About Optiva

Optiva’s mission is to grow families by developing new technologies that unlock deeper insights for IVF, empowering patients and practitioners to make the best clinical decisions. We will fundamentally improve fertility therapy with novel, non-invasive technologies that provide patients and clinicians with more actionable and objective information, increasing the chance of success and reducing the time required to achieve a healthy baby.

Optiva is a seed-stage company, founded in 2020, backed by leading venture funds including Innospark Ventures and KdT Ventures. We are supported by a committed group of experienced business leaders and fertility specialists.

About the role

We are seeking an artificial intelligence thought leader with significant industry experience to lead the development of Optiva's machine learning strategy. This individual will be a founding member of the engineering team and a critical member of the leadership team. Optiva’s rich, first-of-their-kind embryo data sets will provide drastically improved embryo assessments, and sophisticated AI tools will be essential for maximizing the potential of Optiva’s platform.

A successful candidate will

• Develop and direct Optiva’s AI strategy.
• Deepen our understanding of Optiva’s proprietary clinical data sets and optimize ourviability classification performance.
• Effectively incorporate clinical metadata into models and identify new metadata that mayimprove performance.
• Apply the most appropriate validation techniques to provide clear interpretations ofmodel performance.
• Provide expertise in statistics and probability to draw statistical conclusions about thedata and model performance, using key metrics and confidence intervals.
• Incorporate customer needs to develop Optiva’s predictive algorithms into amarket-ready product.
• Make Optiva’s AI platform scalable and automated for expanded clinical trials and laterfor commercial launch.
• Refine Optiva’s AI model development process and quality assurance process, andstandardize them across a small team.
• Grow, mentor and lead Optiva’s AI team.
• Help adapt results and report them in journal articles and scientific conferences.
• Effectively communicate with team members and key stakeholders.

Optiva offers

• Ground floor impact at a seed-stage startup with a lead role in building the central component of Optiva’s technology.
• An opportunity to significantly impact peoples' lives by developing technologies that increase their chances of success of having a healthy baby through IVF.
• A culture that prioritizes personal wellness while upholding high standards of excellence. We get things done in a positive and supportive work environment.
• Competitive pay, benefits, and stock options commensurate with a seed-stage venture-backed company.

Qualifications

• Ph.D., in Computer Science, Physics, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, Materials Science, Computational Biology, or related field.
• 7+ years of industry experience (ideally with startups) in AI infrastructure, pipeline building, distributed training, and deployment.
• Expertise in diagnostic classification methods and image processing techniques.
• Up-to-date with AI research areas and current trends.
• Experience with multiple deep learning models using imaging data.
• Experience working with biological microscopy imaging data sets.
• Knowledgeable about Big Data approaches and the incorporation of metadata.
• Expertise in Python and deep learning frameworks (e.g., PyTorch).
• Experience with cloud computing (Google Cloud).
• Proficiency with common ML models such as logistic regression, SVMs and tree-based models
• Experience with product development and commercialization.
• Ability to effectively prioritize a constantly evolving workload and navigate ambiguitygracefully.
• Execution-focused self-starter with a passion for solving complex problems with asolutions-oriented mindset.
• Authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working with fertility-related data sets such as embryo or sperm images.
• Experience with DevOps.
• Excellent presentation and writing skills, ability to clearly communicate technicalinformation to teammates.