Lead AI/ML Engineer

About the role

Optum Tech, part of UnitedHealth Group, is hiring a Lead AI/ML Engineer in Minneapolis, MN or Chicago, IL. The Platform, AI & Integration (PAII) team designs, delivers and integrates AI/ML capabilities across the Cloud Platform. You will act as a primary technical and people leader, driving architecture, engineering standards and deployment of machine learning models, intelligent services and automation frameworks into core platform operations.

Key responsibilities

• Provide technical and people leadership for the PAII engineering team, setting engineering standards, best practices and architectural direction
• Design, develop and deploy AI-powered solutions, emphasizing responsible use of AI
• Own end-to-end AI/ML model development, validation and production deployment
• Integrate AI/ML capabilities with cloud platform services, infrastructure and data pipelines
• Drive the platform AI roadmap, architecture decisions and MLOps practices
• Evaluate emerging trends and use enterprise-approved AI tools to streamline workflows
• Mentor engineers on AI/ML tooling, MLOps and integration patterns
• Lead collaboration with Platform, Data and Security teams

Required profile

• 7+ years of software, data or machine learning engineering experience
• 4+ years designing, training, deploying and maintaining AI/ML models in production
• 3+ years of technical or people leadership experience
• 3+ years with cloud platforms (Azure, AWS or GCP) and cloud-native architecture
• 2+ years implementing MLOps, automated CI/CD pipelines and model monitoring/validation

Required skills

• Python and standard ML frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow or scikit-learn)
• Preferred: generative AI, LLMs, prompt engineering, RAG, Docker, Kubernetes, Kafka, microservices and RESTful APIs
• Preferred: AI governance, model security and responsible AI in a healthcare setting

What we offer

• Salary range of $145,500 - $249,500 annually for full-time employment
• Comprehensive benefits package, incentive and recognition programs
• Equity stock purchase and 401k contribution (subject to eligibility)