Director AI/ML Engineering

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.  

We are seeking an experienced and hands-on Director of Software Engineering to lead the design, development, and scaling of next-generation Agentic AI platforms that power M&R Sales-digital experiences.

This role combines deep expertise in AI/LLMs, platform engineering, and organizational leadership, with a strong focus on building scalable AI systems, orchestrating intelligent agents, and driving enterprise-wide adoption of AI-driven capabilities. The ideal candidate will lead high-performing engineering teams while remaining closely engaged in shaping architecture, advancing AI-enabled development (AIDLC), and delivering impactful, customer-facing digital solutions.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Technical Leadership & Delivery
  • Lead the design, development, and deployment of enterprise-scale AI/ML and Generative AI solutions, including LLM and agentic systems (e.g., OpenAI, Gemini, Claude, Copilot)
  • Define and scale AI-driven engineering practices, including AI-enabled SDLC (AIDLC) frameworks, tools, and reusable platforms
  • Drive the productionization of AI solutions, including performance optimization, monitoring, observability, and reliability
  • Apply AI-driven automation and agent-based workflows to improve engineering productivity, quality, and speed to market
• Team Leadership
  • Build, lead, and mentor a high-performing, globally distributed team of AI/ML leaders, AI/agentic engineers, and full-stack and quality engineers
  • Own talent development, including hiring, upskilling, performance management, and career growth
  • Foster a culture of innovation, experimentation, and continuous learning
• Stakeholder & Business Engagement
  • Partner with Product, Business, and Platform teams to define AI-driven solutions aligned to strategic priorities
  • Drive alignment on roadmap, prioritization, and delivery outcomes across cross-functional teams
  • Resolve complex technical and organizational challenges spanning engineering, data, infrastructure, and business domains
  • Influence product and business strategy by bringing a strong AI/ML perspective to decision-making
• Thought Leadership & Evangelism
  • Stay current with emerging trends in AI, LLMs, and agentic systems, and translate them into enterprise opportunities
  • Champion responsible AI practices, including governance, risk management, and ethical use
  • Build and communicate compelling narratives demonstrating business value and impact of AI initiatives
  • Represent the organization in internal and external forums as a leader in AI innovation
• Comply with the terms and conditions of the employment contract, company policies and procedures, and any and all directives (such as, but not limited to, transfer and/or re-assignment to different work locations, change in teams and/or work shifts, policies in regards to flexibility of work benefits and/or work environment, alternative work arrangements, and other decisions that may arise due to the changing business environment). The Company may adopt, vary or rescind these policies and directives in its absolute discretion and without any limitation (implied or otherwise) on its ability to do so

Required Qualifications:

• 15+ years of experience in software engineering, with significant focus on AI/ML and data-driven systems
• 5+ years of experience designing and deploying cloud-native solutions (Azure or AWS), including scalable AI/ML workloads
• 4+ years of experience leading large-scale AI/ML engineering organizations (20-50+ team members) with globally distributed teams
• 2+ years of Hands-on experience with Python and modern ML/GenAI frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, LLM ecosystems, RAG, agent frameworks)
• Experience implementing AI-enabled software development lifecycle practices (AIDLC) and related tools/frameworks like BMAD, SpecKit
• Demonstrated ability to connect AI investments to measurable business outcomes (ROI, efficiency, growth, risk reduction)
• Flexibility to collaborate with global teams, including overlap with US-based stakeholders as needed

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in the healthcare domain
• Experience in development of consumer facing digital experiences

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.