Principal Data Scientist – Aetna Medicare

At CVS Health, we’re building a world of health around every consumer and surrounding ourselves with dedicated colleagues who are passionate about transforming health care.

As the nation’s leading health solutions company, we reach millions of Americans through our local presence, digital channels and more than 300,000 purpose-driven colleagues – caring for people where, when and how they choose in a way that is uniquely more connected, more convenient and more compassionate. And we do it all with heart, each and every day.

Position Summary

We are looking for a Principal Data Scientist to join our Aetna Medicare (STARS Portfolio) team at CVS Health. This high-level individual contributor will partner closely with the Executive Director of Aetna STARS Analytics to drive hands on technical excellence across the most complex projects in the portfolio, lead a culture of technical rigor and excellence, and define key standards across an organization of ~30 data scientists and engineers.

Description / Fundamental Components:

Hands-On Data Science Excellence in High Complexity Projects (60%)
• Anticipates and solves strategic and high-risk business problems with broad impact to the business area by applying leading-edge theories and techniques to investigate problems, detect patterns and recommend solutions
• Leads development and execution of new and/or highly complex algorithms and statistical predictive models and determines analytical approaches and modeling techniques to evaluate scenarios and potential future outcomes
• Establishes analytical rigor and statistical methods to analyze large amounts of data, using advanced statistical techniques and mathematical analyses
• Evaluates advanced industry-leading approaches and determine which to incorporate into CVSH technical approach
• Works across 2-3 highly complex projects at a time (50/30/20), with a combination of hands-on, problem solving, and coaching

Technical Development & Mentorship (25%)
• Holds team-wide office hours regarding technical challenges and problem solving
• 1:1 technical coaching with 10-20 individual contributor teammates

Defines Data Science Standards & Best Practices (15%)
• Identify opportunities to implement improved best practices
• Provides guidance to develop enterprise-wide analytics strategy and roadmap

Required Qualifications
• 10+ years of progressively complex related analytics experience
• 8+ years’ experience leading analytics project from concept to delivery, coordinating across a diverse group of stakeholders, anticipating and preventing roadblock and driving business impact
• 8+ years’ experience with advanced analytics tools and languages, analyzing large data sets from multiple data sources
• 8+ years’ experience solving analytics problems using advanced statistics, machine learning, mathematical algorithms and predictive modeling
• 8+ years’ experience with: Python, SQL, Cloud applications (GCP, AWS, Azure), machine learning, casual inference and experimental design
• 5+ years’ industry experience demonstrating strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to present complex ideas to various audiences

Preferred Qualifications
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills
• Strong organizational, management and leadership skills
• Knowledge of the health care industry, products, systems, business strategies and products
• Experience in large, matrixed corporate environment
• Experience working with end-users

Education:
• Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science, Economics, Physics, Operations Research, Engineering, or related discipline
• Master’s degree or PhD preferred

Pay Range

The typical pay range for this role is:

$144,200.00 – $288,400.00

This pay range represents the base hourly rate or base annual full-time salary for all positions in the job grade within which this position falls. The actual base salary offer will depend on a variety of factors including experience, education, geography and other relevant factors. This position is eligible for a CVS Health bonus, commission or short-term incentive program in addition to the base pay range listed above. This position also includes an award target in the company’s equity award program.

Our people fuel our future. Our teams reflect the customers, patients, members and communities we serve and we are committed to fostering a workplace where every colleague feels valued and that they belong.

Great benefits for great people

We take pride in our comprehensive and competitive mix of pay and benefits – investing in the physical, emotional and financial wellness of our colleagues and their families to help them be the healthiest they can be. In addition to our competitive wages, our great benefits include:
• Affordable medical plan options, a 401(k) plan (including matching company contributions), and an employee stock purchase plan.
• No-cost programs for all colleagues including wellness screenings, tobacco cessation and weight management programs, confidential counseling and financial coaching.
• Benefit solutions that address the different needs and preferences of our colleagues including paid time off, flexible work schedules, family leave, dependent care resources, colleague assistance programs, tuition assistance, retiree medical access and many other benefits depending on eligibility.

For more information, visit https://jobs.cvshealth.com/us/en/benefits

We anticipate the application window for this opening will close on: 06/16/2025

Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with all federal, state and local laws.