Lead ML Engineer (Europe-based, Remote)

About Sword Health

Sword Health is transforming healthcare through AI-first innovation, making world-class healthcare accessible anytime and anywhere while dramatically reducing costs for payers, self-insured employers, national health systems, and healthcare organizations globally. Since its founding, Sword Health has revolutionized pain care with AI at its core and has expanded into women's health, movement health, and mental health. The company's impact is substantial: over 700,000 members across three continents have completed 10 million AI sessions, helping 1,000+ enterprise clients avoid over $1 billion in unnecessary healthcare costs.

Backed by 42 clinical studies and over 44 patents, Sword Health has secured more than $500 million in funding from leading investors including Khosla Ventures, General Catalyst, Transformation Capital, and Founders Fund. This is a rare opportunity to join a mission-driven organization at the forefront of AI-driven healthcare innovation.

The Role: Lead ML Engineer

We are seeking an experienced Lead ML Engineer to join our Applied AI Team, which develops cutting-edge AI and ML solutions powering personalized clinical care at scale. This is a leadership position for a talented engineer ready to drive technical strategy, mentor team members, and architect sophisticated AI systems that directly impact patient outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and lead development of end-to-end AI treatment management systems handling complete care pathways—from initial patient assessment through intervention selection and progress monitoring across therapeutic domains
• Architect and oversee Phoenix, our AI Care Specialist platform that engages patients in ongoing dialogue and delivers clinical guidance throughout their recovery journey
• Work across the full AI technology stack, including prompt engineering, RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) implementations, model fine-tuning, and agentic workflows
• Make informed technical decisions on deploying both generative AI and classical machine learning solutions based on problem requirements
• Lead cross-functional collaboration with clinical, product, and infrastructure teams to ensure AI solutions meet clinical quality standards and accessibility goals
• Mentor and guide ML engineers and data scientists, fostering a culture of technical excellence and innovation
• Establish best practices for model evaluation, validation, and deployment in healthcare contexts
• Contribute to the advancement of digital care solutions that reach new levels of clinical quality and accessibility

What We're Looking For

• 5+ years of professional ML/AI engineering experience, with at least 2 years in a lead or senior technical role
• Deep expertise in machine learning fundamentals and deep learning frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, or similar)
• Proven experience with LLMs (Large Language Models) and generative AI applications, including prompt engineering and fine-tuning
• Strong background in RAG systems, retrieval mechanisms, and knowledge integration
• Experience designing and implementing agentic AI workflows and autonomous systems
• Ability to translate complex ML problems into scalable, production-ready solutions
• Experience working in healthcare, clinical decision support, or regulated industries is a significant plus
• Strong communication skills with ability to articulate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders
• Collaborative mindset with demonstrated ability to mentor and develop team members
• European timezone preferred; flexibility for occasional cross-timezone collaboration

Why Join Sword Health?

• Mission-Driven Impact: Work on AI systems that directly improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs at scale
• Cutting-Edge Technology: Operate at the forefront of AI innovation, working with the latest generative AI and ML techniques
• Clinical Validation: Your work is backed by rigorous clinical studies and proven real-world results
• Leadership Opportunity: Grow your career in a leadership role with mentorship and technical influence
• Strong Funding: Backed by top-tier investors with runway to scale and long-term vision
• Fully Remote: Work from anywhere in Europe with flexibility and autonomy
• Talented Team: Collaborate with world-class engineers, researchers, and clinicians

Technical Environment

You'll work with modern ML infrastructure, cloud-based platforms, and tools designed for healthcare-grade reliability. The Applied AI Team spans the complete AI stack—from research and development through production deployment—ensuring your work has immediate, measurable impact on patient care.

💰 Compensation not publicly listed. Market estimate for similar roles: from $150K, varying by experience and location.