Lead 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.   

The Senior Data Scientist (Grade 27) is a highly independent individual contributor responsible for solving complex, ambiguous business problems using advanced analytics, statistical modeling, and machine learning. The role works with large, diverse, and often unstructured datasets to deliver predictive and prescriptive insights that drive measurable business outcomes. This position serves as a trusted analytical partner to business and technology stakeholders and provides technical guidance to less experienced data scientists.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Lead exploratory data analysis on large, multi-source datasets to identify trends, patterns, and insights
• Design, develop, validate, and maintain advanced statistical, machine learning, and optimization models
• Translate business needs into analytical solutions and scalable data science products
• Partner with business, product, and engineering teams to operationalize models and insights into production
• Communicate analytical findings clearly to senior leaders and non-technical stakeholders
• Ensure model performance, explainability, and responsible use of data and AI techniques

• Act as a subject-matter expert and provide coaching and technical guidance to junior team members

• Scope & Decision Making
  • The role operates with minimal supervision and is accountable for solving moderately to highly complex analytical problems. The Senior Data Scientist exercises independent judgment in analytical design, modeling approaches, and stakeholder engagement, seeking guidance primarily for the most complex or novel challenges
• 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 Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience
• Solid experience in statistical analysis, machine learning, and data modeling
• Proficiency in Python, R, SQL, or similar data science and analytics tools
• Demonstrated ability to work independently on complex analytical problems
• Proven solid communication skills with the ability to explain technical concepts clearly

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's degree or higher in a quantitative or analytical discipline
• Experience deploying models in enterprise or production environments
• Experience mentoring or guiding junior data scientists
• Domain experience in data-intensive or regulated industries

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.