VP 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.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Enterprise AI Strategy & Vision
  • Define and champion the enterprise-wide AI, Agentic AI, and Intelligent Systems strategy aligned to business objectives and market opportunities
  • Influence executive leadership on long-term AI investments, operating models, platform modernization, and innovation priorities
  • Build a multi-year roadmap for AI-enabled transformation across healthcare payer, provider, pharmacy, life sciences, and emerging healthcare ecosystems
  • Establish AI as a strategic differentiator driving growth, productivity, experience modernization, and business outcomes
  • Drive organizational readiness for the evolution from predictive AI to autonomous and agentic systems
• Executive Client Leadership & Strategic Partnerships
  • Serve as the executive sponsor for strategic client relationships, building trusted partnerships with CIOs, CTOs, CDAOs, CAIOs, CMIOs, and business executives
  • Lead AI transformation conversations with C-suite stakeholders, helping clients define their AI maturity roadmap and future-state operating model
  • Shape large strategic deals, AI consulting engagements, transformation programs, and platform modernization initiatives
  • Represent the organization in executive steering committees, innovation councils, strategic reviews, and client board-level discussions
  • Drive revenue growth through expansion of AI-led services, platforms, and innovation partnerships
• Agentic AI & Emerging Technologies Leadership
  • Establish the vision and governance framework for Agentic AI adoption across healthcare and life sciences
  • Drive innovation in multi-agent systems, autonomous workflow orchestration, AI agents and digital workforce, LLM-powered decision systems, cognitive automation, AI copilots, AI-driven knowledge systems, and human-in-the-loop intelligence platforms
  • Lead responsible deployment of advanced AI capabilities while ensuring governance, transparency, security, and compliance
• Thought Leadership & Market Presence
  • Act as an external thought leader representing the organization across industry forums, conferences, client briefings, and analyst interactions
  • Publish white papers, executive viewpoints, and innovation frameworks related to AI, Agentic AI, Healthcare AI, and Digital Transformation
  • Build relationships with technology partners including Microsoft, Google Cloud, AWS, NVIDIA, OpenAI, Anthropic, and healthcare technology providers
  • Engage with industry analysts and advisory firms to strengthen market positioning and recognition
• Business Growth & Commercial Leadership
  • Partner with sales and account leadership to drive strategic growth and market expansion
  • Sponsor large AI pursuits, executive client presentations, proposal reviews, and solution strategy workshops
  • Develop differentiated AI offerings and accelerators that create competitive advantage
  • Own portfolio performance including revenue growth, margin optimization, delivery health, client satisfaction, and strategic account expansion
  • Contribute directly to annual operating plans, investment strategies, and business growth targets
• Executive People Leadership
  • Build and lead a world-class AI organization comprising architects, engineering leaders, data scientists, product leaders, and domain experts
  • Develop future leaders and strengthen succession pipelines
  • Foster a culture of innovation, experimentation, engineering excellence, and continuous learning
  • Create strategic workforce plans aligned with evolving AI capabilities and market demands

  • Champion diversity, inclusion, and leadership development across global teams

• 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:

• Undergraduate degree or equivalent experience
• 18+ years of progressive leadership experience in AI, data, digital transformation, engineering, or technology consulting
• Proven experience managing multi-million-dollar P&L, strategic programs, and global delivery organizations
• Extensive executive engagement experience with C-suite stakeholders
• Solid healthcare or life sciences industry experience
• Demonstrated success leading large-scale AI organizations and portfolios with executive accountability
• Proven deep expertise in AI engineering, Generative AI, Agentic AI, cloud-native architectures, and enterprise-scale platform delivery

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience establishing AI Centers of Excellence and enterprise AI governance frameworks
• Experience working with major cloud ecosystems including Azure, AWS, and GCP
• Proven recognized industry thought leader with conference speaking, publications, patents, or market-facing influence
• Demonstrated success leading AI-driven business transformation at enterprise scale

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.