Principal Data Scientist - AI-Human Interaction

Join Our Compassionate Community Focused on Health First

The Enterprise AI team at Humana is a leader in innovation, driving advancements in AI across our Insurance and CenterWell sectors. By teaming up with world-class experts, we aim to deliver state-of-the-art AI technologies that enhance the quality of care and experience for millions. We are looking for exceptional talent to help create powerful and reusable AI modules and pipelines while ensuring we follow best practices for responsible AI to manage risk and measure effectiveness. Help us transform healthcare through AI excellence!

We are in search of a Principal Data Scientist to lead the charge in advancing AI-Human interaction. In this role, you will design adaptive, human-aware AI systems that learn from, respond to, and collaborate with humans in real-world settings. This position combines pioneering research, thorough experimentation, and a focus on product execution aimed at enhancing user trust, alignment, usability, and cooperation across intelligent interfaces.

Key Responsibilities

Develop and manage ML pipelines for assessing and enhancing human-AI interactions across multiple modalities (text, speech, UI / UX feedback, behavioral signals).

Design adaptive models for intent recognition, dialog state tracking, preference learning, and multi-turn personalization.

Lead data collection strategies involving human input and integrate feedback to refine agent responses.

Collaborate with UX, engineering, and safety teams to incorporate explainability, user control, and alignment into AI systems.

Create and maintain human-centric evaluation metrics (e.g., helpfulness, latency, trust calibration, long-term engagement).

Implement causal inference and A / B testing to measure the effect of interaction strategies on user behavior and outcomes.

Mentor a team of data scientists and work closely with AI researchers and product leaders to enhance foundational interaction methods.

Prepare comprehensive reports, forecasts, models, and presentations for executives.

Technical Skills

Strong proficiency in SQL, Python, and tools for data analysis and mining.

Experience with machine learning frameworks such as Pytorch, JAX, LangChain, or LangGraph.

Proficient in building high-performance, large-scale ML systems.

Experience with language modeling, specifically using transformers.

Expertise in designing human-centered evaluation protocols, metrics, and pipelines.

A minimum of 5 years of applied ML experience, including at least 3 years focused on conversational AI, human-in-the-loop systems, or optimizing agent UX.

Experience with conducting large-scale ETL processes.

Make a Meaningful Impact with Your Skills

Required Qualifications

Master's Degree and 4+ years of experience in research / ML engineering or as an applied research scientist, particularly in developing production-ready AI solutions.

2+ years of leading AI / ML system development.

Proven ability to build production-grade AI models that achieve strong user experience and behavioral outcomes.

Expertise in supervised learning, reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF), or preference modeling.

Excellent communication skills to facilitate collaboration between data science, product, and engineering teams.

Preferred Qualifications

Ph.D. in Machine Learning, Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive Science, NLP, or related field.

Experience with LLM-based agents or copilot systems (e.g., OpenAI GPT agents, Claude, Gemini, Mistral, open-agent frameworks).

Familiarity with voice assistants, AR / VR interfaces, or embodied agents.

Understanding of ethical considerations and safety in interactive systems.

Contribution to research on human-AI interaction or open-source projects.

Location / Work Style : Remote US

Why Choose Humana?

At Humana, we prioritize your well-being, ensuring you have access to resources that promote happiness, health, and productivity. Key benefits include :

Work-Life Balance

Generous PTO package

Health benefits effective from day one

Annual Incentive Plan

401K with excellent company matching

Well-being program

Paid Volunteer Time Off

If you're passionate about helping others, we may have the perfect opportunity for you at Humana.

Work from Home Guidelines

To ensure effective home or hybrid work, your self-provided internet service should meet these criteria :

Minimum download speed of 25 Mbps and upload speed of 10 Mbps; a wired cable or DSL connection is preferred.

Satellite, cellular, and microwave connections may only be used with leadership approval.

Associates in California, Illinois, Montana, or South Dakota will receive bi-weekly payments for internet expenses.

Humana will supply necessary telephone equipment for the business requirements of your position.

Work from a dedicated space to avoid interruptions and protect member PHI / HIPAA information.

SSN Alert Statement

Humana values personal identity protection. If required, you may be asked to provide your Social Security Number through an email instruction from Humana@myworkday.com for secure submission on Humana's official site.

Travel : This remote position may require occasional travel to Humana's offices for training or meetings.

Weekly Hours : 40

Compensation : The estimated salary range for this full-time position is $142,300 - $195,700 per year, based on geographic location and individual qualifications.

Benefits Overview : Humana provides competitive benefits tailored to promote whole-person well-being, including medical, dental, vision, retirement savings, time off, disability, and life insurance options, among others.

Application Deadline : 09-04-2025

About Humana :

Humana Inc. (NYSE : HUM) is committed to prioritizing health for our team members, clients, and the wider community. Through our insurance services and healthcare offerings, we help millions achieve better health by delivering essential care and services when needed. Our mission aims to improve the quality of life for diverse populations, including those with Medicare, Medicaid, families, individuals, military personnel, and communities.

Equal Opportunity Employer :

Humana maintains a non-discrimination policy towards employees and applicants based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, marital status, genetic information, disability, or protected veteran status. We are committed to affirmative action to employ and promote individuals with disabilities or protected veteran status, basing all employment decisions solely on valid job requirements.

Humana observes federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate in any capacity, providing free language interpreter services.