Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. UnitedHealth Group, through Optum Insight and Optum AI, improves the flow of health data and information to create a more connected healthcare system. The Lead AI/ML Engineer will design, build, deploy, and oversee scalable end-to-end AI/ML systems, including generative and agentic AI solutions, while driving architectural strategy, technical execution, and mentorship.
Responsibilities
- Lead and contribute to the design, hands-on implementation, and deployment of end-to-end AI/ML systems that enable the business to derive critical insights from patient data in a scalable, reliable, and cost-effective manner
- Partner with product managers, data scientists, software engineers, and business stakeholders to translate business requirements into scalable AI systems
- Design, develop, and deploy AI-powered solutions to address complex business challenges with a solid emphasis on the responsible use of AI
- Leverage enterprise-approved and AI-assisted tools to streamline engineering workflows, automate routine tasks, conduct code reviews, perform testing, and drive continuous improvement
- Ensure the delivery of high-quality, maintainable, and efficient code and technical specifications, leading by example to deliver product quality the first time
- Drive architectural decisions and contribute to our long-term technical strategy for AI/ML systems, evaluating emerging trends and research to inform solution design
- Own the full lifecycle of AI/ML initiatives, from problem definition and data exploration to agent development, deployment, and active monitoring
- Define project scope, success metrics, and delivery milestones in collaboration with cross-functional teams, executing with solid engineering rigor through CI/CD, environment readiness, and quality gates
- Stay ahead of the curve on emerging AI/ML technologies, tools, and research, promoting a culture of innovation through rapid iteration, experimentation, and data-driven decision-making
- Act as a key technical resource and trusted advisor on complex or critical issues, actively reviewing the work of others and mentoring engineers to help them reach their full potential without direct administrative/HR management responsibilities
Skills
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, Mathematics, Statistics, or a related quantitative field, or 4+ years of equivalent software engineering experience in lieu of a degree
- 12+ years of experience in Software Engineering, Data Science, or Analytics, with at least 3+ years dedicated to AI/ML engineering or related fields
- 4+ years of experience in a team lead or technical leadership role (guiding technical projects, architectures, and mentoring engineers)
- 4+ years of hands-on Python programming experience
- 4+ years of hands-on experience in modern cloud infrastructure (e.g., AWS, Azure, or GCP)
- 1+ years of experience leveraging Large Language Models (LLMs) or developing generative AI solutions
- Experience designing and delivering at least two complete AI products from ideation to production/release
- Master's degree or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Data Science, AI, or a related field
- Hands-on experience working with Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
- Experience with healthcare data standards and interoperability protocols (e.g., FHIR, HL7, HIPAA compliance)
- Proven knowledge of CI/CD principles with experience designing and operating multiple production-grade pipelines
- Experience with the challenges of delivering and monitoring LLM-based cloud systems in a production environment
- Proficiency with GitHub and GitHub Actions, artifact and dependency management, containerization (Docker), and Infrastructure-as-Code (Terraform) to enable reliable, repeatable, and secure deployments
- Demonstrated passion for innovation, staying current with emerging AI/ML trends, and a solid bias for action
- Solid communication and presentation skills with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to diverse, non-technical audiences
Benefits
- Flexible remote work from anywhere within the U.S.
- Comprehensive benefits package
- Incentive and recognition programs
- Equity stock purchase
- 401k contribution
- Development for other roles you may be interested in
Company Overview