Director Software Engineering - AI/ML

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 a highly experienced and hands-on Director of Software Engineering to lead the design, development, and scaling of next-generation Agentic AI platforms and healthcare provider systems.

This role blends deep technical expertise in AI/LLMs, platform engineering, and people leadership, with a strong emphasis on hands-on development, agent orchestration, and enterprise storytelling.

The candidate will lead a team of AI engineers while also actively contributing to building AI-driven developer lifecycle tools (AI DLC) and enhancing Provider Fee Schedule platforms.

What Success Looks Like

• Scalable, production-ready agentic AI ecosystem
• High-performing, innovation-driven engineering team
• Measurable improvements in SDLC through AI
• Solid alignment between AI initiatives and business outcomes
• Recognized AI leadership within the organization

Primary Responsibilities:

• Technical Leadership & Delivery
  • Deliver agentic AI platforms (including agent-of-agents systems)
  • Build and scale intelligent systems using LLM ecosystems (One of them: OpenAI, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, Anthropic)
  • Develop and deploy AI agents into production, including:
    • Monitoring
    • Performance tuning
    • Observability
    • Drive development of AI Developer Lifecycle (AI DLC) tools and frameworks
    • Optimize existing SDLC processes using AI-driven automation and agents
• Team Leadership
  • Lead and mentor a team of 15-30 AI/Agentic engineers
  • Oversee:
    • Deliverables
    • Training and upskilling
    • Performance and growth
    • Foster a culture of innovation, experimentation, and continuous learning
• Program & Execution Management
  • Drive:
    • PI Planning (Program Increment Planning)
    • Work breakdown structures
    • Resource planning and scheduling
    • Manage budgets, forecasting, and timelines
    • Present bi-weekly status reports to leadership
    • Ensure alignment with enterprise goals and roadmaps
• Stakeholder & Business Engagement
  • Collaborate with:
    • Product
    • Business stakeholders
    • Capability teams
    • Gather and refine requirements, manage backlog, and drive prioritization
    • Resolve cross-functional challenges across engineering, infrastructure, and business teams
    • Actively contribute in business and product discussions with strong technical perspective
• Thought Leadership & Evangelism
  • Stay ahead of industry trends in AI, LLMs, and agentic systems
  • Create compelling AI success stories and narratives for enterprise leadership
  • Represent the organization in internal/external forums
  • Lead and organize AI hackathons
  • Encourage innovation and reward team contributions
• 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:

• 20+ years of experience in software/product engineering
• 2+ years of recent hands-on experience in AI/Agentic systems
• Must be willing to:
  • Work in 2 PM - 11 PM IST shift
  • Travel occasionally (India & US)
  • Join on a short notice period
• Proven solid problem-solving mindset with ability to navigate ambiguity
• Solid hands-on experience with:
• Python
• FastAPI
• Deep expertise in LLM platforms:
  • One of them: OpenAI, Gemini, Claude, Anthropic, Copilot
• Experience with:
  • Agentic architectures (multi-agent / agent-of-agents systems)
  • MCP servers, ADK toolkits (especially for Gemini ecosystem)
  • Building intelligent dashboards for agent monitoring
• Solid understanding of:
  • AI system observability, performance tuning, and lifecycle management
  • AI-driven SDLC / AI DLC frameworks
  • Proven experience deploying AI systems into production environments

Preferred Qualifications:

• Proven exposure to healthcare systems, specifically:
• Proven provider platforms
• Proven fee schedules / pricing systems (preferred but not mandatory)

Leadership & Execution

• Proven experience leading 15-30 member engineering teams
• Solid program management capabilities:
  • Budgeting
  • Forecasting
  • Roadmapping
  • Ability to operate at both:
  • Strategic level (vision, roadmap)
  • Tactical level (hands-on execution)

Communication & Executive Presence

• Exceptional communication and storytelling skills
• Ability to:
  • Present complex AI concepts to non-technical stakeholders
  • Influence senior leadership
  • Solid written and verbal communication
  • High executive presence and stakeholder confidence

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.