Principal Data Scientist

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. Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together. 

In healthcare, evolution doesn’t just happen. It takes innovation, imagination, and a passion for solving problems in new and better ways. And innovation is taking place at a lightning-fast pace every day at Optum.  

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.  

As a Principal Data Scientist within our Network Pricing team, you will play a key role in analyzing and optimizing pricing strategies across our provider networks. By leveraging data insights and market trends, you’ll develop innovative solutions to enhance member experience and drive improved financial performance. Your work will involve collaboration with stakeholders, managing pricing models, and supporting pricing operations to achieve measurable outcomes. 

Ready for a challenge? You will need all your leadership skills and creativity as you manage and develop provider networks that achieve performance objectives. As a result, there is a high level of visibility and accountability for results. 

You’ve been working your way to this opportunity for some time now. Now that you’ve learned to lead and build a deep analytics expertise, it is time to set your sights on having an impact in more ways. Join our leadership team and help UnitedHealth Group meet the challenge of shaping where health care will go.

Schedule: Full-time position with standard working hours of Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm.

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 office and telecommuting from a home-based office in a hybrid work model.  

Primary Responsibilities: 

• Provide data-driven insights, critically analyze challenges and test hypotheses to inform key business decisions
• Engage with stakeholders at various levels to gather requirements, incorporate feedback, manage expectations, and ensure alignment with the financial goals of client performance management
• Design and develop custom pricing models tailored to specific products or client segments as needed. Review the performance of existing pricing models, identifying opportunities for enhancement or optimization based on stakeholder feedback and evolving business needs. Communicate proposed changes and their potential impact clearly to non-technical stakeholders
• Break down pricing model functionalities into detailed components; formulate technical and business requirements for deployment to production systems. Work closely with engineering teams to deploy pricing models in production environments
• Drive automation and streamline pricing processes by identifying gaps or inefficiencies in current workflows; design solutions that enhance efficiency and accuracy
• Collaborate with stakeholders to map out existing procedures and gather feedback on pain points. Design and implement automated solutions—such as scripts, dashboards, or workflow tools—that reduce manual intervention, minimize errors, and accelerate pricing operations. Develop clear documentation and provide training for end-users to ensure successful adoption of new processes
• Identify opportunities for more comprehensive, multi-dimensional pricing that consider a variety of factors such as up-to-date, market relevant, alignment with regulations, market events. Support development and tracking of network performance KPI’s to quantify impact of these pricing initiatives
• Thoroughly learn the business and educate those around you, both on your team and more broadly, on the mechanics of network pricing and the PBM business model

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: 

• Extensive experience in business focused analytical roles (e.g. finance, business analysis, data analytics) 
• Extensive experience leading projects autonomously  
• Intermediate level of SQL experience with experience querying large volumes of transactional data 
• Advanced level of proficiency in Python in data manipulation and analysis 
• Experience working with visualization software such as Tableau and/or PowerBI 
• Experience in MS Office, including proficiency with MS Excel 
• Experience with managing others 

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Experience communicating and presenting complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences 
• Undergraduate Degree in a numerical subject (e.g. Finance, Statistics, Mathematics, or Economics) 
• Experience with Azure Databricks & the Azure Ecosystem 
• Experience working in industries such as Healthcare, Financial Services, Banking or Telco 

Soft Skills: 

• Communication skills, able to work with stakeholders from multiple levels and disciplines 

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.

All telecommuters will be required to adhere to the UnitedHealth Group’s Telecommuter Policy.

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

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