Associate Data Scientist

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.

We are looking for an enthusiastic and curious Junior Data Scientist to join the Cloud Nova team. This is an excellent opportunity for someone with 2-3 years of experience to work on exciting projects involving Generative AI (GenAI), Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), and deep learning. You will support senior data scientists and engineers in building and deploying AI models that solve real-world problems.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Assist in developing and testing GenAI models using tools like LangChain and Hugging Face Transformers
• Support the creation of RAG pipelines and embedding-based search systems
• Help prepare datasets and perform exploratory data analysis
• Contribute to model evaluation and performance tracking
• Collaborate with team members to integrate models into applications
• Stay updated on the latest trends in AI and deep learning
• Comply with the terms and conditions of the employment contract, company policies and procedures, and any and all directives (such as, but not limited to, transfer and/or re-assignment to different work locations, change in teams and/or work shifts, policies in regards to flexibility of work benefits and/or work environment, alternative work arrangements, and other decisions that may arise due to the changing business environment). The Company may adopt, vary or rescind these policies and directives in its absolute discretion and without any limitation (implied or otherwise) on its ability to do so

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, or a related field
• 1+ years of experience in data science, machine learning, or AI projects (internships count)
• Basic understanding of NLP and deep learning concepts
• Willingness to learn and grow in a collaborative environment
• Technical Skills:
  • Programming: Python, SQL
  • AI/ML: PyTorch or TensorFlow, Scikit-learn, Hugging Face Transformers
  • GenAI Tools: LangChain, LlamaIndex (basic familiarity preferred)
  • Data Tools: Pandas, NumPy, Jupyter Notebooks
  • Version Control: Git

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with vector databases (e.g., FAISS)
• Familiarity with MLOps tools like MLflow or Docker
• Exposure to cloud-based model deployment
• Technical Skills:
  • Cloud: Exposure to Azure or AWS

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.