Lead AI / ML Engineer - Remote or Minneapolis, MN

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 talented peers, comprehensive benefits and career development opportunities. Come make an impact on the communities we serve as you help us advance health equity on a global scale. Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

Step into a technical leadership role where your work directly impacts lives. As a driving force behind model deployment and productization, you'll lead a team of ML engineers building scalable, high-performance AI systems that power real-world healthcare solutions. Collaborate across disciplines to turn cutting-edge research into production-ready tools, mentor top talent, and push the boundaries of innovation in NLP, Gen AI and Agentic AI systems. If you're passionate about engineering excellence and want to make a meaningful difference through AI, this is your moment.

You'll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely

• from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges.

Primary Responsibilities :

Design, develop, and deploy AI-powered solutions using no-code, low-code, and advanced platforms, translating business needs into scalable applications that enhance products, workflows and decision-making

Partner with product managers, data scientists, platform engineers, and business stakeholders to translate business requirements into scalable machine learning systems and ensure alignment across engineering, product, and operations teams

Champion best practices in software engineering, including code reviews, testing, CI / CD, and observability. Drive architectural decisions and contribute to long-term technical strategy for AI / ML systems

Own the full lifecycle of AI / ML initiatives-from problem definition and data exploration to model development, deployment, and monitoring. Define project scope, success metrics, and timelines in collaboration with cross-functional teams and ensure timely delivery of high-quality solutions by managing technical execution, risk mitigation, and stakeholder communication

Lead ML Engineers who are responsible for coding and developing software that deploys machine learning models, agents and prompts into production environments. This includes ensuring scalability, reliability and performance of deployed models. Mentor and guide junior engineers and peers, fostering a culture of continuous learning, technical rigor, and ownership

Stay ahead of the curve on emerging AI / ML technologies, tools, and research, and evaluate their applicability to business problems. Embrace and promote a culture of innovation through rapid iteration, experimentation and data driven decision-making

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 :

BS / MS in Computer Science or related majors

7+ years of experience building large scale AI / ML systems on cloud

4+ years of experience working with various AI / ML infrastructure, tools and platforms across the full stack of AI / ML technology

4+ years of experience working with Python with strong CS fundamentals with expertise in distributed systems and programming languages

4+ years if working experience in GCP, Azure or AWS platforms. GCP is preferred.

1+ years of experience building AI Agents and solutions leveraging LLMs

Preferred Qualifications

Proven track record of leading technical projects from start to finish working with a cross functional team

Solid communication skills with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to diverse audiences

Bias for Action

Passion for innovation and staying current with emerging AI / ML trends, including GenAI and LLMs

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 $110,200 to $188,800 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 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.

UnitedHealth Group is 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 is a drug - free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment.

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