Principal Data Scientist

Job ID: 96405447344Posted: 2026-09-11Location: Eden Prairie, Minnesota, United StatesJob Area: Business & Data AnalyticsCompany: UnitedHealth GroupOptum is a global organization that delivers care, aided by technology to help millions of people live healthier lives. The work you do with our team will directly improve health outcomes by connecting people with the care, pharmacy benefits, data and resources they need to feel their best.Here, you will find a culture guided by inclusion, talented peers, comprehensive benefits and career development opportunities. Come make an impact on the communities we serve as you help us advance health optimization on a global scale.Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together. This Principal Data Scientist role will be a part of the Decision Sciences team in Client Center of Excellence organization. The role will be responsible for strategic interpretation of data and business requirements to provide executive leadership and the growth with customer centric data driven insights and AI/ML solutions. Working in collaboration with Director, Decision Sciences and other data scientists team members, this role works to identify new business requirements across the organization, translate business requirements into data models, perform data engineering to combine diverse data sets, and develop custom algorithms for predictive AI models to support the Growth business and Optum business units.You will enjoy the flexibility to telecommute* from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges.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 problemsDevelop Generative AI and LLM-powered solutions including retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipelines, domain-adapted LLMs, and AI copilots for enterprise workflowsLead collaboration with key business stakeholders to develop business solutions based on data driven insights to solve complex business problemsLead projects that combine diverse customer data sets to identify trends and opportunities, develop custom machine learning models, and provide recommendations to optimize the business and address data-related problemsServe as a senior technical authority in AI/ML by mentoring data scientists and reviewing complex modeling approaches and architectureCoordinate with different functional teams to improve customer data architecture, ensure accuracy of model output and implement new data gathering processesCreate customized summaries, business presentations and documentation for internal business clients based on the results of researchCollaborate with engineering, platform, and product teams to operationalize scalable AI/ML and GenAI systems within enterprise platformsYou'll be rewarded and recognized for your performance in an environment that will challenge you and give you clear directions on what it takes to succeed in your role as well as provide development for other roles you may be interested in.Required Qualifications:8+ years of experience in machine learning, artificial intelligence, or applied data science to develop data products in a business environment8+ years of experience in Python-based machine learning development using frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, Pandas or equivalent5+ years of experience designing and deploying production machine learning systems leveraging regression, natural language processing algorithms, classification and clustering, time-series forecasting and predictive/prescriptive modeling5+ years of experience providing data driven solutions, predictive models, reports, or recommendations within a business environment using SQL or data visualization tools. This can include previous work in data science teams, business intelligence, financial reporting or analytics environments5+ years of experience working as a key SME to executive or C-Suite stakeholdersPreferred Qualifications:Experience working with distributed ML systems and large-scale data platforms such as Snowflake, Spark, Databricks, or other ML systemsExperience working as a project or team lead on the development of data products in a business environmentExperience deploying AI solutions on cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or GCPExperience working with healthcare datasets and standards such as claims, EHR, ICD, CPT, SNOMED, FHIR, or HL7External contributions such as publications, patents, or open-source projects in machine learning or generative AI*All Telecommuters will be required to adhere to UnitedHealth Group's Telecommuter Policy.At UnitedHealth Group, our mission is to help people live healthier lives and make the health system work better for everyone. We believe everyone-of every race, gender, sexuality, age, location, and income-deserves the opportunity to live their healthiest life. Today, however, there are still far too many barriers to good health which are disproportionately experienced by people of color, historically marginalized groups, and those with lower incomes. We are committed to mitigating our impact on the environment and enabling and delivering equitable care that addresses health disparities and improves health outcomes - an enterprise priority reflected in our mission. UnitedHealth Group is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer under applicable law and qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, religion, age, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by local, state, or federal laws, rules, or regulations. UnitedHealth Group is a drug-free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment.#RPO #GREEN