Manager Data Science - AI ML and Snowflake

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:

• Translate business problems into AI/ML, Generative AI, and Agentic AI solution approaches
• Conduct hands-on experimentation using machine learning, Generative AI, Agentic AI, and emerging AI technologies
• Conduct exploratory data analysis (EDA), statistical analysis, and feature engineering to uncover insights and patterns in data
• Design, build, and validate proof-of-concepts (POCs) and prototypes to assess technical feasibility, business value, scalability, and operational readiness
• Document learnings, experimentation results, architectural recommendations, and reusable solution assets
• Develop Generative AI solutions leveraging:
  • Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) architectures
  • Prompt engineering and optimization techniques
  • Vector databases and semantic retrieval frameworks
  • AI evaluation and guardrails
• Collaborate with business, product, architecture, and engineering teams to clarify requirements and align solutions with measurable business outcomes
• Communicate experimentation results, trade-offs, recommendations, implementation considerations, and business impact to technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Accelerate organizational AI adoption by reducing the cycle time from experimentation to production deployment through repeatable patterns and reusable assets
• Create and implement data visualizations to communicate complex data insights effectively
• Comply with all applicable Company policies, procedures, and business directives, changes including those relating to work location, team assignments, work schedules, and flexible work arrangements

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, Mathematics, Artificial Intelligence, or related field (Master's degree preferred)
• 8+ years of experience delivering Data Engineering or AI/ML solutions with solid ownership of enterprise-scale AI initiatives
• Hands-on experience with Generative AI technologies, including:
  • Large Language Models (LLMs)
  • Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)
  • Prompt engineering and evaluation
  • Embeddings and vector database technologies
• Experience with Agentic AI frameworks, orchestration platforms, and tool integration patterns
• Cloud platform experience across Azure, AWS, and/or Google Cloud Platform
• Solid programming experience in Python, SQL and Snowflake
• Demonstrated experience designing, developing, and delivering successful AI proof-of-concepts that progressed into production environments
• Proven experience translating business challenges into effective solution strategies
• Proven ability to collaborate effectively with engineering organizations to enable successful production adoption of AI solutions
• Proven ability to collaborate effectively across business, product, engineering, and leadership teams
• Demonstrated solid analytical, problem-solving, communication, and stakeholder management skills

Preferred Qualifications:

• 8+ years of work experience 
• 5+ years of experience working with a healthcare consulting firm
• Experience in AI/ML projects, data analytics and hands-on experience in AI/ML, Azure Data Factory, Python Programming, SQL, and Snowflake
• Creative, strategic thinker with excellent critical thinking 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.