Senior Data Scientist

Requisition Number: 2394323
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.
Optum's Payment Integrity Decision Intelligence is seeking a Senior Data Scientist to help advance our mission of driving efficiency and Medical Cost Savings growth within Payment Integrity operations via AI/ML tooling, detection, inventory prioritisation and orchestration.
We are looking for a disciplined, self-motivated professional with expertise in machine learning, predictive modelling, generative AI/large language models (LLMs), and healthcare data analytics. The ideal candidate will have a solid portfolio of projects and a passion for solving complex problems using data, with AI/ML experience in Payment Integrity a solid advantage.
The successful candidate will undertake complex projects. A solid level of data science competence is required. The projects will involve working directly with business stakeholders to achieve tangible and significant business value.
Careers with Optum offer flexible work arrangements and individuals who live and work in the Republic of Ireland will have the opportunity to split their monthly work hours between our Dublin or Letterkenny office and telecommuting from a home-based office in a hybrid work model.
Primary Responsibilities:

• Apply advanced statistical and predictive modelling techniques to design, develop and deploy data science and machine learning solutions to production, employing state-of-the-art libraries and development tools, and adhering to the organisation's established processes for transitioning from development to production environments
• Lead discovery processes with Data Scientists and partner with Payment Integrity Operations management to identify the business requirements, define the expected outcome and determine appropriate analytical approaches
• Conduct sound statistical analyses and frame meaningful business scenarios that impact critical business processes and/or decisions
• Collaborate with relevant business and technical partners to identify and gather data required for analysis and model development, and ensure data is appropriate and sufficiently validated for its intended use
• Design sampling and evaluation methodologies, prepare and validate data, identify appropriate analytical, statistical and AI/ML approaches, develop and evaluate solutions, and document processes and results
• Communicate analytical results, methodologies and AI/ML solutions clearly to business partners and clients
• Provide ongoing tracking and monitoring of solution performance and recommend improvements to analytical methods, models and algorithms based on new data and findings

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:

• Bachelor's degree in Applied Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science, Statistics, Data Science, or a related technical field
• Proven extensive experience in data analysis, statistical modeling, and machine learning
• Proven extensive experience manipulating and analyzing large datasets
• Proven solid experience leading complex data science projects within cross-functional teams and developing and deploying machine learning models in production environments
• Proven solid experience utilizing Python and SQL for data analysis and machine learning, including experience with relevant data science and machine learning libraries and frameworks, distributed computing technologies such as Spark, and Git or GitHub for version control and collaborative development
• Proven experience utilizing AI-assisted development tools to enhance coding, analysis, testing, and documentation activities, with demonstrated ability to review and validate AI-generated outputs using sound technical judgment
• Proven solid experience working directly with business stakeholders within large or complex organizations, including communicating complex technical findings to non-technical audiences and delivering measurable business value

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's degree or PhD in Applied Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science, Statistics, Data Science, or a related technical field

Please note you must currently be eligible to work and remain indefinitely without any restrictions in the country to which you are making an application. Proof will be required to support your application.
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: Optum is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to gender, civil status, family status, sexual orientation, disability, religion, age, race, and membership of the Traveller community, or any other characteristic protected by law. Optum is a drug-free workplace. © 2026 Optum Services (Ireland) Limited. All rights reserved.
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