Entrylevel Retrieval Augmented Generation Jobs in Iowa

Overview
We are seeking an Associate Data Scientist - AI Solutions to join our team at UnityPoint! As a part of the Data Science team, the Associate Data Scientist provides an entry-level pathway into healthcare AI by maintaining, monitoring, testing, and enhancing established AI and machine learning solutions under the guidance of more experienced team members. This role applies sound software, data, and responsible AI practices to improve existing applications, workflows, data pipelines, integrations, and models primarily on Azure cloud infrastructure. The Associate Data Scientist develops practical technical depth through hands-on delivery, structured learning, collaboration, and progressively more independent ownership of well-defined solution components.
Hours: Monday-Friday, standard business hours
Location: Remote - applicants preferably reside within the UPH footprint of Iowa, Illinois, or Wisconsin
Why UnityPoint Health?
At UnityPoint Health, you matter. We're proud to be recognized as a Top 150 Place to Work in Healthcare by Becker's Healthcare several years in a row for our commitment to our team members.
Our competitive Total Rewards program offers benefits options that align with your needs and priorities, no matter what life stage you're in. Here are just a few:

• Expect paid time off, parental leave, 401K matching and an employee recognition program.

• Dental and health insurance, paid holidays, short and long-term disability and more. We even offer pet insurance for your four-legged family members.

• Early access to earned wages with Daily Pay, tuition reimbursement to help further your career and adoption assistance to help you grow your family.

With a collective goal to champion a culture of belonging where everyone feels valued and respected, we honor the ways people are unique and embrace what brings us together.
And, we believe equipping you with support and development opportunities is a vital part of delivering an exceptional employment experience.
Find a fulfilling career and make a difference with UnityPoint Health.
Responsibilities
AI Solution Maintenance, Enhancement, & Development:

• Make the customer relationship the highest priority by responding to stakeholder needs, clarifying assigned requirements, and communicating progress, risks, and support needs to the project team.
• Maintain, test, troubleshoot, and enhance established AI applications that use LLMs, agentic workflows, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), traditional machine learning models, and embedded data streams on Azure cloud infrastructure.
• Use agentic AI coding tools (e.g., Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot) within approved workflows to support coding, testing, documentation, and troubleshooting while following quality, security, maintainability, and governance standards.
• Support and enhance API integrations with enterprise systems including Epic (FHIR/HL7), Workday, UKG, Databricks, Microsoft 365 Copilot Agents, and other operational platforms, escalating complex design or production issues as appropriate.
• Maintain, monitor, test, and make well-defined enhancements to data pipelines-from ingestion to consumption-across batch, real-time, and event-driven architectures in Azure (e.g., Azure Data Factory, Databricks, Event Hubs, Cosmos DB).
• Assist with model evaluation, validation, monitoring, documentation, and controlled updates using statistical, machine learning, and generative AI methods while adhering to principles of reproducible research and responsible AI.
• Follow established software engineering practices and standards involving code review, automated testing, infrastructure-as-code, containerization, CI/CD pipelines, and version control in Azure DevOps or GitHub.
• Contribute to user-centered enhancements by improving interfaces, conversational experiences, documentation, and visualizations based on stakeholder feedback and observed usage.
• Build working knowledge of emerging AI capabilities, frameworks, foundation models, and agentic tooling through structured learning, experimentation in approved environments, and knowledge sharing with teammates.
• Contribute to a culture of innovation, communication, and trust by participating in design sessions, code reviews, AI engineering discussions, documentation, and open feedback.
• Complete special projects and other requests as assigned.
• Comply with UnityPoint Health data governance, AI ethics, security, privacy, and development standards. Work occasionally requires travel to other UPH facilities.

Solution Support, Documentation, & Professional Development:

• Complete well-defined work assignments by planning tasks, communicating dependencies, requesting guidance when needed, and delivering work aligned to agreed scope, timeline, quality, and governance expectations.
• Provide first-line technical support for assigned AI solutions by reviewing monitoring alerts, reproducing issues, completing routine troubleshooting, documenting findings, and escalating issues that require deeper expertise.
• Monitor solution health, data quality, model or workflow performance, and cloud/AI service usage using established dashboards and procedures; escalate cost, reliability, performance, security, or safety concerns.
• Perform routine maintenance such as dependency updates, test remediation, prompt or configuration changes, documentation updates, and other controlled enhancements using established change-management processes.
• Create and maintain technical documentation, runbooks, test cases, release notes, user guidance, and knowledge articles that enable reliable support and responsible use of AI solutions.
• Participate in training, mentoring, paired development, and structured learning to build proficiency in healthcare operations, Azure services, AI engineering, software development, and stakeholder communication.

Qualifications
Education:

• Required: Bachelor's degree in a STEM discipline (e.g., Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Operations Research, or related) or equivalent experience in a technical role
• Preferred: Master's degree in a STEM discipline (e.g., Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, or related) or equivalent experience in a technical role

Experience:

• Entry-level role; prior full-time professional experience is not required. Relevant experience may be demonstrated through internships, co-ops, research, capstone projects, open-source contributions, employment, or a substantive technical portfolio.
• Demonstrated academic, internship, or project experience using Python or another programming language to analyze data, automate a workflow, build software, or develop an AI/ML-enabled solution
• Foundational exposure to cloud services, software development environments, or data platforms through coursework, projects, internships, or employment
• Foundational understanding of APIs, databases, data pipelines, software testing, and version control
• Demonstrated curiosity, learning agility, attention to detail, and willingness to adapt to rapidly changing AI tools and frameworks
• Ability to communicate technical work through clear written documentation, presentations, visualizations, or demonstrations
• Interest in healthcare and willingness to learn health information standards, healthcare operations, and regulatory requirements

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Foundational knowledge of AI/ML concepts demonstrated through coursework, projects, internships, research, certification, or equivalent experience; exposure to LLMs, prompt engineering, RAG, or agentic AI is preferred
• Working knowledge of Python, R, JavaScript/TypeScript, C#, Java, or another relevant programming language, with the ability to read, modify, test, and document code
• Foundational exposure to Azure, AWS, GCP, or another cloud platform is preferred but not required
• Foundational SQL skills, including the ability to query, join, filter, and summarize structured data
• Foundational knowledge of REST APIs, JSON, application integration, and common software architecture concepts
• Awareness of data privacy, information security, responsible AI, and the importance of HIPAA compliance; ability to learn and follow established standards
• Ability to explain technical work clearly to technical and non-technical audiences