Associate Data Scientist Jobs in Rutherford, NJ (NOW HIRING)

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 digital transformation by developing and deploying AI and machine learning solutions that enhance efficiency and improve client, agent, and employee experiences.

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 skills, learning enterprise AI practices, and delivering well-defined components of AI solutions. You will collaborate closely with Data Scientists, Engineers, and 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 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.
Contribute to the end-to-end model lifecycle: data exploration, feature development, model training/validation, deployment, monitoring, and iteration.
Develop and help operationalize models using AWS/GCP (e.g., SageMaker, Bedrock) and modern data platforms (Snowflake, Databricks), ensuring quality, security, and scalability; partner 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.
Assit in implementing and refining LLM/RAG approaches (vector stores, embeddings, retrieval optimization, prompt orchestration) with evaluators for reliability.
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.

What You'll Bring
Advanced degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Machine Learning, AI, Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, or a related quantitative field.
3+ years of hands-on experience building and deploying ML models to solve real-world business problems, including feature engineering, model selection, validation strategies, and performance monitoring.
Strong foundation in statistics and machine learning - including supervised/unsupervised methods, probabilistic modeling, and model interpretability (e.g., SHAP) - with the ability to select and evaluate appropriate approaches for a given problem.
Proficiency in Python and SQL; working knowledge of core software engineering concepts (version control with Git/GitHub), testing and documentation.
Working knowledge of Generative AI concepts (e.g., LLMs, prompt engineering, RAG).
Exposure to Agentic AI architectures (e.g., tool-using agents, orchestration frameworks).
Ability to partner with business stakeholders and communicate model design and outcomes to both technical and non-technical audiences.
Strong communication skills and a collaborative mindset.
Proactive mindset and commitment to continuous learning.
Experience in the Life Insurance industry or consumer finance domains is a plus.

Pay Transparency

Salary Range: $100,000-$143,000 

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.

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 here to 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.

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Job Requisition ID: 94008