Associate Data Scientist

As an Associate Data Scientist at Optum, you will play a crucial role in improving health outcomes and advancing health optimization on a global scale. You will work with a team of seasoned Data Scientists, Data Engineers, and Software Engineers to build predictive models, generate actionable insights, and deploy AI/ML solutions. Your responsibilities will include: - Analyzing & Discovering: Explore structured and unstructured datasets through deep EDA, feature engineering, and data validation to uncover patterns that drive business decisions. - Building & Optimizing: Develop, evaluate, and fine-tune machine learning and statistical models that solve real problems. - Communicating & Influencing: Create dashboards, reports, and visualizations that translate complex findings into clear, actionable narratives for stakeholders. - Collaborating & Shipping: Work hand-in-hand with Data Engineers to build reliable data pipelines and deploy AI/ML solutions into production. - Automating & Improving: Identify and drive process improvement and automation opportunities across business functions. - Documenting & Sharing: Maintain clear documentation of methodologies, experiments, and technical solutions. - Learning & Evolving: Stay on the cutting edge of AI, ML, Generative AI, and analytics and bring innovative ideas back to the team. You must have the following skills: - Strong foundation in statistics, probability, ML/DL algorithms, and model evaluation techniques. - Proficiency in Python & SQL. - Hands-on experience with Pandas, NumPy, Scikit-learn, and at least one deep learning framework (PyTorch / TensorFlow). - Working knowledge of large language models (GPT, LLaMA, etc.), retrieval-augmented generation architectures, and embeddings. - Ability to distill complex analysis into clear insights for technical and non-technical audiences. - Strong problem-solving instincts, intellectual curiosity, and a bias for action. Good to have skills include experience with AI agents & autonomous systems, multimodal AI, model fine-tuning, MLOps/LLMOps, cloud & containers, responsible AI, agile collaboration, and documentation & storytelling. The required qualifications for this role are: - Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Engineering, or a related quantitative field. - 1+ years of experience in Data Science, Machine Learning, Analytics, or related domains. - Proficiency in data analysis and machine learning libraries. - Understanding of supervised and unsupervised learning techniques. - Familiarity with data visualization tools. - Proven analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills. - Ability to work collaboratively in a cross-functional team environment. Optum is a global organization committed to helping people live healthier lives and making the health system work better for everyone. They believe in delivering equitable care that addresses health disparities and improves health outcomes, reflecting their mission to mitigate their impact on the environment. As an Associate Data Scientist at Optum, you will play a crucial role in improving health outcomes and advancing health optimization on a global scale. You will work with a team of seasoned Data Scientists, Data Engineers, and Software Engineers to build predictive models, generate actionable insights, and deploy AI/ML solutions. Your responsibilities will include: - Analyzing & Discovering: Explore structured and unstructured datasets through deep EDA, feature engineering, and data validation to uncover patterns that drive business decisions. - Building & Optimizing: Develop, evaluate, and fine-tune machine learning and statistical models that solve real problems. - Communicating & Influencing: Create dashboards, reports, and visualizations that translate complex findings into clear, actionable narratives for stakeholders. - Collaborating & Shipping: Work hand-in-hand with Data Engineers to build reliable data pipelines and deploy AI/ML solutions into production. - Automating & Improving: Identify and drive process improvement and automation opportunities across business functions. - Documenting & Sharing: Maintain clear documentation of methodologies, experiments, and technical solutions. - Learning & Evolving: Stay on the cutting edge of AI, ML, Generative AI, and analytics and bring innovative ideas back to the team. You must have the following skills: - Strong foundation in statistics, probability, ML/DL algorithms, and model evaluation techniques. - Proficiency in Python & SQL. - Hands-on experience with Pandas, NumPy, Scikit-learn, and at least one deep learning framework (PyTorch / TensorFlow). - Working knowledge of large language models (GPT, LLaMA, etc.), retrieval-augmented generation architectures, and embeddings. - Ability to distill complex analysis into clear insights for technical and non-technical audiences. - Strong problem-solving instincts, intellectual curiosity, and a bias for