Lead Data Scientist - Remote

Job d:

Location:

Minnetonka, Minnesota, United States Salary: $112,700 - $193,200/year

Job Area:
Technology Company:
United Health Group Optum 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 role is a senior, hands‑on AI/ML engineering position focused on building, enhancing, and integrating Machine Learning and Generative AI solutions within Databricks.

Working in office if based in MSP or DC

Primary Responsibilities:

Designing and implementing ML models

Creating custom embeddings

Building RAG pipelines

Implementing vector databases

Developing agentic workflows with Lang Chain Integrating  AI into enterprise applications for Claims Payment Integrity (PI)
The role partners closely with Data Scientists, Product Teams, and Platform Teams to deploy AI-driven intelligence across PI use cases

Contribute to experimentation with novel ML and Generative AI architectures

Create and maintain embedding models (domain-specific embeddings, document/text embeddings)
Support Retrieval‑Augmented Generation (RAG) solutions, including semantic search, vector databases, and LLM integration

Help design and implement AI‑powered enterprise applications

Analyze large datasets to identify trends, patterns, and actionable insights

Partner with AI/ML Engineers and Leads to enhance existing models and improve model accuracy and performance

Optimize AI pipelines for scalability, performance, reliability, and cost efficiency

Integrate AI/ML solutions into enterprise systems by partnering closely with data engineering, product, and platform teams

Collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams and stakeholders, communicating complex technical concepts clearly

Contribute to skill development for engineers and interns in AI/LLM techniques

Comply with company policies, procedures, and directives

You'll be rewarded and recognized for your performance in an environment that will challenge you and give you clear direction on what it takes to succeed in your role as well as provide development for other roles you may be interested in.

Required Qualifications:

Bachelor's/Master's in CS, Engineering, Mathematics/Statistics, or related5+ years of experience as a Data Scientist5+ years of relevant experience, including strong ML end to end model development (data prep feature creation training evaluation)5+ years of experience with Python, Scala, SQL3+ years of Databricks, Spark2+ years of experience with LLM & GenAI

Skills:

Creating custom embedding models

Building RAG pipelines

Vector DBs & semantic search

Using Lang Chain for agentic workflows (tools, agents, memory)

Experience with OpenAI/Azure OpenAI APIsExperience with Azure cloud for compute, security, and resource management CI/CD familiarity using Git, Git Hub Actions/Jenkins, Terraform Excellent communication and partnership skills

Experience with Actuarial, Risk and Forecasting Models

Preferred Qualifications:

Experience with healthcare claims data

Experience with Azure, Databricks, Snowflake, LLMs and/or similar tools  Demonstrated problem-solving, and analytical thinking skills

Demonstrated organizational skills with ability to be flexible and work with ambiguity

Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to local labor markets, education, work…