Data Scientist

About The Company
Humana Inc. is a leading healthcare organization dedicated to improving health outcomes and enhancing the quality of life for individuals across the United States. With a focus on innovative healthcare solutions, Humana offers a wide range of insurance services and healthcare programs through its subsidiaries, including CenterWell. The company is committed to leveraging cutting-edge technology and data-driven approaches to deliver personalized, accessible, and effective healthcare experiences. Humana’s mission centers on making healthcare simpler, more affordable, and more human-centered, fostering a culture of inclusivity, innovation, and integrity. As a trusted partner in health, Humana continuously invests in research, technology, and community engagement to support healthier lives and healthier communities.
About The Role
We are seeking a highly skilled Lead Data Scientist to join our Enterprise AI organization at Humana. In this pivotal role, you will be responsible for driving the safety, alignment, and ethical development of Agentic AI systems. Your expertise will be instrumental in ensuring that our intelligent agents operate reliably, safely, and in accordance with human values across complex and high-stakes environments. This cross-functional position requires collaboration with teams across technical safety research, systems engineering, governance, and product development to develop robust AI modules and pipelines. You will lead initiatives to design safety architectures, implement alignment techniques, and establish monitoring strategies to ensure responsible AI deployment. The role offers an exciting opportunity to shape the future of healthcare AI, contributing to innovative research and practical solutions that prioritize safety, ethics, and effectiveness.
Qualifications

• Master’s Degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Machine Learning, or a related field
• 4+ years of experience in research, ML engineering, or applied research roles focused on AI solutions
• 2+ years of experience leading the development of AI/ML systems
• Deep expertise in AI alignment, multi-agent systems, or reinforcement learning
• Proven ability to lead research-to-production initiatives and establish technical governance frameworks
• Strong publication or contribution record in AI safety, interoperability, or algorithm ethics
• Proficiency in SQL, Python, and data analysis/data mining tools
• Experience with machine learning frameworks such as PyTorch, JAX, ReAct, LangChain, LangGraph, or AutoGen
• Experience with high-performance, large-scale ML systems and deploying or auditing LLM-based agents
• Experience with large-scale ETL processes

Responsibilities

• Design and implement safety architectures for Agentic AI systems, including guardrails, reward modeling, and self-monitoring capabilities
• Lead and collaborate on alignment techniques such as inverse reinforcement learning, preference learning, interpretability tools, and human-in-the-loop evaluation
• Develop continuous monitoring strategies to oversee agent behavior in both simulated and real-world environments
• Partner with product, legal, Responsible AI, governance, and deployment teams to ensure responsible scaling and deployment of AI systems
• Contribute to and publish innovative research on AI alignment, multi-agent cooperation/conflict, and value learning
• Identify and mitigate potential failure modes such as goal misgeneralization, deceptive behaviors, and unintended instrumental actions
• Establish safety milestones for autonomous capabilities as part of deployment readiness reviews
• Proactively review and improve safety protocols to ensure AI systems operate reliably and ethically in dynamic environments

Benefits

• Comprehensive health benefits effective from day one
• Generous paid time off and holiday leave
• 401(k) retirement plan with an excellent company match
• Annual incentive and bonus plans based on performance
• Well-being programs and resources to support personal health and wellness
• Paid volunteer time off to encourage community engagement
• Work from home flexibility with required internet specifications and support
• Paid internet expenses for employees in specific states (California, Illinois, Montana, South Dakota)
• Opportunities for professional development and career growth within a supportive environment

Equal Opportunity
Humana is an equal opportunity employer committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and applicants. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or protected veteran status. We also uphold affirmative action policies in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Our commitment extends to providing accessible facilities and services, including free language interpreter services. We believe diversity and inclusion are essential to our success and strive to foster a workplace where everyone can thrive and contribute to our mission of making healthcare better for all.