Lead Data Scientist

Role Description

The Lead Data Scientist will be integral as we continue to bring innovative new products to market in response to client needs and opportunities. The Lead Data Scientist will build upon their data science, machine learning, and/or GenAI and Natural Language Processing (NLP) expertise to develop intimate knowledge of our current product capabilities and provide advanced analytical expertise to enhance these products through new solutions. Projects will include construction, validation, documentation and delivery of sophisticated GenAI and machine learning solutions for a variety of healthcare-related problems.

The key area of responsibility in the role of Lead Data Scientist is to work in conjunction with our business development and product teams to develop and implement commercially viable model-based solutions to the healthcare, insurance, life sciences and adjacent markets.

• Research, develop, deploy, and maintain traditional AI/ML models following industry best practices.
• Work extensively with available GenAI models; construct exciting solutions to internal and external use cases across markets and enhance our internal capabilities through centralized internal tooling and thought leadership.
• Coordinate with Product, Business Development, ML Engineering, and IT to bring new and exciting data science products to market, as well as support existing industry leading products.
• Help drive best practices and continuous improvement on the data science team; influencing model design and experimentation strategy through planning, audit, peer review, and other coaching.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of professional experience using AI/ML to create high return on investment commercial data science solutions.
• Expertise with Electronic Health Records or unstructured data analysis.
• Expert data scientist with demonstrable capability building traditional AI/ML models.
• Supervised Learning: Linear/logistic regression, decision trees, random forests, gradient boosting (XGBoost, LightGBM, CatBoost), and ensemble methods.
• Unsupervised Learning: K-means clustering, hierarchical clustering, PCA, and anomaly detection algorithms.
• Model Validation: Cross-validation strategies, hyperparameter optimization (Grid Search, Random Search, Bayesian optimization), and A/B testing frameworks.
• Deep Learning Architectures: Neural networks, transformers, and transfer learning methodologies.
• NLP Algorithms: Text preprocessing, TF-IDF, word embeddings (Word2Vec, GloVe), topic modeling (LDA), sentiment analysis, and named entity recognition.
• Expert understanding of NLP and generative AI; able to effectively use, fine-tune, and evaluate commercially available models as well as deploy and integrate local LLMs into the data science process.
• Hands-on experience building GenAI applications (e.g., RAG systems, LLM evaluation frameworks, or GenAI-powered internal tools).
• Expert level Python programmer, with some experience in R and/or SQL.
• Expert user of Databricks or similar cloud-based model development ecosystem including mlflow, experimentation organization, data catalogs, and compute cluster configuration.
• Sufficient understanding of software engineering best practices such as Git for version control, unit testing, local development, and environment management.
• Knowledge of ML Engineering and ML Ops related concepts and tools including CICD pipelines, GitHub Actions, Docker, AWS Lambda, and Linux.
• Degree in a relevant field (computer science, data science, statistics, mathematics, applied math, actuarial science, economics, etc.).

Requirements

• Excellent communication skills, in person and through phone/email.
• Proven ability to understand client analytical needs, translate them into an action plan, then execute and deliver.
• Customer-centric approach to finding solutions.
• Focused on results and able to explain findings in a way that answers business problems.
• Constructive, “can do” approach to overcoming obstacles.
• Can quickly learn new techniques and technologies.
• Proactive in identifying process improvements.
• Strong work ethic, willing to pitch in wherever needed.
• Thrive in a small team, without micromanagement.
• Ability to manage projects and timelines, including directing the work of others.

Wish List

• PhD in relevant field or Actuarial designation (FCAS/FSA).
• Experience in one of the following industries: healthcare, insurance (L&H or P&C), finance, life sciences, or similar fields.
• Experience at an InsurTech or FinTech.
• Past experience working in a HIPAA / PHI / PCI compliant environment.

Location

The expected application deadline for this job is December 31, 2026. This position is open to remote work. Applicants must be willing to travel to the Milliman office in Brookfield, WI as needed and travel nationwide for meetings, conferences, and team events.

Compensation

The overall salary range for this role is $117,500 - $249,780.

• For candidates residing in Alaska, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York City, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, or the District of Columbia:
• $135,125 - $222,985 if overall experience is less than 15 years;
• $151,340 - $249,780 for experience greater than 15 years.
• All other states:
• $117,500 - $193,900 if overall experience is less than 15 years;
• $131,600 - $217,200 for experience greater than 15 years.

Benefits

• Medical, Dental and Vision – Coverage for employees, dependents, and domestic partners.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) – Confidential support for personal and work-related challenges.
• 401(k) Plan – Includes a company matching program and profit-sharing contributions.
• Discretionary Bonus Program – Recognizing employee contributions.
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) – Pre-tax savings for dependent care, transportation, and eligible medical expenses.
• Paid Time Off (PTO) – Begins accruing on the first day of work. Full-time employees accrue 15 days per year, and employees working less than full-time accrue PTO on a prorated basis.
• Holidays – A minimum of 10 paid holidays per year.
• Family Building Benefits – Includes adoption and fertility assistance.
• Paid Parental Leave – Up to 11 weeks of paid leave for employees who meet eligibility criteria.
• Life Insurance & AD&D – 100% of premiums covered by Milliman.
• Short-Term and Long-Term Disability – Fully paid by Milliman.

Equal Opportunity

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.