Optum Tech is a global leader in health care innovation. Our teams develop cutting-edge solutions that help people live healthier lives and help make the health system work better for everyone. From advanced data analytics and AI to cybersecurity, we use innovative approaches to solve some of health care's most complex challenges. Your contributions here have the potential to change lives. Ready to build the next breakthrough? Join us in making healthcare work better for everyone through people-led, responsible AI while Caring. Connecting. Growing together.
The Optum Health Technology team is seeking a Senior AI/ML Engineer with a solid data science background to build and scale cutting-edge AI-powered solutions that transform value-based care delivery. In this role, you will lead the design, development, statistical analysis, and enterprise deployment of machine learning models, generative AI architectures, predictive analytics, and intelligent automations that directly improve patient health outcomes and operational efficiency. You will collaborate closely with software engineers, data scientists, data architects, product managers, and clinical leaders to translate complex clinical data into actionable intelligence, streamline healthcare workflows, empower clinical decision-making, and deliver scalable value across the care continuum.
You'll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely * from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges. For all hires in the Minneapolis or Washington, D.C. area, you will be required to work in the office a minimum of four days per week.
Primary Responsibilities:
- Design, develop, and deploy AI-powered solutions to address complex healthcare challenges with an emphasis on the responsible and ethical use of AI
- Perform exploratory data analysis (EDA), feature engineering, statistical modeling, and hypothesis testing on large-scale clinical and healthcare datasets
- Leverage enterprise-approved AI tools and frameworks to streamline engineering workflows, automate repetitive tasks, and drive continuous process improvement
- Evaluate emerging AI/ML trends, foundational models, statistical techniques, and technical tools to inform architectural solution design and strategic innovation
- Build, optimize, and maintain production-grade machine learning pipelines and predictive models for data preprocessing, model training, evaluation, and monitoring
- Architect scalable microservices and APIs to integrate machine learning models and data science capabilities seamlessly into enterprise applications and clinical workflows
- Collaborate with cross-functional technical, data, and clinical teams to translate high-level business objectives into robust, secure, and performant solutions
- Implement MLOps best practices to ensure continuous integration, automated model evaluation, governance, model tracking, and reliable deployment at enterprise scale
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:
- 5+ years of software engineering, machine learning engineering, or data science experience in a production enterprise environment
- 3+ years of hands-on experience designing, statistical modeling, training, evaluating, and deploying machine learning or deep learning models in production
- 3+ years of proficiency with Python and core AI/ML and data science libraries (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, scikit-learn, Pandas, NumPy, SciPy)
- 2+ years of experience with cloud platform infrastructure (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and cloud-native AI/ML/data services (e.g., SageMaker, Azure ML, Vertex AI)
- 2+ years of experience in statistical analysis, predictive modeling, hypothesis testing, and advanced data manipulation on complex datasets
- 2+ years of experience implementing MLOps, CI/CD pipelines, containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), and model monitoring/governance frameworks
Preferred Qualifications:
- Master's or Bachelor's degree in Data Science, Computer Science, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, or a related quantitative field
- Experience working with Large Language Models (LLMs), Generative AI architectures, prompt engineering, and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) frameworks
- Proven track record of leveraging modern AI coding tools and automation frameworks to accelerate software and data science delivery
- Background in healthcare technology, clinical data standards (FHIR, HL7), or working within highly regulated data compliance environments (HIPAA, HITRUST)
- Experience with distributed data processing systems and analytics platforms such as Apache Spark, Databricks, or Snowflake
*All employees working remotely will be required to adhere to UnitedHealth Group's Telecommuter Policy.
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 $120,100 - $214,500 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 help make the health system work better for everyone. Together, we are shaping the future of healthcare by harnessing technology and innovation to make care simpler to navigate, more affordable and more connected for the people we serve. We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone feels welcomed, valued, heard and respected, empowering people to bring their authentic selves to work and strengthening our collective impact through diverse talents, backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.
UnitedHealth Group and its affiliated brands are 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 and its affiliated brands are a drug-free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment.
#optumtechpj
Skills Required
- 5+ years of software engineering, machine learning engineering, or data science experience in a production enterprise environment
- 3+ years of hands-on experience designing, statistically modeling, training, evaluating, and deploying machine learning or deep learning models in production
- 3+ years of proficiency with Python and AI/ML and data science libraries including PyTorch, TensorFlow, scikit-learn, Pandas, NumPy, and SciPy
- 2+ years of experience with AWS, Azure, or GCP and cloud-native AI/ML/data services
- 2+ years of experience in statistical analysis, predictive modeling, hypothesis testing, and advanced data manipulation
- 2+ years of experience implementing MLOps, CI/CD pipelines, containerization with Docker and Kubernetes, and model monitoring or governance frameworks
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Data Science, Computer Science, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, or a related quantitative field
- Experience with Large Language Models, Generative AI architectures, prompt engineering, and Retrieval-Augmented Generation frameworks
- Experience leveraging modern AI coding tools and automation frameworks
- Healthcare technology experience, clinical data standards such as FHIR or HL7, or regulated data compliance experience such as HIPAA or HITRUST
- Experience with Apache Spark, Databricks, or Snowflake
Optum Compensation & Benefits Highlights
-
Leave & Time Off Breadth — Paid time off is often regarded as generous, with meaningful accrual and flexibility to use it. While practices can vary by team, the overall time-off offering stands out as a relative strength.
-
Retirement Support — A 401(k) plan with employer matching is available and generally well-regarded for supporting long-term savings. It remains valuable, though candidates should verify the current match formula.
-
Parental & Family Support — Programs such as parental leave, family medical leave, and adoption assistance are included as notable elements of the total rewards package. These resources can meaningfully support work-life balance when applicable to the role and location.
Optum Insights
What We Do
Optum, part of the UnitedHealth Group family of businesses, 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 inclusion, talented peers, comprehensive benefits and career development opportunities. Come make an impact on the communities we serve as you help us advance health optimization on a global scale. Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together. At Optum, we support your well-being with an understanding team, extensive benefits and rewarding opportunities. By joining us, you’ll have the resources to drive system transformation while we help you take care of your future. We recognize the power of connection to drive change, improve efficiency and make a difference in health care. Join a team where your skills and ideas can make an impact and where collaboration is key to creating technology that produces healthier outcomes.
Gallery
Optum Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
Optum has three workplace models that balance the needs of the business and the responsibilities of each role. These models, core on‑site (5 days/week), hybrid (4 days/week) and telecommute or fully remote, vary by country, role and location.