Senior Data Scientist - 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.

Optum's Payment Integrity Decision Intelligence is expanding and seeking a Senior Data Scientist to help drive our mission of achieving accurate and effortless claims payments through advanced analytics and machine learning. We are looking for a motivated professional with expertise in machine learning, large language models (LLMs), and healthcare analytics who is passionate about solving complex business problems with data.

You'll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely * from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges. For all hires in the Minneapolis or Washington, D.C. area, you will be required to work in the office a minimum of four days per week.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Utilize large language models (LLMs) to enhance analytic methodologies and support innovation across core product lines
• Design, develop, and maintain data science solutions, including data preparation, feature engineering, model development, evaluation, deployment, and monitoring
• Collaborate with engineering and product teams to implement and maintain scalable machine learning models in production environments
• Communicate technical findings, insights, and recommendations clearly to both technical and business stakeholders
• Support innovation initiatives in machine learning and AI by evaluating and applying new techniques and technologies
• Independently analyze complex data problems and recommend actionable solutions that deliver measurable business value
• Contribute to best practices in model development, code quality, documentation, and reproducibility
• Partner with cross-functional teams to ensure analytical solutions align with business objectives and operational needs
• Assist in evaluating and implementing emerging technologies such as foundation models, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and advanced NLP techniques
• Demonstrated problem-solving, communication, and collaboration skills

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 developing and deploying predictive models using machine learning, deep learning, NLP, or related techniques
• 3+ years of experience using machine learning libraries and frameworks such as Scikit-learn, PyTorch, TensorFlow, or SparkM
• 3+ years of professional experience programming in Python for data science and machine learning applications
• 2+ years of experience writing complex SQL queries for data extraction, transformation, and analysis
• 1+ years of hands-on experience with large language model (LLM) frameworks such as Hugging Face Transformers, LangChain, or OpenAI APIs
• 1+ years of experience working with cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or GCP
• Experience using Apache Spark for distributed data processing and large-scale data transformations
• Experience using Git for version control and collaborative software development

Preferred Qualification:

• Experience working with healthcare data, claims analytics, or payment integrity solutions

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

Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to local labor markets, education, work experience, certifications, etc. In addition to your salary, we offer 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 us, you'll find a far-reaching choice of benefits and incentives. The salary for this role will range from $91,700 - $163,700 annually based on full-time employment. We comply with all minimum wage laws as applicable.

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.