Senior Principal Data Scientist - Remote

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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.

Are you a Principal Data Scientist looking to join an organisation where what you do genuinely makes an impact? Where you are empowered, heard and able to think creatively? Then look no further because we are what you have been looking for!

We are looking for a Senior Principal Data Scientist with solid technical skills using either Python or R, experience leading teams and the ability to communicate with both technical and non-technical teams across the business.

This role sits within Optum UK Health Analytics team responsible for taking large data sets from various sources and converting them into meaningful insights on UK healthcare. You will play a key role in developing and implementing Optum UK's data science capabilities in the UK. Integrated within the UK Product team, you will use artificial intelligence (AI) models to create new and augment existing products that solve important problems faced by the UK healthcare system.

We are a collaborative team, we work hard and are passionate about what we do, but we ensure we have fun along the way. If this sounds like something you want to be a part of then apply today!

What you'll do:
You will take ownership of the UK's data science function, this will include providing strategic and technical direction, team building and communicating with senior stakeholders across the business.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Provide strategic and technical direction for UK Product AI initiatives, communicating technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders and building consensus from various stakeholders
• Develop, deploy and maintain advanced AI models to create new and augment existing products that solve important problems faced by the UK healthcare system
• Work with autonomy and in collaboration with other team members, including data scientists, analysts, developers, and clinicians, to contribute to the strategic goals of the UK Product team.
• Manage multiple priorities and projects to meet tight deadlines within a heavily matrixed business environment
• Horizon scan for internal and external advances in AI that can be applied to the UK business

Who You'll Be:

We need you to demonstrate significant experience within data science.

We want you to have experience in either Python or R together with experience leading data science teams. You will also have solid experience of creating and implementing both the strategic and technical direction of those teams.

Being passionate about tech and keeping up to date with market and industry trends is key, as we want you to share your knowledge and use that to show us where you have made improvements that have had business benefit.

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 a quantitative discipline
• Proven solid programming skills in R and Python
• Demonstrated well-rounded data science skill set including the ability to build/maintain predictive models and explain model processes/outputs
• Ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of stakeholders and build solid business relationships as a trusted partner
• Ability to deal with multiple priorities
• Demonstrated astute attention to detail and the integrity to openly report errors in a timely fashion
• Demonstrated passion for solving problems and making a difference with data science
• Experience of gathering requirements from, and documenting processes for, end users
• Experience in building and/or fine-tuning transformer-based AI models
• Experience of managing the demands and various stakeholders within a highly matrixed business environment
• Ability to build/maintain predictive models and explain model processes/outputs
• Experience with agentic AI

Preferred Qualifications:

• PHD Level qualification or equivalent

*All telecommuters will be required to adhere to the UnitedHealth Group's Telecommuter Policy.

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: UnitedHealth Group is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by law. UnitedHealth Group is a drug-free workplace. © 2025 UnitedHealth Group. All rights reserved.