Lead Data Scientist - AgenticAI

McKesson; Mississauga; On-site; CAD 169,000 - 225,000; Full time

Job summary

McKesson is seeking a Lead Data Scientist with GenAI expertise to lead design, development, and deployment of advanced ML solutions in healthcare. You will guide end-to-end GenAI projects, set governance, and collaborate with product and engineering teams to deliver scalable, compliant AI systems.

The role emphasizes leadership, mentoring, and cross-functional communication, with in-office presence required two days per week in Mississauga, Canada, and a competitive Total Rewards package.

Qualifications

• Master’s or Ph.D. in Computer Science, AI, ML, Statistics, Data Science, or related field.
• 7-10+ years of data science or advanced analytics experience with GenAI.
• Proven experience deploying production-grade ML/GenAI solutions, including LLMs and RAG.
• Strong proficiency in Python and ML frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, Hugging Face).
• Deep understanding of ML algorithms, statistics, experimental design.
• Experience with cloud platforms (Azure preferred; AWS/GCP acceptable) and MLOps.
• Ability to communicate complex concepts to varied audiences and lead projects.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end GenAI and agentic AI solutions ideation, research, prototyping, implementation, evaluation, deployment.
• Architect scalable GenAI systems including LLM-based apps, RAG, AI agents, and automation workflows.
• Drive prompt engineering, LLM evaluation, fine-tuning, and secure hosting where applicable.
• Apply ML techniques across predictive modeling, forecasting, classification, anomaly detection, NLP, analytics.
• Develop custom ML models and analytical frameworks for healthcare and enterprise data challenges.
• Perform exploratory data analysis, feature engineering, and statistical analysis to generate insights.
• Collaborate with engineering to deploy, monitor, and maintain ML/GenAI solutions in production.
• Establish model performance tracking, drift detection, reliability monitoring, and governance.
• Ensure scalable, cost-efficient, resilient solutions aligned with enterprise standards.
• Provide guidance on Responsible AI, explainability, privacy, security, regulatory compliance.
• Work with stakeholders to translate requirements into problem statements and roadmaps.
• Present technical solutions to technical and non-technical audiences, including senior leadership.
• Mentor junior data scientists and engineers, fostering technical excellence.

Skills

Python

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Hugging Face

Cloud platforms

Leadership

Mentoring

Communication

Education

Master’s or Ph.D. in Computer Science/AI/Data Science

Tools

Azure

AWS

GCP

Job description

McKesson is an impact-driven, Fortune 10 company that touches virtually every aspect of healthcare. We are known for delivering insights, products, and services that make quality care more accessible and affordable. Here, we focus on the health, happiness, and well-being of you and those we serve – we care.

What you do at McKesson matters. We foster a culture where you can grow, make an impact, and are empowered to bring new ideas. Together, we thrive as we shape the future of health for patients, our communities, and our people. If you want to be part of tomorrow’s health today, we want to hear from you.

McKesson Corporation is seeking a highly skilled and innovative Lead Data Scientist with experience on Generative AI development. This role will lead the design, development, and deployment of cutting-edge ML & GenAI solutions, leveraging advanced machine learning techniques to solve complex healthcare challenges and drive business transformation.

Job Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end lifecycle of Generative AI and agentic AI solutions, including ideation, research, prototyping, implementation, evaluation, deployment, and production support.
• Architect and develop scalable GenAI systems such as LLM-based applications, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), AI agents, and intelligent automation workflows to improve decision-making, operational efficiency, and customer outcomes.
• Drive adoption of best practices in prompt engineering, LLM evaluation, fine-tuning strategies, and secure model hosting where applicable.
• Apply advanced data science and machine learning techniques across a wide range of use cases including predictive modeling, forecasting, classification, anomaly detection, recommendation systems, NLP, and GenAI-enabled analytics.
• Develop custom ML models and analytical frameworks tailored to complex healthcare and enterprise data challenges.
• Perform exploratory data analysis (EDA), feature engineering, and statistical analysis to generate actionable insights and guide solution design.
• Collaborate with engineering and platform teams to deploy, monitor, and maintain ML and GenAI solutions in production environments using cloud-native and MLOps best practices.
• Establish model performance tracking, drift detection, reliability monitoring, and continuous improvement processes for deployed models and AI agents.
• Ensure solutions are scalable, cost-efficient, resilient, and aligned with enterprise architecture standards
• Ensure strong model governance, documentation, and auditability across all ML and GenAI solutions.
• Apply Responsible AI principles including explainability, transparency, data privacy, security, and regulatory compliance, particularly within healthcare contexts.
• Provide guidance on safe, compliant, and ethical use of LLMs and agentic AI across enterprise use cases.
• Work closely with business stakeholders and product managers to translate requirements into clear analytical problem statements, solution designs, and execution roadmaps.
• Present technical solutions, insights, and progress updates to both technical and non-technical audiences, including senior leadership.
• Mentor and guide junior data scientists and engineers, fostering a culture of technical excellence, innovation, and continuous learning.

Job Qualifications

• Master’s or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Statistics, Data Science, or a related quantitative field.
• 7 -10+ years of experience in data science or advanced analytics, with significant hands- on experience in Generative AI and LLM-based systems.
• Proven experience designing, building, and deploying production-grade ML and GenAI solutions, including LLMs, RAG architectures, and AI-driven automation.
• Strong proficiency in Python and modern ML frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, and/or Hugging Face.
• Deep understanding of machine learning algorithms, statistical modeling, experimental design, and data structures.
• Experience working with cloud platforms (Azure preferred; AWS/GCP acceptable) and MLOps practices.
• Ability to clearly communicate complex technical concepts to diverse business and technical audiences.
• Demonstrated leadership in driving projects, influencing stakeholders, and mentoring team members.

Working Conditions:

• In office requirement, we are Flex and Connect with 2 days a week in office

We are proud to offer a competitive compensation package at McKesson as part of our Total Rewards. This is determined by several factors, including performance, experience and skills, equity, regular job market evaluations, and geographical markets. The pay range shown below is aligned with McKesson's pay philosophy, and pay will always be compliant with any applicable regulations. In addition to base pay, other compensation, such as an annual bonus or long-term incentive opportunities may be offered. For more information regarding benefits at McKesson, please click here.

Our Base Pay Range for this position

$122,100 - $162,800

McKesson job postings are posted on our career site: careers.mckesson.com.

McKesson is an Equal Opportunity Employer

McKesson provides equal employment opportunities to applicants and employees, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, age, genetic information, or any other legally protected category. For additional information on McKesson’s full Equal Employment Opportunity policies, visit our Equal Employment Opportunity page.

McKesson is committed to being an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer and offers opportunities to all job seekers including job seekers with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation to assist with your job search or application for employment, please contact us by sending an email to (United States) [e-mail] or (Canada) [e-mail]. Resumes or CVs submitted to this email box will not be accepted.

Join us at McKesson!