Associate Data Scientist

The Associate Data Scientist role supports the USC Institute of Urology AI Center with the design, development, testing, and deployment of agentic AI workflows in a healthcare environment. The position works closely with clinicians, researchers, and engineers to translate clinical and operational needs into AI-driven solutions.

Key Responsibilities

• Support the design, development, testing, and deployment of agentic AI workflows in healthcare settings.
• Contribute to multi-step, API-driven workflows that execute tasks through APIs and internal databases.
• Integrate multi-modal data sources, including building and normalizing multiple data modalities to support workflow execution.
• Ensure reliability and traceability through RAG and grounding controls that support traceability and reduce unsupported outputs.
• Design, troubleshoot, and refine Agentic AI workflows and AI Agents that augment existing healthcare applications.
• Collaborate with clinicians, researchers, and operational stakeholders to translate needs into deliverables that are safe, testable, and measurable.
• Follow established USC and department policies, procedures, objectives, performance improvement, attendance, safety, environmental, and infection control guidelines, including adherence to the workplace Code of Conduct and Compliance Plan.

Required Qualifications

• BS/MS in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
• Strong programming skills in Python and SQL, experience with GitHub, and familiarity with machine learning frameworks such as PyTorch and TensorFlow.
• Full stack software development experience, including JavaScript, Node.js, QT, or similar.
• Demonstrated experience building and deploying LLM applications beyond prototypes, including tool/function calling, workflow orchestration, structured outputs, and validation.
• Experience implementing grounding/retrieval and reliability evaluation, including test cases, regression checks, and monitoring; familiarity with security and privacy best practices for sensitive data.

Technologies

• Python, SQL, GitHub, PyTorch, TensorFlow
• JavaScript, Node.js, QT
• LLM applications, tool/function calling, workflow orchestration, structured outputs, validation
• Grounding/retrieval, RAG
• Test cases, regression checks, monitoring
• AWS, Azure, GCP, n8n
• LangChain, LangGraph, AutoGen, CrewAI
• Multi-agent systems, Reinforcement Learning

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience integrating structured and unstructured data to support workflow automation, including multimodal inputs where applicable.
• Multi-step workflow design with escalation and human-in-the-loop safeguards.
• Agentic AI workflow implementation and AI Agent design using n8n, LangChain, LangGraph, AutoGen, CrewAI, or similar.
• Cloud deployment and secure operations experience (AWS/Azure/GCP), including APIs.
• Multi-agent systems planning and Reinforcement Learning fundamentals.
• Lightweight fine-tuning or adaptation experience.

Minimum Requirements

• Education: Bachelor's degree (minimum).
• Experience: 2 years (minimum).

Additional Skills and Knowledge

• Experience using statistical computer languages (for example, R, Python, SQL) to manipulate data and draw insights from large datasets.
• Experience creating data models and data architecture, plus familiarity with data visualization tools such as Tableau, ArcGIS, or D3.js.
• Knowledge of data modeling tools and machine learning techniques including clustering, decision-tree learning, and artificial neural networks.
• Ability to script and program in several languages using common data science toolkits.
• Proficiency with query languages such as SQL and MDX, and experience with relational (for example, MySQL, SQL Server, Oracle, Snowflake, Redshift) and non-relational databases (for example, Mongo, NoSQL).
• Knowledge of applied statistical concepts and techniques including distributions, statistical testing, and regression.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to provide both detailed information and summaries to management-level groups.
• Experience developing customer relationships and delivering customer-focused service.
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills, including the ability to identify root cause and evaluate solution options.

Location and Work Arrangement

• On-site role in Los Angeles, CA, at the USC Health Science Campus.
• Work hours and on-site days may change based on business needs.

Compensation

USD 99,823 - 113,589 per year.