about ensuring that every child, regardless of their location or socioeconomic status, has access to high-quality healthcare. By leveraging our technology platform and partnering with local providers, we are able to deliver effective ABA therapy to families who may otherwise have limited access to these essential services.

The Role

We are looking for a Machine Learning Research Manager to lead our ML research team and help drive our models from research to production. This role requires strong technical expertise in machine learning, leadership in research initiatives, outstanding interpersonal leadership skills, experience guiding globally distributed teams, and the ability to collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including engineering, clinical annotation, and product stakeholders.

As a Machine Learning Research Manager, you will play a pivotal role in bridging the gap between cutting-edge research and practical implementation, ensuring that our models are not only state-of-the-art but also robust, scalable, and impactful. You will work closely with our clinical annotation team to refine data labeling processes, ensuring the highest quality training data for our models. Your collaboration with engineering will ensure smooth integration of models into production systems, overcoming technical hurdles and optimizing cost & performance.

Since we do not have a dedicated project manager for ML research, you will also be responsible for organizing research priorities, defining project milestones, and setting realistic timelines to align with business goals. Your ability to effectively communicate research progress, potential roadblocks, and estimated delivery timelines to stakeholders will be critical in maintaining alignment across the organization.

This role is ideal for someone who thrives in a fast-paced environment, enjoys solving complex problems, and is eager to drive research innovation while ensuring real-world applicability.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor a team of ML research scientists, providing technical guidance and career development support.
• Oversee the development and improvement of machine learning models, ensuring they transition effectively from research to production.
• Work closely with the clinical annotation team to define labeling requirements, improve annotation processes, and ensure high-quality training data.
• Collaborate with engineering teams to understand the system architecture and help integrate ML models into production systems.
• Organize and prioritize research initiatives, ensuring alignment with business goals and technical feasibility.
• Provide timeline estimates for research projects and communicate progress to stakeholders.
• Stay up-to-date with the latest advancements in machine learning and identify opportunities to incorporate state-of-the-art techniques into our work.
• Drive a culture of experimentation, rigorous evaluation, and continuous improvement in our ML research efforts.
• Foster strong cross-cultural collaboration, particularly with our India-based research team, ensuring clear communication and alignment across time zones.
• Partner closely with the co-founder who sets the overall AI research vision, translating strategic objectives into tactical projects for the research team.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, AI, or a related field.
• 5 years of experience in applied machine learning research, with a strong track record of taking models from research to production.
• 2 years of experience managing ML research teams, including mentoring and guiding researchers.
• Proven ability to cultivate a supportive, inclusive team culture across different geographies and time zones.
• ​​Deep expertise in machine learning, deep learning, and statistical modeling techniques.
• Strong programming skills in Python, with experience using ML frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow.
• Experience working with large-scale datasets and annotation workflows, particularly in healthcare or other high-stakes domains.
• Familiarity with MLOps, model deployment, and engineering best practices.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to organize work, set priorities, and provide accurate timeline estimates.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams, including engineering, clinical, and product teams.
• Excels working in a very fast moving environment and motivated by the opportunity to build greenfield products.
• Motivated by creating meaningful impact for customers and the product, with a focus on practical, user-centric solutions rather than seeking out complex or "cool" technical challenges.
• A genuine drive to build innovative solutions that make a positive difference in people’s lives.
• Capable of effectively running meetings and managing projects, ensuring clear communication, alignment on priorities, and timely progress tracking across teams.
• Excited to work in person at an office with teammates.

Why Frontera Health?

• Opportunity to be at the forefront of innovation in pediatric healthcare.
• Work on challenging and impactful projects that leverage cutting-edge AI/ML technologies.
• Collaborate with a talented and passionate team in a fast-paced and dynamic environment.
• Make a real difference in the lives of children and families in rural communities.
• Competitive salary and benefits package.

Join us in building the future of behavioral healthcare!

Frontera Health, Inc. is committed to creating and maintaining a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace where everyone feels valued, respected, and has the opportunity to thrive. We believe that our differences make us stronger and that all employees, regardless of their background, experiences, or abilities, contribute to our success.

We are committed to:

• Providing equal employment opportunities to all qualified individuals, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
• Fostering a culture of inclusion and belonging where everyone feels valued and respected.
• Providing reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities.
• Continuously learning and improving our DE&I practices.

We will achieve this commitment by:

• Recruiting and hiring a diverse workforce that reflects the communities we serve.
• Creating and maintaining an inclusive work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment.
• Actively listening to and addressing the needs and concerns of all employees.

We believe that diversity, equity, and inclusion are essential to our success as a company and to our mission of serving the pediatric behavioral health community. We are committed to continuous improvement in this area and welcome feedback from all employees.