Principal Data Scientist

Principal Data Scientist – Dublin & Letterkenny, Ireland

Optum is a global organisation 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.

As the fastest growing part of the UnitedHealth Group family of businesses, we’re expanding our team in Ireland and creating excellent opportunities for those who want greater purpose and more impact in their work. We’ll provide the investment, support, and resources to advance your career. You’ll provide the talent, ambition, and drive.

Schedule: Full‑time, Monday‑Friday, 9 am–5 pm. Careers with Optum offer flexible work arrangements; employees in the Republic of Ireland may split monthly hours between our Dublin or Letterkenny office and telecommuting from home.

• Direct and implement analytic activities to support decision‑making for UnitedHealthcare Pharmacy.
• Collaborate with different lines of business to understand their analytic needs, propose & deliver business solutions, and drive change.
• Solve high‑visibility & high‑complexity problems, requiring strong domain knowledge & statistical understanding.
• Provide technical leadership across the department to support various teams with their data science challenges, helping code and review where appropriate.
• Build scalable data solutions for core business functions.
• Anticipate customer needs, proactively develop & deliver solutions to meet them, and forecast/predict the impact of business strategies.
• Research, interpret, and analyse diverse and complex data and communicate findings to influence the business direction.
• Utilise a broad range of analytic approaches including predictive analytics, issue detection, trend analysis, and data visualisation to address business priorities.

• Degree (BA, BS) in analytics, mathematics, economics, business, statistics, engineering, or finance, or equivalent experience.
• Significant experience in data analytics or data science, ideally with financial or healthcare‑related data (e.g., pharmaceuticals, medical claims).
• Experience working with messy data and imputation techniques, identifying and addressing data quality issues.
• Proficient in researching, interpreting, and analysing diverse and complex data.
• Extensive data manipulation skills across structured and unstructured sources/repositories such as relational and non‑relational databases, CSVs, APIs, text, Excel, etc.
• Proficiency in SQL and at least one scripting language such as R or Python.
• Demonstrated effective project ownership, management, drive & delivery.
• Stakeholder management experience, dealing with multiple stakeholders and forming effective partnerships.
• Strong business acumen, with the ability to strategically consult with the business.
• Clear communication skills, both written and oral, to individuals and groups.
• Preferred: Proficiency in a visualisation tool like Excel, Tableau, PowerBI or QlikView/QlikSense.
• Preferred: Experience or knowledge with cloud‑based data analytics (AWS, Azure, Snowflake, Databricks).
• Preferred: Masters and/or PhD in Finance, Analytics, Economics, Mathematics, or related field.
• Preferred: Experience in the healthcare industry, especially drug pricing.

Please note you must currently be eligible to work and remain indefinitely without any restrictions in the country to which you are applying. Proof will be required.

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. We are committed to mitigating our impact on the environment and delivering equitable care that addresses health disparities and improves health outcomes.

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. © 2025 Optum Services (Ireland) Limited. xcfaprz All rights reserved.