Lead AI/ML Scientist – Remote

Optum is a global organization that delivers care, aided by technology to help millions of people live healthier lives. The work you do with our team will directly improve health outcomes by connecting people with the care, pharmacy benefits, data and resources they need to feel their best. Here, you will find a culture guided by diversity and inclusion, talented peers, comprehensive benefits and career development opportunities. Come make an impact on the communities we serve as you help us advance health equity on a global scale. Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

Optum AI is UnitedHealth Group’s enterprise AI team. We are AI/ML scientists and engineers with deep expertise in AI/ML engineering for health care. We develop AI/ML solutions for the highest impact opportunities across UnitedHealth Group businesses including UnitedHealthcare, Optum Financial, Optum Health, Optum Insight, and Optum Rx. In addition to transforming the health care journey through responsible AI/ML innovation, our charter also includes developing and supporting an enterprise AI/ML development platform.

Optum AI team members:

• Have impact at scale: We have the data and resources to make an impact at scale. When our solutions are deployed, they have the potential to make health care system work better for everyone.
• Do ground-breaking work: Many of our current projects involve cutting edge ML, NLP and LLM techniques. Generative AI methods for working with structured and unstructured health care data are continuously being developed and improved. We are working in one of the most important frontiers of AI/ML research and development.
• Partner with world-class experts on innovative solutions: Our team members are developing novel AI/ML solutions to business challenges. In some cases, this includes the opportunity to file patents and publish papers about the methods we develop. We also collaborate with AI/ML researchers at some of the world’s top universities.

AI/ML Engineers build Machine Learning models, perform proof-of-concept, experiment, optimize, and deploy models into production. Work closely with software engineers to assist in productionizing the ML models. Perform hands-on analysis and modeling of healthcare data sets to develop insights that increase business value. Communicate and present complex analytics results and concepts to leadership and internal stakeholders. Work with large scale computing frameworks, data analysis systems. Employees in this role are expected to apply knowledge of experimental methodologies, statistics, optimization, probability theory and machine learning using code for tool building and statistical analysis.

You’ll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely * from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges. 

Primary Responsibilities:

• Drive end-to-end Machine Learning projects that have a high degree of ambiguity, scale and complexity
• Develop novel machine learning (ML) algorithms and indicators for time-series forecasting prediction, with applications in actuarial reserving and the development of affordability programs. 
• Implement state-of-the-art machine learning models and evaluate their performance
• Communicate the performance of the machine learning algorithms across an interdisciplinary team
• Write both internal and external documentation of the novel algorithms, including publications in machine learning and other scientific conferences and journals
• Develop our research and innovation agenda
• Collaborate with the Optum AI team and fellow scientists and engineers

You’ll be rewarded and recognized for your performance in an environment that will challenge you and give you clear direction on what it takes to succeed in your role as well as provide development for other roles you may be interested in.

Required Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in computer science or related quantitative field and 5+ years of industry/academic experience in machine learning or a related field OR PhD in computer science or related quantitative field
• Hands-on experience in implementing and training machine learning algorithms and statistical analyses, including for example non-parametric tests, linear mixed models, modern supervised and unsupervised machine learning algorithms such as SVM, random forest, PCA, t-SNE, clustering, deep learning, and LLMs
• Experience with Python, Apache Spark (PySpark, Databricks), DevOps Tools (Git, Github Actions, Docker, etc.)
• Deep understanding of mathematical foundations of machine learning, including statistics, linear algebra, and computer science
• Legally authorized to work in the US without any restrictions. Proof will be required

Preferred Qualifications:

• Work in health-related fields experience (e.g., biomedical informatics, bioinformatics, biomathematics) 
• Experience with actuarial models
• Experience working in an interdisciplinary environment, particularly in engineering and medicine
• Demonstrated track record of patents and/or scientific publications in machine learning or a related field
• Proven effective communication skills, including in an interdisciplinary environment
• Proven solid written communication skills of scientific material
• Proven comfortable working in a fast paced, highly collaborative and fluid work environment

*All employees working remotely will be required to adhere to UnitedHealth Group’s Telecommuter Policy 

The salary range for this role is $106,800 to $194,200 annually based on full-time employment. Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to local labor markets, education, work experience, certifications, etc. UnitedHealth Group complies with all minimum wage laws as applicable. In addition to your salary, UnitedHealth Group offers benefits such as, a comprehensive benefits package, incentive and recognition programs, equity stock purchase and 401k contribution (all benefits are subject to eligibility requirements). No matter where or when you begin a career with UnitedHealth Group, you’ll find a far-reaching choice of benefits and incentives.

Application Deadline: This will be posted for a minimum of 2 business days or until a sufficient candidate pool has been collected. Job posting may come down early due to volume of applicants.

At UnitedHealth Group, our mission is to help people live healthier lives and make the health system work better for everyone. We believe everyone–of every race, gender, sexuality, age, location and income–deserves the opportunity to live their healthiest life. Today, however, there are still far too many barriers to good health which are disproportionately experienced by people of color, historically marginalized groups and those with lower incomes. We are committed to mitigating our impact on the environment and enabling and delivering equitable care that addresses health disparities and improves health outcomes — an enterprise priority reflected in our mission.

Diversity creates a healthier atmosphere: UnitedHealth Group is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.

UnitedHealth Group is a drug – free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment.

#OptumTechPJ