*** Senior Data Scientist, Product Design and Enhancements – Remote

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.

Advisory Board helps health care leaders across the health care ecosystem work smarter and faster through provocative insights, actionable strategies, and practical tools to support execution. With more than 40 years of experience, a team of 200+ experts, and a network of 4,500+ member organizations, we spend more time researching the now and predicting the next than anyone else in the health care industry. For more information, visit www.advisory.com.

We are hiring a data scientist to innovate on our suite analytical tools and quantitative research. This individual will possess solid analytical and critical thinking skills and a passion for innovation. The data scientist will partner with leaders on the Quantitative Insights (QI) team to identify opportunities for methodological improvement, independently develop and iterate on complex models, and ensure ongoing quality of our analytical offerings. To drive forward analytical projects, the data scientist will use a variety of technologies including Spark, Python, SQL, Glue, and other AWS tools, but we encourage use of a range of tools. They will also communicate verbally and in writing about their work to Advisory Board colleagues, cross-Optum stakeholders, and clients.  

You’ll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely * from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges. 

Primary Responsibilities:

• Product innovation:
  • Identify opportunities for improvement in analytical tools and research methodologies
  • Serve as an expert resource to Advisory Board researchers, data analysts, and engineers
  • Scope and project manage work to deliver on tool enhancements and research initiatives 
  • Partner with engineers and developers to build analyses into scalable tools and data pipelines 
  • Prototype new products and solutions 
  • Maintain familiarity with the state-of-the-art around big data analytics and associated technologies and techniques 
• Data analysis and modeling:
  • Use AI/ML methods to develop scalable analytical tools and research
  • Develop numerical/statistical programs to support analytical and research work
  • Analyze large healthcare datasets (e.g. claims, EHR, other)
  • Build datasets by connecting tables from across sources
• Collaboration
  • Partner with research teams to surface ideas and use data analysis to produce future-oriented insights 
  • Act as thought partner to management team on future direction of team and role
  • Be an independent thinker and advocate of data science methods and applications
  • Build and maintain relationships with Optum and UHG colleagues as teams partners on projects and analysis
  • Ability to articulate and paint a vision, with solid communication and presentation skills, as well as strengths in translating highly complex concepts, results, models and technologies in ways that can be understood by a variety of audiences

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:

• 3+ years of experience in data analysis and modeling
• 3+ years of programming experience with Python/Pyspark or other analytics languages
• Experience performing statistical modelling and analysis of datasets
• Intermediate level of experience in machine learning and statistics
• Intermediate level of experience in data structures and algorithms
• Experience designing and executing analyses on large data sets
• Advanced proficiency with SQL including the ability to write complex queries

Preferred Qualifications:

• 5+ years of experience in large-scale data analysis and machine learning
• 5+ years of programming experience with Python/Pyspark or other analytics languages
• Experience building or enhancing analytical products and/or solutions  
• Expert level of experience in machine learning and statistics
• Experience with supervised and unsupervised learning methods for model build and deployment
• Experience in Redshift, S3, Glue, and other AWS applications
• Experience with user testing 
• Advanced knowledge of Excel 
• Understanding of U.S. health care domain
• Understanding of raw health care claims data, including Medicare and commercial data sets
• Proven solid written and oral communication skills

*All employees working remotely will be required to adhere to UnitedHealth Group’s Telecommuter Policy 

The salary range for this role is $89,800 to $176,700 annually based on full-time employment. Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to local labor markets, education, work experience, certifications, etc. UnitedHealth Group complies with all minimum wage laws as applicable. In addition to your salary, UnitedHealth Group offers benefits such as, a comprehensive benefits package, incentive and recognition programs, equity stock purchase and 401k contribution (all benefits are subject to eligibility requirements). No matter where or when you begin a career with UnitedHealth Group, you’ll find a far-reaching choice of benefits and incentives.

Application Deadline: This will be posted for a minimum of 2 business days or until a sufficient candidate pool has been collected. Job posting may come down early due to volume of applicants.

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.