Director of Data Science - Employee Benefits

The Hartford • Columbus, OH

60d • Hybrid

About The Position

We're determined to make a difference and are proud to be an insurance company that goes well beyond coverages and policies. Working here means having every opportunity to achieve your goals - and to help others accomplish theirs, too. Join our team as we help shape the future. Are you ready to transform the future of insurance through enterprise-grade AI? Join The Hartford's AI Accelerator team as a Director of Data Science supporting our Employee Benefits business. This role is part of a high-impact, cross-functional team of data scientists, engineers, and domain experts focused on delivering scalable, agentic AI solutions that drive measurable business outcomes. We are seeking a visionary leader with deep technical expertise and a passion for innovation to help shape the future of underwriting, claims, and customer experience in Employee Benefits. You will lead the development and deployment of advanced AI capabilities-from multimodal models and agentic workflows to real-time decision systems-while fostering a culture of experimentation, excellence, and enterprise collaboration. This role will have a Hybrid work schedule, with the expectation of working in an office (Columbus, OH, Chicago, IL, Hartford, CT or Charlotte, NC) 3 days a week (Tuesday through Thursday).

Requirements

• Master's or Ph.D. in Statistics, Applied Mathematics, Quantitative Economics, Actuarial Science, Data Science, Computer Science, or a similar analytical field, or progress towards a relevant professional designation
• 8+ years of experience in applied AI, machine learning, or data science, with a focus on production-grade solutions.
• Experience with managing Data Scientists and providing guidance through model development
• Proven track record of leading cross-functional teams and delivering enterprise-scale AI solutions.
• Expertise in LLMs, GenAI, agentic architectures, and multimodal systems.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Able to translate complex technical topics into business solutions and strategies as well as turn business requirements into a technical solution
• Experience with leading project execution and driving change to core business processes through the innovative use of quantitative techniques
• Candidate must be authorized to work in the US without company sponsorship.
• The company will not support the STEM OPT I-983 Training Plan endorsement for this position.

Nice To Haves

• Strong understanding of insurance workflows, especially in Employee Benefits, is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end development of AI solutions for Employee Benefits, from problem formulation to production deployment.
• Partner with business leaders, engineers, and subject matter experts to identify high-impact use cases and deliver measurable value.
• Architect and implement agentic workflows, LLM-based systems, and multimodal pipelines tailored to underwriting and claims processes.
• Drive the development of reusable AI components and evaluation frameworks aligned with enterprise standards.
• Mentor and grow a team of data scientists, fostering technical excellence and career development.
• Collaborate with the AI Enablement and Science Excellence teams to ensure solutions are scalable, secure, and aligned with enterprise strategy.
• Stay current with emerging AI technologies and evaluate their applicability to Employee Benefits.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Industry: Insurance Carriers and Related Activities
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees