## About the Job

CVS Health is seeking a highly innovative and technically accomplished **Principal Data Scientist** to serve as a senior technical leader for the Excalibur team. This role focuses on building advanced data, analytics, machine learning, and generative AI solutions that improve IT operations, colleague productivity, and business outcomes at enterprise scale.

The position combines hands-on technical execution with people leadership. The Principal Data Scientist will design, build, deploy, and monitor production-grade AI and machine learning solutions while leading and mentoring data scientists, engineers, and analysts.

The role leverages the Excalibur Data Lake, a unified Databricks platform containing colleague, application, operational, and telemetry data. It offers ownership of technical strategy, enterprise AI initiatives, and mission-critical data and AI solutions.

## Key Responsibilities

* Design, develop, deploy, and monitor machine learning models, predictive analytics solutions, and generative AI applications.

* Build and maintain scalable data pipelines, data products, and curated datasets using Databricks.

* Transform application, operational, and telemetry data into trusted enterprise data assets.

* Architect self-service analytics, interactive reporting, and conversational "chat with your data" experiences.

* Write and review production-quality **Python, SQL, and Spark** code.

* Establish best practices for software engineering, data quality, testing, model development, AI governance, and MLOps.

* Own the team's technical roadmap and drive architecture decisions involving machine learning approaches, feature engineering, model selection, validation strategies, AI frameworks, and platform design.

* Partner with product managers, business stakeholders, engineers, architects, and technology leaders to prioritize opportunities and align technical solutions with business needs.

* Lead, mentor, and develop data scientists, engineers, and analysts through coaching, technical reviews, and career development.

* Promote a culture of continuous learning, technical excellence, and innovation.

## Required Qualifications

* **10+ years** of experience in Data Science, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, or Advanced Analytics, delivering production-ready solutions in complex enterprise environments.

* **6+ years** developing production-quality solutions using Python, SQL, and Spark, including testing, version control, and software engineering best practices.

* **4+ years** building scalable data pipelines, managing data quality at scale, and supporting cloud-based data lake architectures.

* **3+ years** of experience with Databricks or a comparable modern data and AI platform.

* **2+ years** designing and deploying Generative AI solutions, including Large Language Models (LLMs), AI agents, and AI-powered enterprise applications.

* **3+ years** leading or mentoring data scientists and engineers.

* Experience conducting technical design and code reviews.

* Experience building analytics and visualization solutions.

* Ability to translate complex business challenges into machine learning, analytics, and AI products.

## Preferred Qualifications

* Master's degree or PhD in Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics, Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, or a related quantitative discipline.

* Experience with MLOps, model monitoring, LLM observability, and machine learning lifecycle management.

* Experience with platforms and tools such as **MLflow, Arize AI, and Databricks**.

* Experience developing CI/CD pipelines, DevOps practices, and automated software delivery frameworks using GitHub Actions.

* Experience developing forecasting, anomaly detection, recommendation, scoring, or optimization models in large-scale enterprise environments.

* Experience with Databricks Unity Catalog, enterprise data governance, data-sharing frameworks, and modern data management practices.

* Strong communication and influencing skills with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

* Publications, patents, conference presentations, open-source contributions, or other demonstrated achievements in machine learning, analytics, artificial intelligence, or generative AI.

## Technical Skills

* Python

* SQL

* Apache Spark

* Databricks

* Machine Learning

* Generative AI

* Large Language Models (LLMs)

* AI Agents

* MLOps

* MLflow

* Arize AI

* GitHub Actions

* CI/CD

* Data Engineering

* Data Pipelines

* Data Lake Architecture

* AI Governance

* Data Quality

* Predictive Analytics

* Anomaly Detection

* Forecasting

* Recommendation Systems

* Optimization Models

## Education

A **Bachelor's degree** from an accredited university or equivalent work experience is required. A High School Diploma/GED combined with four years of relevant experience may also satisfy the stated education requirement.

A Master's degree or PhD in a quantitative or technical discipline is preferred.

## Compensation & Benefits

The stated base pay range for the position is **$144,200–$288,400**. Actual compensation may vary based on factors including experience, education, geography, and other relevant considerations.

The position is also eligible for applicable bonus, commission, or short-term incentive programs and includes an award target under the company's equity award program.

Full-time employees are eligible for a comprehensive benefits package that may include:

* Medical coverage

* Dental coverage

* Vision coverage

* Paid time off

* Retirement savings options

* Wellness programs

* Additional resources and benefits based on eligibility