Lead Data Scientist - Autonomous Goal Management

Humana Inc; Carson City (NV); Remote; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

A health technology company is seeking an expert in agent design to join their team remotely. The candidate will focus on developing AI agents capable of autonomous goal management and execution. Key responsibilities include architecting goal-setting mechanisms, designing dynamic planning systems, and collaborating on AI alignment strategies. Applicants should possess a Master's degree with extensive experience in AI/ML systems development, alongside proficiency in relevant technical skills.

Benefits

Work-Life Balance

Generous PTO package

Health benefits effective day 1

Annual Incentive Plan

401K with excellent company match

Well-being program

Paid Volunteer Time Off

Qualifications

• 4+ years in research/ML engineering or applied research.
• 2+ years leading AI/ML systems development.

Responsibilities

• Architect goal setting for autonomous agents.
• Design dynamic planning systems.
• Develop evaluation frameworks for goal alignment.

Skills

SQL proficiency

Python proficiency

Data analysis/data mining tools

Machine learning frameworks like Pytorch

Experience with language modeling

Symbolic planning

Education

Master's Degree

Ph.D. in relevant field

Tools

Pytorch

ETL tools

Job description

Become a part of our caring community and help us put health first

The Enterprise AI organization at Humana is a pioneering force, driving AI innovation across our Insurance and CenterWell business segments. By collaborating with world-leading experts, we are at the forefront of delivering cutting-edge AI technologies for improving care quality and experience of millions of consumers. We are actively seeking top talent to develop robust and reusable AI modules and pipelines, ensuring adherence to best practices in accountable AI for effective risk management and measurement. Join us in shaping the future of healthcare through AI excellence.

We are building advanced agentic systems capable of autonomously managing and decomposing complex goals. We are seeking an expert in agent design, planning, and control to develop and evaluate agents that can set, adapt, and execute goals in dynamic, real-world environments. You’ll contribute to the scientific and engineering foundations that make AI agents reliable, interpretable, and robust across long-horizon tasks.

Key Responsibilities

• Architect goal setting and goal decomposition mechanisms for autonomous agents operating in uncertain or open-ended environments

• Design and implement dynamic planning systems (e.g., hierarchical planning, curriculum learning, scratchpad/self-refinement loops)

• Collaborate on memory, tool-use, and feedback-loop designs enabling multi-step, self-directed agent behavior

• Develop evaluation frameworks for alignment with human intent, consistency, progress against long-horizon objectives

• Prototype agents that interface with APIs, MCP servers, search engines, databases, or real-world actuators to pursue goals safely and efficiency

• Explore mechanisms to detect and mitigate goal misalignment, looping behavior, or undesirable emergent strategies

• Work across teams to integrate goal alignment with safety, alignment, and operational reliability mechanisms

Technical Skills

• Proficiency in SQL, Python, and data analysis/data mining tools.

• Experience with machine learning frameworks like Pytorch, Jax, LangChain, LangGraph or AutoGen

• Experience with high performance, large-scale ML systems

• Experience with language modeling with transformers

• Experience with symbolic planning, causal reasoning, and model-based RL

• Experience with large-scale ETL

Use your skills to make an impact

Required Qualifications

• Master's Degree and 4+ years of experience in research/ML engineering or an applied research scientist position preferably with a focus on developing production-ready AI solutions

• 2+ years of experience leading development of AI/ML systems

Preferred Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Computer Science, Data Science, Machine Learning, or a related field

• Demonstrated experience shipping autonomous, or semi-autonomous agents in production or simulation

• Experience with LLM-based agents with scratchpad/self-reflection or hierarchical task decomposition

• Understanding of autonomy risk mitigation strategies, including off-switch protocols, or bounded rationality

Additional Information

Location/Work Style: Remote US

Why Humana?

At Humana, we know your well-being is important to you, and it’s important to us too. That’s why we’re committed to making resources available to you that will enable you to become happier, healthier, and more productive in all areas of your life. Just to name a few:

• Work-Life Balance

• Generous PTO package

• Health benefits effective day 1

• Annual Incentive Plan

• 401K - Excellent company match

• Well-being program

• Paid Volunteer Time Off

If you share our passion for helping people, we likely have the right place for you at Humana.

Equal Opportunity Employer

It is the policy of Humana not to discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, marital status, genetic information, disability or protected veteran status. It is also the policy of Humana to take affirmative action, in compliance with Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act and VEVRAA, to employ and to advance in employment individuals with disability or protected veteran status, and to base all employment decisions only on valid job requirements. This policy shall apply to all employment actions, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, upgrading, promotion, transfer, demotion, layoff, recall, termination, rates of pay or other forms of compensation and selection for training, including apprenticeship, at all levels of employment.