Sr AI / ML Engineer

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.

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 maintain AI agent-based automation for developer workflows across the software development lifecycle

Build backend services and agents in C# / .NET that can interpret developer tasks and autonomously perform actions (e.g., code generation helpers, PR triage, issue routing, test automation, environment provisioning, deployment tasks)

Integrate AI agents with GitHub Apps and GitHub Actions to automate developer workflows such as PR labeling / assignment, status checks, auto-merging gates, issue triage, and CI / CD orchestration

Provision and manage infrastructure in Azure using Terraform; deploy and operate Kubernetes clusters (AKS) and containerized services with Docker; implement IaC patterns and GitOps workflows

Implement OpenAI-based capabilities, including prompt design, guardrails, cost controls, and monitoring; develop prompts and manage context for robust agent behavior

Design and implement Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines using Elasticsearch to index and search developer documentation, code corpora, and runtime data to support AI agents

Lead AI model training activities, including data collection / labeling, fine-tuning or adaptation, versioning, evaluation, and integration with OpenAI or Azure OpenAI services

Drive observability and reliability for automation (metrics, logs, tracing, dashboards) using tools like Prometheus, Grafana, and Application Insights; implement alerting and SLIs

Ensure security and compliance in automation (secrets management with Azure Key Vault, RBAC, encryption, audit trails, and secure coding practices)

Collaborate with product, platform, and developer experience teams to translate requests into technical designs; contribute to architectural decisions and maintain comprehensive documentation

Deliver internal demos, provide technical leadership, perform code reviews, and mentor junior engineers

Stay current with AI / ML trends and cloud-native technologies; evaluate new tools, libraries, and approaches to improve automation

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 :

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience)

5+ years of professional software development experience, with strong proficiency in C# and .NET for backend services

2+ years experience with Azure or AWS or GCP. and Terraform for cloud infrastructure provisioning

2+ years experience with Kubernetes and Docker; familiarity with containerized microservices, deployment manifests, and container orchestration

Solid experience with relational databases, including SQL Server or PostgreSQL, plus Elasticsearch for search / indexing

Experience with OpenAI or similar LLM APIs; hands-on prompt engineering, managing prompts, guardrails, and cost controls

Experience with AI model training pipelines (data collection / labeling, fine-tuning / adaptation, evaluation) and integrating trained models into production workflows

Knowledge of security best practices for cloud-native apps, secrets management, and data privacy

Preferred Qualifications :

Certification in cloud or container technologies (e.g., Azure : AZ-204 / AZ-400, Kubernetes CKAs / CKADs, Terraform Associate)

Experience with Azure OpenAI Service or other OpenAI alternatives; familiarity with cost management for AI workloads

Experience with observability and SRE practices, including distributed tracing and incident response

Experience contributing to developer tools or developer experience products

Git / GitHub / GitHub Apps experience; building or consuming automations, apps, or actions to integrate with development workflows

Excellent problem-solving, communication, and collaboration skills; ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams

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 $89,900 to $160,600 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.