Principal Data & AI Scientist

Who We Are: 

At PEMCO we’re all about people – our customers, our employees, and the community.  We’re a mutual insurance company owned by our Northwest policyholders.  We provide auto, home, renters, and boat coverage. Recognized by Forbes as one of America’s Best Insurance Companies in both Auto and Home for 2025 based on customer survey feedback and by Newsweek as one of America’s Greatest Midsize Workplaces 2025. We are consistently recognized for our outstanding customer service, employee expertise, community partnerships, and social impact programs. All of which makes PEMCO a great place to work!

Our social impact programs motivate high achievement by youth in education; build stronger and greener communities; and increase safety at home, on the road, and at play. We’re committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, and to fostering an inspiring and inclusive workplace. These efforts create and cultivate an environment that builds fairness and understanding, encourages collaboration and flexibility, and celebrates all the ways in which we’re different and the same – enabling all individuals to achieve their full potential.

Why We Need You:

PEMCO has a dynamic and challenging opportunity for a Principal Data & AI Scientist to join our community. In this role, you will be responsible for designing, developing, and operationalizing advanced data science, machine learning, and AI solutions across core insurance domains such as underwriting, claims automation, pricing optimization, risk modeling, and customer lifecycle personalization.

What You’ll Be Doing:

• Lead development and deployment of AI models leveraging both supervised and unsupervised learning techniques.
• Design, implement, and optimize Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines for AI-driven decision support.
• Utilize Vector Databases and Knowledge Graphs to enhance AI applications in underwriting, claims processing, and customer engagement.
• Develop data pipelines for ingestion, transformation, and storage to support AI/ML workloads.
• Design and implement scalable solutions using cloud-based AI platforms such as Azure Machine Learning, Databricks and Snowflake.
• Implement MLOps best practices, including CI/CD for model training, validation, deployment, and monitoring.
• Develop generative AI models for personalized customer experiences and automation of complex decision-making processes.
• Apply natural language processing (NLP) techniques to analyze and extract insights from unstructured data sources.
• Optimize AI models for performance, scalability, and reliability in enterprise environments.
• Conduct architecture design reviews and performance tuning for AI/ML applications
• Work cross-functionally with business and technology teams to identify AI-driven opportunities and define strategies. 
• Ensure compliance with ethical AI principles, model governance, and data privacy regulations.
• Demonstrate behaviors consistent with PEMCO's policies, values, code of ethics and business conduct.
• Authentically support the PEMCO Brand and constantly are on the lookout for top talent to join us to achieve our Mission to Worry Less and Live More.
• Other duties as assigned.
• Provide guidance, mentorship, knowledge sharing, and technical growth to team members.

What You'll Bring:

• B.A. or B.S. degree or equivalent work experience in a related field, such as Computer Science, Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science, or Data Engineering. 
• Master’s degree or Ph.D. in a related field, such as Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, or Machine Learning preferred.
• 10 years of enterprise-scale experience in designing, implementing, and deploying AI/ML models.
• 7 years of experience working with cloud-based AI platforms, including Azure Machine Learning, Databricks, and Snowflake.
• 7 years of experience in implementing both supervised and unsupervised learning techniques in real-world applications.
• Experience in the insurance industry, particularly in Auto, Home, and Umbrella insurance processes, underwriting, claims analysis, and risk assessment is required.
• Experience working with advanced AI frameworks such as LangChain, LlamaIndex, and Hugging Face transformers is preferred.
• Hands-on experience with Gen AI, RAG pipelines, Vector Databases, and Knowledge Graphs.
• Strong problem-solving skills and a deep understanding of statistical and mathematical principles.
• Strong experience in natural language processing (NLP) and generative AI applications.
• Expertise in MLOps, model lifecycle management, and AI model deployment at scale.
• Proficient in Python, PySpark, and SQL.
• Deep understanding of Azure Databricks, Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, Azure Synapse Analytics, and Azure Data Factory.
• Experience with distributed model training and serving on Databricks
• Familiarity with Azure OpenAI, LLM fine-tuning, or cognitive services is preferred.
• Expertise in both supervised and unsupervised learning techniques and the ability to implement AI/ML solutions that enhance data-driven decision-making in the insurance industry, particularly in Auto, Home, and Umbrella insurance.
• Familiarity with agile software delivery methodologies such as Scrum.

