Director of Data Science & AI Leadership - Remote

Humana Inc; Denver (CO); Remote; USD 189,000 - 261,000; Full time

Job summary

Humana Inc. is seeking a Director of Data Science (AI/ML) to lead a technical team in developing and validating AI/ML models across business and company-wide applications.

The role partners with Product, IT, and Clinical teams to translate priorities into scalable, production-ready solutions that improve patient care and operational efficiency. The ideal candidate has 8+ years in data science with hands-on coding for product-quality models, plus 5+ years of people leadership.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of data science experience with demonstrated expertise in developing and deploying ML models in production environments.
• Deep technical expertise in AI/ML approaches, with hands-on experience writing and reviewing product-quality code, and developing models from conception through production.
• 5+ years of management experience, including talent development and crossfunctional leadership.
• Experience partnering with product, engineering and partners to translate requirements into technical solutions.
• Experience with MLOps practices including model versioning, experiment tracking and product monitoring.
• Communicate complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences while maintaining credibility with senior data scientists and ML engineers.
• Demonstrated leadership in establishing technical standards, best practices, and team processes that move quality and efficiency.
• Can work Eastern Time Zone hours.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development and validation of AI/ML model for both business segment specific and company wide applications (i.e., predictive modeling, NLP, agentic AI).
• Maintain deep technical expertise in AI approaches, staying current on advances while applying rigorous judgement about what methods are appropriate for healthcare contexts.
• Promote experimentation and rapid prototyping to validate technical feasibility and model performance before committing to full development cycles.
• Balance a research mindset with production discipline, ensuring models are not just technically sound but operationally viable and maintainable.
• Implement and rigorously follow enterprise-level frameworks for ongoing model monitoring and performance tracking in production environments.
• Define the technical vision and roadmap for the data science team, ensuring understanding of vertical and CenterWell priorities while establishing the operating model for scalable model development.
• Collaborate with CenterWell's AI Product Management team to translate product priorities and use cases into technical approaches, timelines and resource requirements.
• Provide technical consulting on feasibility, effort estimation, and trade-offs for potential AI opportunities.
• Communicate model capabilities and performance characteristics to non-technical partners in clear, applicable terms.
• Create technical roadmaps aligned with product priorities, ensuring the team has the right capabilities, tools, and infrastructure to meet strategic goals.
• Engage with clinical and operational partners to understand domain context, validate model output, and ensure solutions address real-world needs.

Skills

AI/ML leadership

Production ML

Cross-functional collaboration

MLOps

Healthcare analytics

Education

MS or PhD in CS/Statistics/Informatics

Job description

Humana Inc. is seeking a Director of Data Science (AI/ML) to lead a technical team in developing and validating AI/ML models across business and company-wide applications.

The role partners with Product, IT, and Clinical teams to translate priorities into scalable, production-ready solutions that improve patient care and operational efficiency. The ideal candidate has 8+ years in data science with hands-on coding for product-quality models, plus 5+ years of people leadership.