Surgo Health

AI-powered socio-behavioral analytics for healthcare

Senior Research Scientist

Social & Behavioral SciencesUpdated on Nov 13

Full-timeLondon, UKNo salary listed

About the Job

Requirements

PhD or equivalent research experience demonstrated by publications in a behavior-relevant domain such as behavioral science, artificial intelligence, psychology, cognitive science, behavioral economics, decision science, or a closely related field.
At least 3 years of post-PhD or applied experience; experience in an industry or product setting is preferred.
Expertise in qualitative and quantitative research methods, including surveys and interviews.
Hands-on fluency designing, evaluating, and iterating on large language model products, including evaluations, validation, and common chatbot challenges.
Curiosity about how large language models and agents will change behavioral science.
Some fluency in engineering or development is a plus; the team uses Azure Databricks.
Health or life sciences domain experience is a strong plus.
Excellent scientific and workplace communication.
Ability to work quickly and pragmatically and make decisions under deadline pressure without compromising scientific rigor.

Responsibilities

Accelerate the science of Derin conversational design so the product can serve many clients and use cases.
Deliver the scientific roadmap for Derin's interviewing brain, including how it probes, prioritizes, and adapts.
Build respondent safeguarding to industry-leading standards aligned with Institutional Review Board and healthcare requirements.
Perform validation studies on Derin.
Publish peer-reviewed papers, white papers, and client-ready evidence.
Build and maintain the rubrics, annotations, and evaluation pipelines used to judge Derin's performance.
Provide expert guidance to colleagues and continuously learn from their needs to adapt the product.

Desired Qualifications

Experience in an industry or product setting.
Fluency in engineering or development; the team uses Azure Databricks.
Health or life sciences domain experience.

Surgo Health is building the Behavioral Intelligence layer for healthcare — revealing why people behave as they do, predicting what they will do next, and helping organizations make the decisions that change outcomes.

A Public Benefit Corporation grounded in two decades of global health experience, Surgo generates foundational behavioral data that reveals the unseen why and builds the AI products that powers decision-grade insights at population scale — equipping healthcare organizations, funders, and public agencies to act on what actually shapes health outcomes: people's beliefs, motivations, and barriers.

From predicting who will enroll and remain in a clinical trial, to understanding what drives treatment decisions, to designing more effective health programs, Surgo brings the missing human layer into decisions traditionally made with clinical data alone.

Backed by 40+ peer-reviewed publications and trusted by partners including the Gates Foundation, J&J, Takeda, Pivotal Ventures, and the Clinton Health Access Initiative, Surgo is building a future where healthcare organizations don't just understand human behavior, but anticipate it — making healthcare more personal, precise, and effective for everyone.

Role Summary

Derin is a behavioral science-backed, AI-powered adaptive research platform built for healthcare that conducts in-depth interviews to reveal the unseen “why” behind health decisions - with the depth and rigor of expert-led research, at unprecedented scale and speed. As a Senior Scientist on the Derin team, you'll innovate on the science behind how Derin asks questions, how we prove it works, and how we keep respondents safe. You'll partner closely with Engineering, Product, and Client Engagement to take Derin from a breakthrough product to the category-defining standard for behavioral data collection.

Accelerate the science of Derin conversational design, ensuring the product can serve many clients and use cases.
Deliver on the scientific roadmap for Derin's interviewing brain: how it probes, prioritises, and adapts.
Build industry-leading respondent safeguarding to IRB and healthcare standards.
Perform validation studies on Derin
Publish peer-reviewed papers, white papers, and client-ready evidence.
Build and maintain the rubrics, annotations, and eval pipelines we use to judge Derin performance.
Provide expert guidance to your colleagues; in turn, continuously learn and adapt the product based on the needs of your colleagues.

PhD or equivalent research experience demonstrated by publications in a behavior-relevant domain (behavioral science, AI, psychology, cognitive science, behavioral economics, decision science, or closely related).
3+ years post-PhD / applied experience, preferably in an industry or product setting.
Expertise and passion for qualitative and quantitative research methods (surveys and interviews)
Hands-on fluency designing, evaluating, and iterating on LLM products, including evals, validation, and common chatbot challenges.
Demonstrable curiosity about how LLMs and agents will change how behavioral science is done.
We love people who can take ideas and bring them to life, so some fluency in engineering/development is a big plus (we use Azure Databricks)
Excellent communication, both scientific and within a fast-paced environment.
Bias to ship: fast, pragmatic, and able to make calls under deadline pressure without cutting scientific corners.
Health or life sciences domain experience is a strong plus.

Location: This role is based in London with 2 days/week in office (Mondays and Thursdays)

Travel: Limited travel to conferences and Washington, DC headquarters

About the Company

Surgo Health

AI-powered socio-behavioral analytics for healthcare

Surgo Health runs an AI-powered socio-behavioral analytics platform that helps healthcare organizations understand why people engage with care, using a cloud-based SaaS model for pharma, payers, and providers. Its Mosaic platform maps drivers of health behavior by combining behavioral, clinical, and social data; MosaicTrials improves clinical trial design, recruitment, and diversity; and Derin uses conversational AI to collect health-behavior insights at scale. It differentiates itself by explaining the underlying beliefs, biases, and trust behind patient actions beyond standard clinical data and SDOH, and operates as a public benefit corporation focused on equity. The company aims to advance health equity and improve health outcomes through data-driven, behaviorally informed insights.

Company size: 51-200
Company stage: Seed
Total funding: $5M
Headquarters: Washington DC, United States
Founded: 2022

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