Lead AI/ML Engineer - 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 in making healthcare work better for everyone through people-led, responsible AI while Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

As a Lead AI/ML Engineer within Optum Technology, you will drive the design, development, and deployment of innovative artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions across our enterprise health tech platforms. You will lead technical efforts to build scalable ML pipelines, automate complex tasks, and transform healthcare data into actionable insights that optimize care delivery and operational efficiency. Working alongside cross-functional engineering and business teams, you will leverage enterprise-approved AI platforms and modern cloud technology to deploy secure, resilient, and high-impact AI solutions.

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:

• Design, develop, and deploy AI-powered solutions to address complex business challenges with an emphasis on responsible use of AI
• Leverage enterprise-approved AI tools to streamline workflows, automate tasks, and drive continuous improvement
• Evaluate emerging trends to inform solution design and strategic innovation
• Lead the architecture, implementation, and maintenance of scalable machine learning models and end-to-end MLOps pipelines
• Collaborate with cross-functional software engineering, data engineering, and product teams to seamlessly integrate AI/ML capabilities into health tech applications
• Establish engineering standards and best practices for model monitoring, testing, continuous integration, and lifecycle management
• Provide technical mentorship and architectural guidance to engineering team members across AI and software initiatives

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 6+ years of equivalent software engineering or machine learning experience
• 6+ years of software engineering or machine learning engineering experience
• 6+ years of experience with Python/Java/JavaScript, including working knowledge of agent frameworks (e.g., LangGraph, LangChain, LlamaIndex, Semantic Kernel, or CrewAI)
• 5+ years of experience integrating third-party APIs and building backend services that run in production
• 4+ years of experience with cloud platforms (Azure, AWS, or GCP), containers, and CI/CD pipelines
• 3+ years of hands-on experience building with LLMs, including prompt engineering, tool/function calling, and agent or multi-step orchestration
• 3+ years of experience designing and shipping RAG systems in production, including embeddings, vector databases (e.g., Azure AI Search, Pinecone, Milvus, pgvector, or FAISS), and retrieval evaluation
• 2+ years of experience building LLM evaluation and testing workflows rather than relying on manual spot checks

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Advanced degree (Master's or Ph.D.) in Computer Science, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, or a related field
• Experience with model fine-tuning or parameter-efficient fine-tuning (PEFT) techniques
• Experience integrating agents with enterprise observability and security platforms via APIs and MCP-style tool interfaces
• Demonstrated ability to work across multidisciplinary teams (e.g., SRE, InfoSec, platform engineering) and translate operational pain points into technical requirements

*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 help make the health system work better for everyone. Together, we are shaping the future of healthcare by harnessing technology and innovation to make care simpler to navigate, more affordable and more connected for the people we serve. We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone feels welcomed, valued, heard and respected, empowering people to bring their authentic selves to work and strengthening our collective impact through diverse talents, backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.

UnitedHealth Group and its affiliated brands are 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 and its affiliated brands are a drug-free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment.