Director AI or ML Engineering Remote Nationwide or Office-Based in MN or DC

Requisition Number: 2383599
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.
The Optum Insight Engineering team is seeking a Director of AI/ML Engineering to define and execute the strategic roadmap for LLM engineering, generative AI systems, and agentic workflows. In this role, you will lead and mentor a high-performing engineering organization, drive strategic AI adoption and integration across teams, champion ethical AI governance, and architect scalable multi-cloud AI solutions spanning AWS and Azure alongside core .NET/C# services to automate complex healthcare processes and deliver high-impact enterprise business value.
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:

• Define and execute the strategic roadmap for LLM engineering, generative AI systems, and agentic workflows that automate complex enterprise business processes
• Strategically leverage AI to solve complex organizational challenges, unlock new business opportunities, and deliver tangible business value
• Integrate enterprise AI tools, establish clear AI goals in team development plans, and align hiring with core AI competencies while actively removing barriers to accelerate adoption
• Champion the ethical use of AI by embedding transparency, fairness, accountability, and governance throughout the entire AI lifecycle
• Lead, mentor, and grow an engineering organization of direct reports, including AI/ML engineers, software developers, data engineering and MLOps specialists
• Oversee the architectural design of scalable AI solutions, ensuring seamless integration between AWS and Azure cloud environments and core .NET/C# services
• Drive the adoption and refinement of autonomous agent frameworks, multi-agent coordination, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and model fine-tuning pipelines
• Establish operational best practices for model monitoring, latency optimization, cost management, and reliable deployment of production-grade AI solution

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, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, or a related technical field, or equivalent technical software/AI engineering experience
• 5+ years of advanced proficiency in C# and .NET development
• 4+ years of technical leadership or management experience
• 3+ years of experience in software engineering and AI/ML
• 3+ years of multi-cloud architectural experience spanning both AWS and Azure
• Experience managing teams of 10+ people
• Experience designing and deploying LLM architectures, prompt engineering strategies, and agentic workflows in production environments
• Experience leading and managing Data Engineering teams
• Knowledge of medical coding and clinical documentation improvement

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with modern orchestration and vector database tools such as Semantic Kernel, LangChain, or LlamaIndex.
• Familiarity with MLOps best practices, model monitoring, CI/CD pipelines, and cost management for LLM deployments
• Proven track record of building high-morale engineering teams, conducting performance management, and scaling agile development processes
• Demonstrated success in driving strategic AI adoption, setting enterprise alignment goals, and establishing responsible AI governance frameworks

*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 $176,700 - $302,900 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.