Principal Data Scientist - Remote

Primary Responsibilities

• Lead development of advanced AI/ML systems using techniques such as deep learning, representation learning, time-series modeling, survival analysis, and probabilistic modeling to solve complex healthcare problems
• Develop Generative AI and LLM-powered solutions including retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipelines, domain-adapted LLMs, and AI copilots for enterprise workflows
• Arcitect scalable AI and ML systems including feature engineering pipelines, feature stores, model training workflows, model serving infrastructure, monitoring systems, and automated retraining pipelines
• Build agentic AI and autonomous workflows using agent frameworks, agentic skills, MCP integrations, and agent-to-agent (A2A) communication patterns
• Advance model evaluation, reliability, and monitoring strategies including offline metrics, LLM benchmarking, safety testing, hallucination mitigation, and drift detection
• Drive responsible AI practices including explainability, interpretability, bias detection, fairness evaluation, and governance aligned with enterprise and regulatory standards
• Serve as a senior technical authority in AI/ML by mentoring data scientists and reviewing complex modeling approaches and architectures
• Collaborate with engineering, platform, and product teams to operationalize scalable AI/ML and GenAI systems within enterprise platforms

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in machine learning, artificial intelligence, or applied data science with 7+ years of designing and deploying production machine learning systems
• 8+ years of experience in Python-based machine learning development using frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, or equivalent along with solid SQL skills
• 5+ years of experience deploying production ML systems including model serving, monitoring, ML lifecycle management, and collaboration with engineering teams
• 3+ years of experience developing Generative AI or LLM-based applications including prompt engineering, RAG pipelines, LLM evaluation, and safety guardrails
• 1+ years of experience building or evaluating agentic AI systems including AI agents, agentic skills, Model Context Protocol (MCP), agent-to-agent (A2A) interaction patterns, or autonomous workflows

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working with distributed ML systems and large-scale data platforms such as Spark, Databricks, Ray, or Kubernetes-based ML systems
• Experience deploying AI solutions on cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or GCP
• Experience working with healthcare datasets and standards such as claims, EHR, ICD, CPT, SNOMED, FHIR, or HL7
• External contributions such as publications, patents, or open-source projects in machine learning or generative AI

Benefits

Our mission of helping people live healthier lives extends to our team members. Learn more about our range of benefits designed to help you live well.

• Life

  • Resources and support to focus on what matters most to you, in every facet of your life.

• Emotional

  • Education, tools and resources to help you reduce and manage stress, build resilience and more.

• Physical

  • Health plans and other coverage to support wellness for you and your loved ones.

• Financial

  • Benefits for today and to help you plan for the future, including your retirement.

About the Role

Pursue your passion and potential as a Principal Data Scientist at Optum Tech. With a mission to simplify healthcare with AI, we're looking for someone who can lead the charge in developing advanced AI/ML and Generative AI systems that solve complex healthcare and operational challenges. Optum Tech is a global leader in health care innovation, and we're committed to making a meaningful difference in the lives of those we serve.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in machine learning, artificial intelligence, or applied data science with 7+ years of designing and deploying production machine learning systems
• 8+ years of experience in Python-based machine learning development using frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, or equivalent along with solid SQL skills
• 5+ years of experience deploying production ML systems including model serving, monitoring, ML lifecycle management, and collaboration with engineering teams
• 3+ years of experience developing Generative AI or LLM-based applications including prompt engineering, RAG pipelines, LLM evaluation, and safety guardrails
• 1+ years of experience building or evaluating agentic AI systems including AI agents, agentic skills, Model Context Protocol (MCP), agent-to-agent (A2A) interaction patterns, or autonomous workflows

Skills

• Deep hands-on expertise in machine learning, LLM systems, distributed AI architectures, and production-grade ML platforms
• Experience working with distributed ML systems and large-scale data platforms such as Spark, Databricks, Ray, or Kubernetes-based ML systems
• Experience deploying AI solutions on cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or GCP
• Experience working with healthcare datasets and standards such as claims, EHR, ICD, CPT, SNOMED, FHIR, or HL7
• External contributions such as publications, patents, or open-source projects in machine learning or generative AI

Benefits

Learn more about our range of benefits designed to help you live well.

• Life

  • Resources and support to focus on what matters most to you, in every facet of your life.

• Emotional

  • Education, tools and resources to help you reduce and manage stress, build resilience and more.

• Physical

  • Health plans and other coverage to support wellness for you and your loved ones.

• Financial

  • Benefits for today and to help you plan for the future, including your retirement.

Schedule

This role offers the flexibility to work remotely from anywhere within the U.S., with a requirement to work in the office a minimum of four days per week in the Minneapolis or Washington, D.C. area.

Pay

The salary for this role will range from $112,700 to $193,200 annually based on full-time employment. We comply with all minimum wage laws as applicable.