Data Science Associate Jobs in Smyrna, TN (NOW HIRING)

Sun Life U.S. is one of the largest providers of employee and government benefits, helping approximately 50 million Americans access the care and coverage they need. Through employers, industry partners and government programs, Sun Life U.S. offers a portfolio of benefits and services, including dental, vision, disability, absence management, life, supplemental health, medical stop-loss insurance, and healthcare navigation. We have more than 6,400 employees and associates in our partner dental practices and operate nationwide.

At Sun Life, we're driven by our Purpose: helping our Clients achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives. Our values shape how we work: caring, authentic, bold, inspiring, and impactful.

When you join Sun Life, you'll work with passionate colleagues and empowering leaders who support your growth and celebrate your contributions, so you can make a meaningful difference in our Clients' lives.

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This role provides advanced analytics leadership for an analytics agile squad within the Business Analytics function. The Director is responsible for advancing how Sun Life US uses data science, GenAI, and emerging AI capabilities to improve business decision-making across functional teams, including Sales, Underwriting, and Health Capabilities. The role will identify, prioritize, and deliver high-value opportunities where advanced analytics and AI can improve efficiency, increase consistency, surface actionable insights, and help business partners make better-informed decisions. As a leader within the Business Analytics organization, this individual will build and develop a team of data scientists, foster innovation, establish analytical best practices, and ensure solutions deliver measurable business value while maintaining appropriate governance, quality, and trust.

This position reports to the AVP, Business Analytics within the Health and Risk Solutions business. The Director is accountable for the end-to-end delivery, deployment, adoption, and ongoing improvement of advanced analytics and GenAI-based solutions supporting the assigned roadmap. This includes capabilities that retrieve, synthesize, summarize, and structure information from RFP materials, census data, claimant information, underwriting content, and clinical data to support business workflows across Sales, Underwriting, and Health Capabilities. The role is also responsible for evaluating where Agentic AI can safely and effectively augment business processes through orchestration of information gathering, analysis, recommendations, and workflow coordination while maintaining appropriate human oversight and governance. The Director will partner closely with business stakeholders, technology, and governance teams to translate business needs into scalable solutions, drive adoption, measure business impact, and continuously improve decision effectiveness.

What will you do?

• Lead advanced analytics and GenAI-based solution development for initiatives that support Sales, Underwriting, and Health Capabilities business partners.
• Translate business problems into clear analytics product requirements, success measures, implementation plans, and adoption strategies.
• Develop and scale reusable GenAI capabilities that retrieve, synthesize, summarize, and structure complex RFP, case, claimant, census, and clinical information.
• Explore opportunities to apply Agentic AI to augment multi-step sales, underwriting, and clinical processes where it can improve information gathering, decision support, workflow efficiency, and consistency of business outcomes.
• Partner with Sales, Underwriting, Health Capabilities, technology, and governance stakeholders to deliver solutions that are workflow-ready, scalable, secure, and compliant.
• Apply expertise in data science, machine learning, GenAI, validation, and quality controls to ensure solutions are accurate, reliable, explainable, and fit for business use.
• Drive solution adoption by partnering with business leaders and SMEs on training, feedback capture, change management, and measurement of productivity, decision quality, and business value.
• Manage and develop a team of data scientists, balancing team development, delivery priorities, and long-term capability building.
• Monitor solution performance, user feedback, data quality, model behavior, and business outcomes to identify enhancements and ensure sustained value after deployment.
• Communicate technical concepts, risks, recommendations, and business impact clearly to technical and non-technical audiences, including senior stakeholders.

What will be needed to succeed?

• Demonstrated expertise with a broad range of programming languages, applications and data environments (e.g., Python, SQL, Snowflake, Dataiku)
• Demonstrated expertise in data science including conditioning, modeling, integration, visualization, deployment support, and ongoing monitoring
• Strong knowledge of the fundamental statistical, machine learning, AI, and GenAI underpinnings of data science
• Experience leading GenAI or AI-enabled solutions that synthesize unstructured and structured information into business-ready outputs
• Experience evaluating emerging Agentic AI capabilities and identifying where human-in-the-loop automation can safely augment repeatable business processes and improve decision-making
• Commitment to data compliance, model governance, responsible AI, information security, and appropriate handling of sensitive health and business information
• Excellent business acumen to understand why and how the work will impact Sales, Underwriting, Health Capabilities, and broader Sun Life US stakeholders
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with an ability to explain technical concepts, trade-offs, risks, and recommendations to a non-technical audience
• BS/MS/PhD in a statistical, mathematical, or technical field (e.g., computer science, data science)
• 10+/8+/6+ years of experience in developing, implementing, and scaling data science, machine learning, AI, or GenAI-enabled solutions

What will be nice to have?

• MS/PhD, preferably in a statistical, mathematical, or technical field (e.g., computer science, data science)
• Experience with Employee Benefits, Commercial Dental, Group Medical Stop Loss, or other group insurance products preferred.
• Experience developing or leading GenAI-enabled information retrieval, summarization, document intelligence, or workflow automation solutions preferred.
• Experience applying AI agents, workflow orchestration, or decision-support automation to business processes with appropriate controls, oversight, and measurable outcomes preferred.
• Experience partnering with Sales, Underwriting, Clinical, or related business teams to embed analytics into operational workflows preferred.

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We are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where all employees feel they belong, are supported and empowered to thrive. We are dedicated to building teams with varied experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and ideas that benefit our colleagues, clients, and the communities where we operate. We encourage applications from qualified individuals from all backgrounds.

Life is brighter when you work at Sun Life

At Sun Life, we prioritize your well-being with comprehensive benefits, including generous vacation and sick time, market-leading paid family, parental and adoption leave, medical coverage, company paid life and AD&D insurance, disability programs and a partially paid sabbatical program. Plan for your future with our 401(k) employer match, stock purchase options and an employer-funded retirement account. Enjoy a flexible, inclusive and collaborative work environment that supports career growth. We're proud to be recognized in our communities as a top employer. Proudly Great Place to Work Certified in Canada and the U.S., we've also been recognized as a "Top 10" employer by the Boston Globe's "Top Places to Work" for two years in a row. Visit our website to learn more about our benefits and recognition within our communities.

We will make reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental limitations of otherwise-qualified individuals with disabilities or special disabled veterans, unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of our business. Please email thebrightside@sunlife.comto request an accommodation.

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