What We Value:

In fostering a culture where everyone thrives, PEMCO embodies a set of core traits that guide our collective efforts. These traits include:

• Make Agile Decisions: Define desired outcomes. Use a consistent, inclusive approach. Drive decisions with a sense of urgency. Pivot decisions quickly as supported by data.
• Build Trust: Listen to understand and use direct and open communication. Engage in healthy debate with mutual respect. Find solutions and move forward together.
• Own Results: Commit to desired outcomes. Define and achieve success metrics. Anticipate and mitigate risks, and always have a plan B. Take accountability for and learn from outcomes. 
• Empower Execution: Take action to drive desired outcomes. Act with initiative, mastery, and purpose.
• Explore Fearlessly: Make swift, iterative progress through testing and learning, create a safe place to fail fast and learn from mistakes, and continuously improve.
• Value People: Appreciate and care about unique experiences and perspectives Respect the dignity of others and have empathy for people Authentically and meaningfully support and recognize people in real time.

These traits form the bedrock of our commitment to caring deeply for each other, our customers, and our community. As you become a part of PEMCO, your contribution will further enrich our success story, where the power of these shared values propels us forward.

Compensation:

The pay range for this role is shown below. Compensation decisions are determined based on an individual’s qualifications, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.

• Greater Seattle area target pay range: $187,363 - $228,999. The full pay range is $156,136 - $260,226
• Outside greater Seattle area target pay range: $165,352 - $202,096.  The full pay range is $137,793 - $229,655.

Greater Seattle Area is defined as working within approximately 100 miles of Seattle.

Outside Greater Seattle is defined as working approximately 100 miles or more from Seattle.

Benefits:

Regular part-time PEMCO employees working at least 24 hours per week and regular full-time PEMCO employees are eligible to elect coverage under medical, dental, and vision plans for themselves and their eligible family members with generous employer premium cost shares. In addition, as a benefits-eligible employee, you are:

• covered by employer-paid basic life and accidental death & dismemberment insurance policies as well as long- and short-term disability benefit coverages.
• eligible to participate in PEMCO’s 401(k) plan which includes a generous employer match (2 for 1 on the first 6% employee pre-tax and/or Roth deferral, up to federal maximums). 

PEMCO provides the following paid leave programs for benefits-eligible employees in their first year of PEMCO employment:

• Vacation accrues at a rate of 10 days for new hires, and increases based on a schedule to a maximum annual accrual of 25 days based on tenure.
• Granted four (4) personal days immediately upon hire.
• Paid holidays for the eight (8) holidays observed by PEMCO throughout the calendar year.
• Granted up to ten (10) days of sick leave immediately upon hire (pro-rated based on hire date and full-time/part-time status), which is approximately 28 hours more per year than the Washington state-required accrual.
• In addition, PEMCO provides paid time off for bereavement, jury duty, and employee volunteering in the community.

Other miscellaneous benefit programs offered by PEMCO include:

• Flexible Spending Accounts.
• Education Assistance Program after one year of service.
• Scholarship program for children of PEMCO employees after one year of service.
• Employee Assistance Program.
• Well-being program.
• Discretionary taxable gifts and gift cards.
• And other Perks & Benefits including discounts on computer software and hardware, cell phone plans, and rental cars.

Other compensation depending on role, contributions, and performance may include:

• Discretionary bonuses.
• Tiered sales commissions and/or incentives (from 5-25% of employee’s monthly sales).
• Employee referral bonuses.
• Shift differential pay.

Equal Employment Opportunity:

At PEMCO, we celebrate and support our differences. We know employing a team rich in diverse thoughts, experiences, and opinions allows our employees, our products, and our community to flourish. PEMCO is honored to be an equal opportunity workplace. We are dedicated to equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

Applicants have rights under Federal Employment Laws:

• Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) 
• Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) 
• Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA)