Principal AI/ML Engineer - Remote

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 diversity and inclusion, 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.

Optum AI is chartered to drive value on high impact enterprise AI problems, democratize AI through the enterprise ML platform, accelerate the adoption of Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) and drive Responsible AI.

Projecting to deliver $8.4B of benefit value over the next 5 years through these efforts as well as reduce risk through safe, accurate, and unbiased AI, this is a key focus of the enterprise.

As the Principal AI / ML Engineer, you will be responsible for the development and execution of the vision for enabling the design and deployment of high impact enterprise AI problems, including problems related to disease prediction and identification, patient engagement, and optimization of clinical trials using both structured and unstructured (text) data.

As a thought leader, you will establish guidance on how to develop, execute, and deploy AI models in compliance with enterprise standards.

As a subject matter expert, you will work closely with other engineering teams and leaders to drive the adoption of quality and efficiency standards.

You’ll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely

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

Primary Responsibilities :

• Develop and execute the vision for data science platforms, and reusable code that will be used by thousands of other AI / ML engineers in UHG
• Develop novel machine learning models for prediction of health outcomes and improved care, engagement models, and other applications from both structured and unstructured data
• Implement machine learning algorithms from the literature and evaluate their performance
• Stay up to date with latest technologies and literature recommending solutions to improve business goals
• Mentor data scientists, AI / ML scientists, and engineers to ensure the delivery of the AI / ML projects, and provide guidance on how to best use specific tools or technologies to achieve the desired results
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to determine applicability of AI to business problems
• Closely collaborate with the Responsible Use of AI (RUAI) team to ensure that the delivered solutions are compliant with the company policies and standards
• Write both internal and external documentation of the novel algorithms, including patents and publications in machine learning and other scientific conferences and journals

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 :

• PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related field and 5+ years industry experience in a hands-on technical role (ideally focusing an AI / ML solutions)
• Demonstrated experience leading and implementing AI / ML projects from ideation, development, evaluation, and delivery
• Hands-on experience in implementing and training machine learning algorithms and statistical analysis, including for example non-parametric tests, mixed linear models, modern supervised and unsupervised machine learning algorithms such as SVM, random forest, PCA, t-SNE, clustering, and neural networks
• Proven experience in Python and its libraries, including numpy, pytorch / tensorflow, pandas, matplotlib or similar, etc.
• Demonstrated experience in Gen AI solution pipeline engineering, (e.g., RAG) and Large Language Modeling and Transformer Architectures (e.g., BERT, GPT, etc.)
• Proven presentation experience with the ability to explain complex AI / ML concept and results to technical and non-technical audiences
• Proven deep understanding of mathematical foundations of machine learning, including statistics, linear algebra, and computer science

Preferred Qualifications :

• Experience in healthcare (AI)
• Experience working with cross-functional and distributed teams in a global and diverse environment
• Experience in mentoring and coaching AI / ML talent
• Experience in establishing AI / ML best practices, standards, and ethics
• Demonstrated portfolio of AI / ML publications, patents, or awards
• Security and vulnerability management experience (package scans, remediation)
• Demonstrated familiarity with data versioning tools (Delta Lake, DVC, LakeFS, etc.)
• Experience with model observability tools for insights into the behavior, performance, and health of your deployed ML models (tracking, alerting, compliance monitoring, etc.)
• All employees working remotely will be required to adhere to UnitedHealth Group’s Telecommuter Policy.

California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Washington, Washington, D.C. Residents Only : The salary range for this role is $, to $, annually.

Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to local labor markets, education, work experience, certifications, etc.

UnitedHealth Group complies with all minimum wage laws as applicable. In addition to your salary, UnitedHealth Group offers benefits such as, a comprehensive benefits package, incentive and recognition programs, equity stock purchase and k contribution (all benefits are subject to eligibility requirements).

No matter where or when you begin a career with UnitedHealth Group, you’ll find a far-reaching choice of benefits and incentives.

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.

Diversity creates a healthier atmosphere : UnitedHealth Group is an Equal Employment Opportunity / Affirmative Action employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.

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