Lead Software Engineer

Requisition Number: 2353018
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 to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together.
We are seeking a highly skilled principal engineer focused on Digital, AI & Data Transformation. Engineer will lead the design, development, and implementation of next-generation Optum Bank's Digital, data and AI systems. This role combines deep hands-on engineering with strategic architecture, focusing on modern data transformation pipelines, small language models (SLMs), AI frameworks, and AI/ML solutions such as fraud detection, lending underwriting models, Operational Agents, and others.
The ideal candidate will influence enterprise-wide engineering practices, using tools like Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Codex, and AI-driven SDLC automation to significantly elevate developer productivity, velocity, code quality, and application modernization.
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:
Back-End Data Engineering, AI and Digital Application Development

• Principal Engineer and lead end-to-end data transformation pipelines, including ingestion, normalization, quality, feature engineering, and real-time processing
• Design and implement Small Language Models (SLMs) optimized for domain-specific tasks such as customer interactions, document understanding, or process automation
• Build and maintain AI frameworks enabling scalable training, inference, experiment tracking, observability, and model governance
• Design, Develop and deploy AI Agents capable of orchestration, reasoning, planning, and workflow automation across enterprise systems
• Develop and operationalize AI/ML models including:
  • Fraud detection (transaction scoring, anomaly detection)
  • Lending underwriting (risk modeling, creditworthiness, scoring pipelines)
  • Personalization, recommendation, NLP, forecasting, and more.

Technical Leadership & Hands-On Engineering

• Lead technical design sessions, conduct POCs, and build reference architectures and reusable frameworks
• Write high-quality, production-grade code in languages such as Python, Java, Scala, or TypeScript
• Partner with data engineering teams to optimize data lakehouse, distributed computing, and feature engineering architectures
• Evaluate emerging AI/ML technologies and drive adoption of best-fit solutions

AI-Driven Developer Productivity

• Leverage Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, and similar AI-assisted development tools to:
  • Increase developer velocity
  • Improve code quality and consistency
  • Automate documentation, testing, and code review workflows
  • Reduce time-to-market for complex transformation initiatives
• Evangelize AI-powered engineering patterns and train teams on effective usage

Application Modernization & Transformation

• Guide modernization of legacy systems into cloud-native, AI-native applications
• Define patterns for integrating AI agents, LLMs, and SLMs into operational applications and microservices
• Collaborate with platform teams to ensure efficient infrastructure, MLOps, CI/CD, and model deployment workflows

Governance, Risk & Compliance

• Ensure responsible AI practices including fairness, explainability, model monitoring, ethics, and regulatory alignment (e.g., lending compliance)
• Implement robust evaluation and drift detection frameworks

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Influence senior leaders, product teams, and engineering stakeholders on AI strategy and roadmap
• Act as technical mentor and thought leader across AI and data domains

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:

• 8+ years in software engineering, data engineering, or machine learning
• 3+ years designing large-scale data transformation or AI / ML Implementations
• Hands-on experience with:
  • Development skills in Java, .Net, SQL Server / Oracle, Databrick, Power BI
  • AI/ML frameworks: PyTorch, TensorFlow, Scikit-learn
  • LLMs & SLMs: Llama models, Claude, custom SLM training
  • Data & compute: Spark, Databricks, Flink, Kafka, lakehouse architectures
  • Cloud platforms: Azure, AWS, or GCP
• Experience building or integrating:
  • AI Agents
  • Vector databases (FAISS, Pinecone, Chroma)
  • Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems
• Solid skills in Python, SQL, and distributed systems

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience building enterprise-grade AI platforms or ML Ops frameworks
• Expertise in fraud, risk, underwriting, or financial modeling
• Hands-on experience with AI coding tools (Claude Code, Copilot, Codex)

Soft Skills:

• Solid communication and storytelling, capable of influencing architecture decisions
• Ability to simplify complex concepts for non-technical stakeholders
• Execution-driven, collaborative mindset with a focus on business outcomes

*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 $112,700 to $193,200 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.