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Director of Clinical Research (PT/FT)
Deliberate AIHybrid (NYC or Boston)Full-Time or Part-Time
About Deliberate AI
We're a venture-backed company at the frontier of precision mental health. In partnerships with some of the world's top ranked medical schools and psychiatric hospitals, we've secured non-dilutive funding from the NIH, ARPA-H, DARPA, the FDA and the Wellcome Trust. We're deploying multimodal AI systems in clinical trials and healthcare settings across four continents - and we're hiring the team to build what comes next.
About the Role
Deliberate AI exists at the intersection of clinical research and AI - and the research portfolio is how we partially fund, validate, and publish the work that makes precision mental health real. We're running clinical trials running across four continents and a publication pipeline that turns our engineering and clinical work into peer-reviewed science. What we don't yet have is a dedicated research leader who owns the strategy and execution of that entire research portfolio.
That's this role. You'll lead Deliberate's grant and clinical research strategy - identifying funding opportunities, writing and submitting grant applications, and serving as PI on funded studies when appropriate. You'll manage IRB submissions and regulatory compliance across our multi-site trial portfolio. And you'll own our publications approach: setting the research agenda, coordinating manuscript writing across internal and consortium teams, and taking hands-on responsibility for writing papers. This isn't a role where you oversee from a distance - you write grants, you write papers, and you ensure the research programs you've won are executed to the standard the science demands.
Who You Are
You've been a PI on US federally funded research - you've written the grants, managed the budgets, navigated the review panels, and delivered the results. You understand the federal funding landscape well enough to spot the right opportunities before an RFA drops. You're a strong scientific writer who can turn complex multimodal clinical AI research into compelling grant narratives and publishable papers. And you're drawn to the idea of doing this at a company - where the research directly shapes a product, the timeline matters, and the impact isn't hypothetical.
What You'll Do

• Grant Strategy & Development: Identify federal and foundation funding opportunities aligned with Deliberate's research and product roadmap. Write and submit grant applications to funding organizations. Serve as PI on funded awards when appropriate.
• Grant Portfolio Management: Oversee execution of awarded grants - milestone tracking, budget management, progress reporting, subcontractor coordination, and compliance with federal regulations
• IRB & Regulatory Compliance: Manage IRB submissions, amendments, and continuing reviews across multi-site clinical trials. Ensure research protocols comply with GCP, HIPAA, and applicable federal and institutional requirements
• Publications & Scientific Output: Own Deliberate's publication strategy - prioritize manuscripts, coordinate writing across internal scientists and consortium partners, and take hands-on responsibility for drafting and revising papers for peer-reviewed journals
• Research Program Design: Partner with the CEO, Chief Scientist, and engineering leads to design research programs that advance both scientific knowledge and product development - ensuring that clinical validation, algorithmic development, and publication goals are integrated
• External Research Relationships: Maintain and develop relationships with consortium partners and new academic partners, funding agencies, and the broader research community

Growth trajectory: As Deliberate's research portfolio grows, this role evolves into a VP of Research position - overseeing a team of research scientists and coordinators, and shaping the company's long-term scientific strategy.
You may be a good fit if you:

• Have a PhD in clinical psychology, neuroscience, biomedical engineering, computational psychiatry, or a related field
• Have been PI on at least 2-3 federally funded research grants
• Have independently written successful federal grant applications - you've navigated study sections and know how to structure a compelling Specific Aims page
• Have a strong post-doctoral research track record with substantial publications in peer-reviewed journals
• Have experience managing multi-site clinical research programs - IRB protocols, data management, site coordination, and regulatory compliance
• Are a strong scientific writer - you can produce a grant narrative, a methods section, and a discussion that reviewers and readers find clear and rigorous
• Have familiarity with digital health, AI/ML in healthcare, or computational approaches to clinical use cases - you don't need to build models, but you need to understand the research well enough to write about it and design studies around it
• Have experience managing research budgets and federal compliance requirements

Strong candidates may also:

• Have experience with clinical trials in mental health or psychiatry - depression, PTSD, anxiety, or related conditions
• Have worked in or with industry research settings (health-tech, biotech, pharmaceutical) in addition to academic positions
• Have experience with ARPA-type research specifically - understanding the OT (Other Transaction) structure, milestone-based funding, and risk-tolerant program philosophy
• Have expertise in affective computing, or multimodal behavioral measurement
• Have experience supervising junior researchers, postdocs, or research coordinators

Compensation & Benefits

• Base Salary: $140,000 - $228,000 (commensurate with experience, qualifications, and grant portfolio)
• Early-stage equity with meaningful ownership - you're joining at a stage where individual grants are substantial
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) with company match
• Flexible PTO policy
• Senior authorship on publications emerging from your research programs - this is a research leadership role, and the publication record reflects that

Location: This is a hybrid role. We work in-person roughly 50% of the time in NYC or Boston - this is how we build culture and solve hard problems together as an early, fast-growing team. Candidates should be based in or willing to relocate to one of these cities.
Work authorization: Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States. We welcome applicants who hold US citizenship, permanent residency, or existing work authorization including H-1B (transfer-eligible), OPT/STEM OPT, or TN visa (Canadian and Mexican citizens). If you already hold an H-1B, we will sponsor your green card if desired but we are not currently able to sponsor new H-1B petitions.
Deliberate AI evaluates candidates based on merit, qualifications, and the skills needed to succeed in the role.