Senior Associate - Lead Data Scientist

Location Designation: Hybrid - 3 days per week
As part of the Artificial Intelligence & Data (AI&D) organization, you will contribute to New York Life's AI-led transformation by developing and supporting the deployment of AI and Machine Learning solutions that enhance efficiency, enable a seamless customer experience, and improve client, agent, and employee experiences, delivering unparalleled value as the firm continues to become tech, data, and AI enabled.
This role will support the development of AI solutions, spanning traditional Machine Learning, Generative AI, and Agentic AI. The role focuses on building core technical solutions, following enterprise AI practices/tools, and delivering well-defined components of AI solutions. You will collaborate closely with Business stakeholders, Data Scientists, Engineers, product and technology partners while developing an understanding of model lifecycle management, responsible AI principles, and New York Life's technology ecosystem.
What You'll Do:

• Execute AI/ML and GenAI initiatives in partnership with data, technology, product and business teams.

• Deliver business-aligned OKRs, ensuring AI initiatives are outcome-driven and tied to enterprise value creation.

• Deliver major portions of Model Development Life Cycle (MDLC) from data exploration and feature engineering to model training, validation, deployment, and performance monitoring.
• Develop and help operate models using cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP) and modern data platforms (Snowflake, Databricks), ensuring quality, security, and scalability, partnering with ML engineers for large-scale production deployment and scaling.
• Assist in designing and evaluating agentic/AI-powered solutions that automate routine business tasks with human-in-the-loop checkpoints, escalation thresholds, and safety guardrails.
• Implement and refine LLM/RAG approaches (vector stores, embeddings, retrieval optimization, prompt orchestration) with evaluators for reliability.
• Work with AI Engineers to ensure AI capabilities are accessible through APIs, dashboards, and integrated workflow applications used by business teams.
• Build lightweight UI prototypes (e.g., Streamlit) to validate usability and support adoption.
• Adhere to model governance, documentation, testing, and CI/CD best practices in partnership with MLOps.
• Stay informed on industry trends by engaging in relevant conferences and sharing key insights with internal and external audiences as appropriate.
• This role involves limited travel (<10%) to events and vendor meetings.

What You'll Bring:

• Advanced degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Machine Learning, AI, Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, or a related quantitative field.
• 5+ years of experience applying data science and AI/ML to real-world business problems.
• Ability to communicate complex ideas simply, presenting impact, trade-offs, and recommendations to non-technical partners.
• Proficiency in Python and SQL; working knowledge of core software engineering concepts (version control with Git/GitHub, testing, logging).
• Experience with cloud platforms like AWS/GCP services (e.g., SageMaker, Bedrock, Vertex AI) and modern data ecosystems (Snowflake/Databricks).
• Working knowledge of LLMs, RAG architecture, and agentic frameworks, including safe automation design and evaluation practices.
• Solid grounding in ML methods (supervised and unsupervised learning, gradient boosting, exposure to deep learning), feature engineering, regularization, cross-validation.
• Ability to translate analytical findings into clear business insights and collaborate effectively with cross-functional partners.
• Experience in mentoring junior data scientists is a plus.
• Experience in Life Insurance industry or consumer finance domains is a plus.

Pay Transparency
Salary Range: $124,000-$177,000
Overtime eligible: Exempt
Discretionary bonus eligible: Yes
Sales bonus eligible: No
Actual base salary will be determined based on several factors but not limited to individual's experience, skills, qualifications, and job location. Additionally, employees are eligible for an annual discretionary bonus. In addition to base salary, employees may also be eligible to participate in an incentive program.
Company Overview
At New York Life, our 180-year legacy of purpose and integrity fuels our future. As we evolve into a more technology-, data-, and AI-enabled organization, we remain grounded in the values that drive lasting impact.
Our diverse business portfolio creates opportunities to make a difference across industries and communities-inviting bold thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and purpose-driven innovation. Here, you'll find the rare balance of long-standing stability and forward momentum, supported by an inclusive team that honors tradition while embracing progress.
As a Fortune 100 mutual company, we offer a place to grow your skills, contribute to meaningful work, and deliver solutions that matter. Your ideas drive what's next, and your growth powers it.
Our Benefits
We provide a full package of benefits for employees - and have unique offerings for a modern workforce, including leave programs, adoption assistance, and student loan repayment programs. Based on feedback from our employees, we continue to refine and add benefits to our offering, so that you can flourish both inside and outside of work.Click hereto discover more about our comprehensive benefit options or visit our NYL Benefits Site.
Our Commitment to Inclusion
At New York Life, fostering an inclusive workplace is fundamental to who we are and how we serve our communities. We have a longstanding commitment to creating an environment where individuals can contribute their best and succeed together. This foundation is rooted in our core values of humanity and integrity, ensuring that every employee feels valued and supported. By embracing a broad range of perspectives and experiences, we achieve greater success and fulfill our promise of providing financial security and peace of mind to families across all communities. Click here to learn more about New York Life's leadership in this space.
Recognized as one of Fortune's World's Most Admired Companies, New York Life is committed to improving local communities through a culture of employee giving and volunteerism, supported by the Foundation. We're proud that due to our mutuality, we operate in the best interests of our policy owners. To learn more about career opportunities at New York Life, please visit the Careers page of www.NewYorkLife.com.
Visit our LinkedIn to see how our employees and agents are leading the industry and impacting communities.
Visit our Newsroom to learn more about how our company is constantly evolving to meet our clients' and employees' needs.
Job Requisition ID: 93355