Director, Software Engineering - Remote

Optum Tech is a global leader in health care innovation. Our teams develop cutting-edge solutions that help people live healthier lives and help make the health system work better for everyone. From advanced data analytics and AI to cybersecurity, we use innovative approaches to solve some of health care's most complex challenges. Your contributions here have the potential to change lives. Ready to build the next breakthrough? Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

As the Director of Software Engineering for the Individual & Family Plans (IFP) Technology team, you will lead the charge in redefining how we deliver simplified, affordable, and high-quality health benefits. Individual & Family Plans (IFP) supports individuals and families who purchase their own health insurance (primarily via the ACA Marketplace), covering medical care, prescriptions, and preventive services outside of employer-sponsored plans. Our team is at the forefront of digital transformation, bridging complex healthcare environments with scalable cloud architectures and cutting-edge data solutions. You will lead the execution of our enterprise-aligned AI/ML strategy, transforming technology investments into production-grade outcomes that directly improve the healthcare experience for millions of individuals. This is a unique opportunity to build and mentor a compassionate, high-performing team while driving the adoption of modern engineering and MLOps practices in a highly collaborative and innovative environment.

You'll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely* from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges. For all hires in the Minneapolis or Washington, D.C. area, you will be required to work in the office a minimum of four days per week.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Own end-to-end engineering delivery across the Individual & Family Plans (IFP) portfolios, driving strategic roadmaps, backlog prioritization, and execution predictability
• Lead cross-application delivery, integration, and dependency management while ensuring high-quality design, engineering standards, and robust governance
• Lead the development and execution of the AI/ML strategy for the portfolio, strategically using artificial intelligence to solve complex business problems, unlock new opportunities, and deliver tangible business value
• Translate AI investments into production-grade, measurable, and scalable outcomes, preventing fragmented experimentation by driving enterprise-aligned, robust solutions
• Champion AI as a core driver of the engineering team's success, proactively shaping how AI technologies are developed, deployed, and utilized
• Integrate enterprise AI tools, establish AI-driven development goals within team growth plans, and align hiring with necessary AI competencies while actively removing barriers to accelerate adoption
• Champion the ethical and responsible use of AI by embedding transparency, fairness, security, and accountability throughout the entire AI development and model lifecycle
• Partner closely with data science, architecture, and data teams for scalable AI integration, as well as business leaders and external stakeholders, serving as the primary IT interface for business, state, and federal interactions where applicable
• Influence overall business strategy, prioritization, and investment decisions through articulate and compelling business communications
• Cultivate a compassionate, supportive, and high-performing engineering culture that values collaboration, professional growth, and alignment with the enterprise mission

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:

• Bachelor's degree or 4+ years of equivalent software engineering experience
• 10+ years of professional software engineering experience, with 5+ years in a formal leadership/management role guiding large-scale, distributed engineering teams
• 3+ years of experience leading the integration and delivery of AI/ML or data-driven capabilities into complex enterprise platforms
• Experience working in a regulated environment (healthcare preferred) with hands-on exposure to compliance, governance, and responsible/ethical technology deployment
• Demonstrated experience with cloud architecture and distributed systems supporting large-scale workloads (e.g., model deployment, data pipelines, scalable inference)
• Solid proficiency with modern engineering practices (Agile, DevOps, CI/CD) and MLOps practices (e.g., model lifecycle management, monitoring, continuous integration/delivery of models)
• Experience collaborating directly with data science, product, and business teams to drive strategic alignment and translate technology investments into measurable business outcomes
• Highly articulate communication skills, with a proven track record of influencing strategy, investments, and prioritization decisions with senior business leaders and external stakeholders

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in the healthcare industry, specifically dealing with Individual & Family Plans (IFP) or consumer health insurance platforms
• Experience establishing development goals focused on accelerating enterprise AI tool adoption and technical skill building
• Expertise in evaluating AI model performance, business impact, and ensuring responsible AI guardrails are embedded in production systems
• Passion for compassionate leadership, active mentorship, and building psychologically safe, high-performing engineering cultures

• Deep knowledge of scalable data pipelines, feature engineering, and model inference at scale in a cloud environment (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP)

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

Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to local labor markets, education, work experience, certifications, etc. In addition to your salary, we offer 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 us, you'll find a far-reaching choice of benefits and incentives. The salary for this role will range from $134,600 to $230,800 annually based on full-time employment. We comply with all minimum wage laws as applicable.

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.

UnitedHealth Group is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer under applicable law and qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, religion, age, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by local, state, or federal laws, rules, or regulations.

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