Director, Clinical AI

New York, NY Pelago is the world’s leading virtual clinic for Substance Use Management. Our program provides guidance, support and treatment for members seeking to overcome their tobacco, alcohol and opioid use. From unhealthy habits to active substance use disorders, Pelago delivers a personalized solution based on individual health, habits, genetics, and goals, providing care for members wherever they might be on the substance use spectrum. Pelago's suite of virtual services ranges from education, to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to comprehensive medication-assisted treatment (MAT). Pelago enables employers and health plans to deliver accessible, affordable, and effective treatment for substance misuse. Pelago has scaled to helping hundreds of employers and health plans and has already helped more than 750,000 members manage their substance use better. We have recently closed our Series C and raised over $151m from leading global investors. If you are passionate about making an impact on the health of others, join us and make it happen!

Overview of the Role:

Pelago is the world's leading virtual clinic for Substance Use Management, and we are expanding the frontier of what virtual care can do through AI. As we build and scale the AI arm of our clinical operations, we are looking for a Director, Clinical AI to serve as the clinical backbone of this work, bridging care delivery, product development, and strategic partnership at a company-wide level. This is a director-level role for a clinician who is equally at home in a strategy conversation and a compliance review, and who can move fluidly between clinical, technical, and executive audiences. This role sits at the intersection of clinical excellence and AI-driven product innovation. This is currently an individual contributor role with a clear path toward building and leading a team as the function grows. This is a hybrid role with a high-collaboration rhythm (3 days/week in our NYC office).

In This Role You Will:

Clinical Operations Leadership

Serve as the senior clinical decision-maker overseeing Pelago's AI-driven mental and behavioral health care programs.
Own the day-to-day clinical operations of the AI arm, ensuring that AI-assisted care meets Pelago's standards for quality, compliance, regulatory requirements, and documentation.
Manage clinical escalations and serve as the senior point of accountability for clinical decisions within the AI care program.

AI Product Collaboration

Work closely with product, design, and engineering teams to provide clinical annotation, structured feedback, and ongoing quality review of AI products.
Serve as the clinical voice in product design discussions, contributing insight that keeps AI tools grounded in evidence-based care delivery.

Strategic Leadership

Represent clinical priorities in cross-functional strategy discussions, standing in for the VP of Care Delivery when needed.
Partner with the Chief Scientific Officer on clinical standards, research alignment, and innovation.
Help shape the long-term vision for AI-assisted care at Pelago.

External Stakeholder Engagement

Build and manage relationships with mental health agencies, clinical vendors, and external partners.
Act as Pelago's clinical representative in external settings...