Lead AI/ML Engineer-Remote Nationwide or Hybrid in MN/DC

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.  

Our Value Connect team is building an AI-first platform for value-based care that uses ML, LLMs, agents, and automation to improve provider performance, care outcomes, cost management, and operational efficiency. The team is developing capabilities such as Predictive Models, conversational AI assistants, Agentic workflows, MLOps, Registry automation, Ambient listening etc. The Lead AI/ML Engineer will provide hands-on technical leadership to build scalable, production-ready AI/ML solutions that convert complex healthcare data into actionable workflows for care, quality, finance, and provider enablement teams.

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:

• Lead the design, architecture, and end-to-end implementation of AI/ML, GenAI, RAG-based, and agentic solutions
• Apply machine learning, deep learning, statistical, and Generative AI techniques to solve complex clinical, operational, and financial business problems
• Build, validate, optimize, and tune AI/ML models, including fine-tuning, quantization, performance tuning, and cost optimization
• Develop and maintain production-grade APIs, such as FastAPI or REST services, to expose AI capabilities at scale
• Own MLOps practices, including model versioning, lifecycle management, CI/CD, monitoring, logging, drift detection, and reliability
• Deploy and operate AI workloads on cloud platforms such as Azure or AWS using containerization, Databricks, PySpark, and modern data platforms
• Establish engineering best practices for software quality, testing, security, responsible AI, design reviews, and code reviews
• Partner with product, data science, clinical, and business stakeholders while mentoring engineers and evaluating emerging AI technologies
• Leverage enterprise-approved AI tools and technologies to streamline developer workflows, automate tasks, and drive continuous improvement across the platform

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 with 6+ years, or Master's with 4+ years, or PhD with 3+ years of relevant experience in AI/ML engineering or related fields
• 3+ years of hands-on experience building, validating, tuning, and evaluating classical ML, deep learning, and Generative AI models
• 3+ years of professional experience writing production-grade code in Python and utilizing modern ML/AI libraries
• 2+ years of experience building and deploying AI systems utilizing RAG frameworks, vector databases, or orchestration libraries (e.g., LangChain, LangGraph)
• Experience deploying, operating, and managing MLOps workloads on cloud platforms (Azure, AWS) utilizing containerization
• Experience applying core software engineering practices, including version control (GitHub), code reviews, and CI/CD pipelines

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in healthcare technology, clinical data processing, or value-based care platforms
• Experience with distributed computing technologies (e.g., Spark, Databricks)
• Experience with model optimization techniques such as quantization, fine-tuning, and model compression
• Proven ability to translate complex business requirements into scalable technical solutions and communicate them to non-technical stakeholders

*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 $145,500 - $249,500 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. 

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