Lead Data Scientist - Autonomous Goal Management
Humana
About the role
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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
#enterpriseAI
Work at Home Requirements: To ensure Home or Hybrid Home/Office employees’ ability to work effectively, the self-provided internet service of Home or Hybrid Home/Office employees must meet the following criteria: At minimum, a download speed of 25 Mbps and an upload speed of 10 Mbps is required; wireless, wired cable or DSL connection is suggested. In certain roles, the minimum recommended internet speed required by Humana may not be sufficient for business needs. Humana reserves the right to require associates to upgrade their internet service if necessary. Work from a dedicated space lacking ongoing interruptions to protect member PHI / HIPAA information.
Travel: While this is a remote position, occasional travel to Humana's offices for training or meetings may be required.
Scheduled Weekly Hours
40
Pay Range
The compensation range below reflects a good faith estimate of starting base pay for full time (40 hours per week) employment at the time of posting. The pay range may be higher or lower based on geographic location and individual pay will vary based on demonstrated job related skills, knowledge, experience, education, certifications, etc.
$142,300 - $195,700 per year
This job is eligible for a bonus incentive plan. This incentive opportunity is based upon company and/or individual performance.
Description of Benefits
Humana, Inc. and its affiliated subsidiaries (collectively, “Humana”) offers competitive benefits that support whole-person well-being. Associate benefits are designed to encourage personal wellness and smart healthcare decisions for you and your family while also knowing your life extends outside of work. Among our benefits, Humana provides medical, dental and vision benefits, 401(k) retirement savings plan, time off (including paid time off, company and personal holidays, paid parental and caregiver leave), short-term and long-term disability, life insurance and many other opportunities.
Application Deadline: 11-19-2026
About us
About Humana: Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) is a leading U.S. healthcare company. Through our Humana insurance services and our CenterWell healthcare services, we make it easier for the millions of people we serve to achieve their best health – delivering the care and service they need, when they need it. These efforts are leading to a better quality of life for people with Medicare and Medicaid, families, individuals, military service personnel, and communities at large. Learn more about what we offer at Humana.com and at CenterWell.com.
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.
Responsibilities
- Architect goal-setting and goal-decomposition mechanisms for autonomous agents.
- Design and implement dynamic planning systems for agents.
- Develop memory, tool-use, and feedback-loop designs for multi-step agent behavior.
- Create evaluation frameworks for alignment, consistency, and long-horizon progress.
- Prototype agents that use APIs, MCP servers, search engines, databases, or real-world actuators.
- Detect and mitigate goal misalignment, looping behavior, and undesirable emergent strategies.
- Integrate goal alignment with safety and operational reliability mechanisms.
Qualifications
- Master's degree and 4+ years of experience in research, ML engineering, or applied research, preferably developing production-ready AI solutions.
- 2+ years of experience leading AI/ML system development.
- Proficiency in SQL, Python, and data analysis or data mining tools.
- Experience with machine learning frameworks such as PyTorch, JAX, LangChain, LangGraph, or AutoGen.
- Experience with large-scale ML systems, transformer-based language models, symbolic planning, causal reasoning, model-based reinforcement learning, and large-scale ETL.
- Preferred: Ph.D. in a related field and experience shipping autonomous or semi-autonomous agents.
- Preferred: Experience with LLM-based agents, scratchpad or self-reflection techniques, hierarchical task decomposition, and autonomy risk mitigation.
Benefits
- Medical, dental, and vision benefits.
- 401(k) retirement savings plan.
- Paid time off, holidays, and paid parental and caregiver leave.
- Short-term and long-term disability insurance.
- Life insurance and other wellness benefits.
- Bonus incentive plan.
Skills mentioned
About Humana
Humana will never ask, nor require a candidate to provide money for work equipment and network access during the application process. If you become aware of any instances where you as a candidate are asked to provide information and do not believe it is a legitimate request from Humana or affiliate, please contact yourcareer@humana.com to validate the request
H-1B sponsorship history
Historical employer filing data was found for Humana. The employer record includes 1,549 historical certified applications. This is employer-level history, not a guarantee that this role currently offers sponsorship.