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 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.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to data scientists, fostering innovation and excellence across teams
• Lead end-to-end delivery of complex technical and AI/ML-driven initiatives, ensuring alignment with business objectives, timelines, budget, and quality standards
• Own and prioritize the product backlog, translating business needs into user stories, including AI/ML use cases with clear success criteria
• Drive AI/ML adoption across products and platforms, ensuring integration into workflows, scalable deployment, and alignment with enterprise strategy
• Establish real-time measurement frameworks (KPIs, ML metrics, adoption rates, model performance, business impact) using dashboards and analytics tools
• Partner with business, data science, engineering, and architecture teams to define product vision, roadmap, and value-driven prioritization
• Ensure seamless collaboration across engineering, other Tech partners, data, DevOps, and operations for secure, scalable, and compliant solution delivery
• Drive adoption of modern technologies including Java, Python, cloud platforms (Azure/GCP), MLOps
• 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:

• B Tech/ M Tech or MCA  
• 10+ years of experience in agile delivery, product lifecycle, or related technical roles
• Experience with Rally / Azure DevOps / Confluence
• Experience of working in Java, Python, Azure Cloud
• Solid understanding of AI DLC, Agile/Scrum, and product delivery
• Technical understanding of systems, APIs, integrations, and enterprise solutions
• Proven excellent communication, facilitation, and cross-functional leadership skills

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.