Principal 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 diversity and inclusion, talented peers, comprehensive benefits and career development opportunities. Come make an impact on the communities we serve as you help us advance health equity on a global scale. Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

At UnitedHealth Group and Optum, we want to make healthcare work better for everyone. This depends on hiring the best and brightest. With a thriving ecosystem of investment and innovation, our business in Ireland is constantly growing to support the healthcare needs of the future. 

Our teams are at the forefront of building and adapting the latest technologies to propel healthcare forward in a way that better serves everyone. With our hands at work across all aspects of health, we use the most advanced development tools, AI, data science and innovative approaches to make the healthcare system work better for everyone. 

Optum's Payment Integrity Decision Intelligence is seeking a Principal Data Scientist to help drive our mission of driving efficiency and Medical Cost Savings growth within Payment Integrity operations using advanced AI/ML tooling to drive detection, inventory prioritization and orchestration. 

We are seeking a disciplined, self-motivated professional who approaches challenges with integrity and humility. Ideal candidates will have experience working with traditional machine learning and statistical modelling, as well as cutting-edge technologies such as large language models (LLMs), demonstrate a commitment to continuous learning and collaborative problem-solving, and a track record of working with cross functional teams to deliver data science solutions into production.

Careers with Optum offer flexible work arrangements and individuals who live and work in the Republic of Ireland will have the opportunity to split their monthly work hours between our Dublin or Letterkenny office and telecommuting from a home-based office in a hybrid work model.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Design, develop, deploy and monitor advanced data science solutions and intelligent models with minimum supervision
• Leading cross-functional discovery sessions with data scientists, payment integrity operations, and stakeholders to translate business needs to high impact data science projects
• Deliver robust statistical analyses and provide actionable insights that enable critical business decisions
• Effectively communicate data insights and model outputs to non-technical stakeholders and build consensus

• Collaborate with data analysts, data engineers, and software developers to deploy end-to-end modelling pipelines into production

You will 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 providing development for other roles you may be interested in.

Required Qualifications:

• Advanced degree in Applied Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science, Statistics, or a related technical field or equivalent experience 
• Demonstrated solid coding skills in Python, SQL, and related languages 
• Demonstrated proficiency in traditional machine learning and statistical modelling, including regression, classification, sampling design and exposure to LLM technologies 
• Proven experience of leading projects from proof-of-concept to production 
• Demonstrated solid communication skills and demonstrated ability to present to technical and non-technical audience 
• Proven track record of proactively identifying and realising opportunities to deliver value through the application of data science 
• Demonstrated solid problem-solving skills, innovative thinking and the ability to tell a story from data 

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Demonstrated knowledge of work with US healthcare data (claims, authorization, provider contracts, member benefits, policies) 
• Proven experience with Agentic AI frameworks 
• Demonstrated proficiency in deep learning frameworks PyTorch, TensorFlow or other 
• Proven ands-on experience implementing/adapting published academic research into tangible solutions

Please note you must currently be eligible to work and remain indefinitely without any restrictions in the country to which you are making an application. Proof will be required to support your application.  

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.


Diversity creates a healthier atmosphere: Optum is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to gender, civil status, family status, sexual orientation, disability, religion, age, race, and membership of the Traveller community, or any other characteristic protected by law. Optum is a drug-free workplace. © 2026 Optum Services (Ireland) Limited. All rights reserved.

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