UnitedHealth Group / Optum is hiring a Chief Data Scientist to establish and lead a new enterprise data science capability. This strategic role is responsible for transforming data, advancing analytics and AI into measurable value across the healthcare insurance ecosystem, directly supporting core business objectives in affordability, quality of care, member experience, and operational efficiency.
What You'll Do
- Collaborate with executive leaders across Financial, Actuarial, Healthcare Economics, Operations, Provider and Member Experience organizations to translate strategy into a prioritized data science roadmap.
- Identify and champion opportunities where AI and predictive analytics can improve care affordability, enhance population health management, optimize medical cost insights, and streamline data operations.
- Communicate analytical and predictive insights in clear, actionable terms to support strategic decisions and planning.
- Lead development of value frameworks that quantify outcomes such as medical cost savings, improved quality scores, risk accuracy, utilization management efficiencies, financial forecasting, reserving and provider network performance.
- Ensure all predictive models and analytics directly improve key metrics and regulatory, legal and compliance performance.
- Drive end-to-end AI/ML development across connected data domains of claims, member, provider and networks.
- Develop enhanced forecasting capabilities, including predictive models for early detection, medical cost trends, member behavior insights and member population stratification.
- Support Utilization Management & Care Management with models to automate prior authorization, detect avoidable utilization and target members for care coordination.
- Generate predictive insights for Provider Network Optimization to manage provider performance, leakage, cost variation and contracting opportunities.
- Build personalization models for Member Engagement & Experience that improve retention, adherence and satisfaction.
- Advance Payment Integrity & FWA efforts with anomaly detection and claims pattern analytics.
- Deliver high-quality, explainable, and compliant data science models integrated into real-world workflows.
- Partner with Technology, Clinical Operations, Claims, Actuarial and Product teams to deploy and scale AI solutions across the enterprise.
- Embed data science resources within key business areas to maximize adoption and impact.
- Ensure seamless integration of models into products, workflows and decision-support systems.
Work Mode
This is a hybrid position with work locations in MN and DC.
Our culture is defined by caring, connecting, and growing together. We are committed to simplifying the health care experience, creating healthier communities and removing barriers to quality care.
