Freelance Azure Data Scientist Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Senior Data Scientist

Senior Data Scientist

Who are we?

Versant Health is one of the nation’s leading administrators of managed vision care, serving millions of our clients’ members nationwide. We are driven by our mission to help members enjoy the wonders of sight through healthy eyes and vision.

As a Versant Health associate, you can enjoy a comprehensive Total Rewards package, which includes health and dental insurance, tuition reimbursement, 401(k) with company match, pet insurance, no-cost-to-you vision insurance for you and your qualified dependents. We are also invested in your success. There are many opportunities for advancement and development throughout all stages of your career with us.

See how you can make a difference with the support of strong leadership and a team environment.

See Everything, Be Anything™.

What are we looking for?

The Senior Data Scientist is a principal‑level individual contributor responsible for architecting, delivering, and governing enterprise‑grade advanced analytics and machine learning solutions that materially influence strategic decisions, financial performance, operational efficiency, and regulatory posture.

This role operates at the intersection of data science, data engineering, cloud analytics platforms, and business strategy, serving as a technical authority and thought leader across complex, high‑risk analytical initiatives—particularly within regulated healthcare environments.

The Senior Data Scientist is accountable not only for model development, but for explainability, stability, auditability, and long‑term operational viability of analytical solutions deployed at scale within the Microsoft data ecosystem.

Where you will have an impact

• Architect, design, and deploy advanced statistical, predictive, and machine learning solutions that support enterprise‑level decision‑making across healthcare, operations, finance, and customer/member domains.
• Own end‑to‑end analytical solution lifecycle, including data discovery, feature engineering, modeling, validation, performance monitoring, retraining strategy, and retirement planning.
• Serve as a technical authority on model explainability, fairness, robustness, and regulatory defensibility—particularly where ground truth or forward‑looking forecasts are limited.
• Design analytics solutions natively within the Microsoft cloud analytics stack, ensuring alignment to enterprise data architecture and governance standards.
• Partner closely with executive stakeholders, data engineering leaders, and platform owners to translate complex business questions into high‑impact, production‑ready analytics.
• Lead and influence analytics standards without direct authority.
• Define best practices for: model documentation, audit artifacts, model risk management, stability analysis, reproducibility, and controlled experimentation.
• Guide and review work produced by other data scientists, analysts, and vendors to ensure technical rigor and business relevance.
• Present complex analytical findings to senior leadership using clear narratives, decision‑oriented visuals, and quantified trade‑offs.
• Proactively identify analytical risks, data limitations, and downstream impacts of modeling decisions.
• Continuously evaluate emerging tools, methodologies, and Microsoft platform capabilities to drive modernization and performance gains.

What’s necessary to do the job?

• Master\'s degree in data science, statistics, mathematics, computer science, engineering, or related field required.
• 7–10+ years of progressive experience delivering advanced analytics or machine learning solutions in complex, data‑rich environments.
• Required: Prior experience in healthcare analytics (payer, provider, life sciences, or regulated healthcare data domains).
• Prior acutrary experience a plus.
• Proven experience deploying production analytics or ML solutions supporting mission‑critical business processes.
• Python (pandas, NumPy, scikit‑learn, PyTorch/TensorFlow where appropriate)
• SQL (advanced T‑SQL optimization, analytical patterns)
• ML explainability and governance techniques (e.g., SHAP‑style approaches, stability testing)
• Deep, hands-on, production experience across sizable portion of the Microsoft analytics ecosystem, including: 
• Microsoft Fabric (Lakehouse, Data Warehouse, Real-Time Analytics, Notebooks) 
• Azure Synapse Analytics (dedicated & serverless SQL pools)
• Azure Data Factory (Fabric Data Pipelines)
• Azure Data Lake Storage 
• Azure Machine Learning (model training, deployment, monitoring)
• Power BI (semantic models, DAX optimization, executive dashboards)
• Microsoft Purview (data cataloging, lineage, classification)

HIPAA & Security Requirements

All Associates must comply with the Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) as it pertains to disclosures of protected health information (PHI) as described in the Notice of Privacy Practices and HIPAA Privacy Policies and Procedures. As a component of job roles and responsibilities, Associates may have access to covered information, cardholder data or other confidential customer information which must be protected at all times. As a result, Associates must explicitly adhere to all data security guidelines established within the Company’s Privacy & Security Training Program.

We offer a comprehensive and competitive total rewards package designed to support your health, financial well‑being, and work‑life balance. Benefits include medical, dental, and paid vision coverage; paid time off and company holidays; retirement savings with employer contribution; employee wellness resources; and professional development opportunities. Additional benefits may include flexible work arrangements, employee assistance programs, and other programs that support you both at work and beyond.

This role is compensated through a fixed annual salary. The expected salary range for this position is $170,000.00 – $180,000.00 annually, based on role scope, experience, and market considerations. This position is not eligible for bonus or incentive compensation.

Versant Health will never request money from candidates who seek employment with us and will never ask for any payment as part of the recruitment process.

Versant Health is a proud Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer dedicated to attracting, retaining, and developing a diverse and inclusive workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment at Versant Health without regards to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, national origin, marital or domestic/civil partnership status, genetic information, citizenship status, uniformed service member or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.