Data Scientist, Principal - AI Product Engineering

Blue Shield of CA; Seattle (WA); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Blue Shield of CA is seeking a Principal Data Scientist to lead development and deployment of novel AI-powered applications, including LLM-based products, agents, and RAG systems. You will drive rapid feature delivery and translate cutting-edge AI research into real-world solutions.

The role emphasizes cross-team collaboration, setting technical direction for AI usage across the organization, and delivering production-grade AI products in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science or quantitative field required.
• 10 years of data science, ML, applied AI/ML, software engineering, or analytics experience required.
• Proven track record of shipping software products rapidly, not just developing models.
• Strong Python skills including API/backend services development.
• Experience with DL/LLM frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow) and related tooling.
• Hands-on experience with generative AI, prompt engineering, and RAG.
• Experience with cloud platforms and scalable data processing (SQL/Spark).
• Solid MLOps practices: CI/CD, monitoring, model lifecycle management.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and deployment of novel AI/ML applications leveraging generative models.
• Translate cutting-edge AI research into real-world products and features.
• Design, build, and ship production-grade AI products (LLM apps, agents, copilots, RAG).
• Set technical direction for AI usage across the organization.
• Drive rapid feature delivery across partner teams with measurable impact.

Skills

Python

APIs & backend

ML engineering

CI/CD

MLOps

Cloud platforms

LangChain / LangGraph

PyTorch / TensorFlow

Team leadership

Prompt engineering

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS or quantitative field

Master's or PhD preferred

Tools

PyTorch

TensorFlow

LangChain

LangGraph

SQL

Spark

Job description

Your Role

The AI & Machine Learning team works in partnership across the enterprise to accelerate business outcomes by applying AI, machine learning, and generative AI to build intelligent products that create "intelligence at scale." Reporting to the Director, AI & Machine Learning, the Data Scientist, Principal will lead the development and deployment of novel applications that leverage generative AI models. This role focuses on rapidly developing new features and working across partner teams to deliver solutions and maximize impact, translating cutting-edge AI research into real-world products and taking features from 0 to 1. You will design, build, and ship production-grade AI products including LLM-powered applications, AI agents and copilots, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and search, and AI-enabled automation embedded directly into customer-facing applications and enterprise workflows such as claims, payment integrity, clinical insights, and member experience. You will set the technical direction for how AI is applied across the organization.

Our leadership model is about developing great leaders at all levels and creating opportunities for our people to grow - personally, professionally, and financially. We are looking for leaders that are energized by creative and critical thinking, building and sustaining high-performing teams, getting results the right way, and fostering continuous learning.

Your Knowledge and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, a quantitative discipline, or equivalent practical experience; Master's degree or PhD preferred
• 10 years of prior relevant experience in data science, machine learning, applied AI/ML, software engineering, or advanced analytics
• Proven track record of building and shipping software products rapidly, not just developing models or analyses
• Strong software engineering skills and proficiency in Python, including building APIs and backend services
• Experience leading ML design and optimizing ML infrastructure, model deployment, evaluation, and data processing, and working with machine learning frameworks and libraries
• Hands-on experience with deep learning and LLM application frameworks, including PyTorch, TensorFlow, LangChain, and LangGraph
• Hands-on experience building applications that leverage generative AI models, including prompt engineering and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG)
• Experience with generative AI research or applications preferred
• Experience designing agent-based systems and orchestration frameworks preferred
• Experience with cloud computing platforms and infrastructure (e.g., Azure, Google Cloud, or AWS), and scalable data processing with SQL or Spark preferred
• Solid MLOps and LLMOps practices, including CI/CD, monitoring, and model lifecycle management preferred
• Experience rapidly developing and shipping software in a fast-paced, customer-facing environment, adapting to changing priorities preferred
• Understanding of responsible AI and governance for regulated or healthcare environments preferred

Hybrid

This role requires employees to be in-office based on our hybrid workplace model, balancing purposeful in-person collaboration with flexibility. For most teams, this means coming into the office two days each week.

Employees living more than 50 miles from an office location will work with their manager to determine in-office time based on business need.

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