Blue Shield Of California

Data Scientist, Principal

Blue Shield Of California$130K — $160K *
Information Technology
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's in computer science or related field; equivalent experience accepted
  • 8 years in software development and AI/ML, or 5 years with a Master's, or PhD plus relevant experience
  • Strong track record of rapidly building and deploying software products
  • Proficiency in Python with strong software engineering skills
  • Experience leading machine learning design and optimization for deployment
  • Hands-on experience with deep learning and LLM frameworks like PyTorch and TensorFlow
  • Experience with generative AI applications preferred, including prompt engineering and RAG

Responsibilities

  • Lead development and deployment of generative AI applications
  • Design scalable applications leveraging generative AI models
  • Rapidly prototype new features and iterate based on evaluations
  • Oversee architecture and development of products from 0 to 1
  • Collaborate with researchers to translate AI research into product features
  • Build APIs and data pipelines to expose AI capabilities
  • Optimize and ensure reliability of deployed applications

Benefits

  • Flexible hybrid work model with in-office collaboration
  • Accommodations for employees with medical conditions
  • Opportunity to mentor team members and promote a collaborative environment
Full Job Description
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.

Responsibilities

Your Work

In this role, you will:
  • Lead the development and deployment of novel applications that leverage generative AI models, setting the technical direction for AI and machine learning across the organization
  • Design and develop scalable applications leveraging generative AI models including LLM applications, copilots, agents, and RAG and search, embedded in customer-facing products and enterprise workflows
  • Rapidly prototype new features and iterate based on evaluation results
  • Lead the architecture and development of new products and features from 0 to 1
  • Collaborate with researchers and product managers to translate cutting-edge AI research into tangible product features
  • Build the APIs, services, and data and retrieval pipelines that expose AI capabilities to applications
  • Optimize software performance and ensure the reliability of deployed applications
  • Champion best practices for building and deploying generative AI applications
  • Evaluate model performance, analyze results, and implement improvements, ensuring responsible and compliant AI
  • Mentor and develop team members, fostering a collaborative and high-performing environment


Qualifications

Your Knowledge and Experience
  • Bachelor's degree in computer science, a quantitative discipline, or equivalent practical experience
  • 8 years of experience in software development and applied AI/ML with a Bachelor's degree; or 5 years with a Master's; or a PhD with relevant experience
  • 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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Our Workplace Model:

We believe in fostering a workplace environment that balances purposeful in-person collaboration with flexibility - providing clear expectations while respecting the diverse needs of our workforce. Our workplace model is designed around intentional in-person interaction, collaboration, connection, creativity and flexibility:
  • For most teams, this means coming into the office two days per week.
  • Employees living more than 50 miles from an office location, out of state employees, and employees in certain member-facing roles should work with their manager to determine in-office time based on business need.
  • For employees with medical conditions that may impact their ability to work in-office, we are committed to engaging in an interactive process and providing reasonable accommodations to ensure their work environment is conducive to their success and well-being.

The Company reserves the right to require more presence in the office based on business needs, and requirements are subject to change with periodic reviews.

Physical Requirements:

Office Environment - roles involving part to full time schedule in Office Environment. Based in our physical offices and work from home office/deskwork - Activity level: Sedentary, frequency most of work day.

Please click here for further physical requirement detail.

About Blue Shield Of California

Blue Shield of California is a not-for-profit health plan provider that has been providing Californians with access to high-quality healthcare for over 80 years. The company offers a range of health insurance products and services to individuals, families, and employers. Blue Shield of California is committed to improving the health and wellbeing of its members and the communities it serves. The company is also committed to sustainability and has implemented a number of initiatives to reduce its environmental impact.
Learn more about Blue Shield Of California
Size
7,000 employees
Industry
Founded
1981

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