Senior Software Engineer II

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 inclusion, talented peers, comprehensive benefits and career development opportunities. Come make an impact on the communities we serve as you help us advance health optimization on a global scale. Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Lead the architecture, design, and development of enterprise-scale, AI-enabled applications using advanced AI technologies
• Drive the end-to-end lifecycle of AI solutions, ensuring seamless integration, scalability, performance, and maintainability
• Provide technical leadership across multiple teams, leading architecture and design decisions, code reviews, and engineering best practices
• Lead the creation of comprehensive design documentation and architectural diagrams to clearly communicate system structure, data flow, and integration points across teams and stakeholders
• Mentor and coach junior engineers, fostering a culture of continuous learning, innovation, and technical excellence
• Architect and maintain robust backend services using Python frameworks (e.g., FastAPI, DJango), with a strong emphasis on security, performance, and observability
• Build intuitive, accessible, and responsive front-end interfaces using React.js and modern UI frameworks
• Design and implement secure, cloud-native solutions on GCP or Azure, leveraging containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) and serverless architectures
• Evaluate existing systems and lead modernization efforts, including migration to microservices and cloud platforms.
• Collaborate with Tech Leaders, Product Owners, Scrum Masters, and SMEs to translate complex business needs into scalable technical solutions
• Facilitate technical design walkthroughs and architecture reviews with cross-functional stakeholders
• Define and execute comprehensive testing strategies, including unit, integration, performance, and automated testing
• Take ownership of complex issues across the stack, driving resolution through root cause analysis and cross-functional collaboration
• Act as a self-starter, consistently initiating and driving technical improvements without requiring detailed direction
• Lead incident response and production support efforts, including real-time debugging, root cause analysis, and long-term remediation planning
• Champion Agile and DevOps practices, ensuring efficient CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, GitHub Actions)
• Stay ahead of emerging AI technologies, frameworks, and industry trends to inform solution design and strategic direction
• Drive innovation by exploring and piloting new tools, platforms, and methodologies to improve engineering velocity and solution impact
• Ensure compliance with enterprise policies, including flexibility in work location, team assignments, and security protocols
• Comply with all applicable Company policies, procedures, and business directives, changes including those relating to work location, team assignments, work schedules, and flexible work arrangements

Required Qualifications:

• 9+ years of software development experience, with 4+ years in AI engineering and cloud-based solution delivery
• 6+ years of full-stack development experience with React.js and RESTful APIs
• 4+ years of cloud deployment experience (GCP or Azure), including Kubernetes and serverless functions
• 4+ years in DevOps and CI/CD (Jenkins, GitHub Actions, Terraform, etc.)
• Proven leadership experience in mentoring engineers and leading cross-functional technical initiatives
• Experience with event-driven architecture (Kafka, Redis) and real-time data processing
• Experience with AI techniques such as NLP, computer vision, LLMs, and MLOps practices
• Experience building AI agents or copilots using frameworks like Google ADK, LangChain and OpenAI SDK
• Experience across the full software development lifecycle, including agile planning, delivery, and support
• Solid understanding of microservices, service-oriented architecture, and API gateway patterns
• Proficiency in RDBMS and NoSQL databases (MySQL, SQL Server etc)
• Proven expertise in backend development using Python, including frameworks like FastAPI, Django, Flask etc
• Proven expertise in AI-based technologies, including experience building intelligent agents, copilots, and real-time inference systems using AI Agentic frameworks (Google ADK experience a plus)
• Demonstrated ability to leverage coding assistants (e.g., GitHub Copilot) to enhance team productivity and code quality
• Proven solid communication, presentation, and stakeholder engagement skills

Soft Skills & Leadership Competencies

• Strategic Thinking: Aligns technical decisions with business goals and long-term vision
• Influence Without Authority: Drives consensus and adoption across teams and stakeholders
• Mentorship & Coaching: Invests in team growth through structured guidance and feedback
• Intentional Decision-Making: Applies sound judgment and data-driven analysis to complex problems
• Effective Communication: Tailors messaging for technical and non-technical audiences
• Conflict Resolution: Navigates ambiguity and disagreement constructively
• High Performing Teams: Builds trust, accountability, and psychological safety within teams
• Innovation Mindset: Encourages experimentation and continuous improvement

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.