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 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.

As a Lead AI/ML Engineer within our Musculoskeletal (MSK) team, you will drive end-to-end delivery, operational stability, and AI-enabled transformation across the MSK platform. You will provide onshore engineering and people leadership for five agile scrum teams, ensuring strong technical governance, business alignment, and execution of critical initiatives including Duals onboarding, CMS interoperability, platform modernization, and regulatory compliance. In this role, you will spearhead advanced AI implementation for Therapy and SPJ, enabling workflow automation, improved data-driven decision-making, and highly scalable operations. Utilizing technologies like .NET (C#), Angular, and advanced AI/ML capabilities, you will lead a dedicated team of engineers in creating innovative, reliable, and high-impact health technology solutions.

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:

• Directly manage, mentor, and develop a team of software engineers, including responsibility for conducting performance evaluations, setting clear professional development goals, and supporting career growth
• Provide onshore people and technical leadership, guidance, and work prioritization across MSK initiatives and production support for five scrum teams to drive high-quality end-to-end delivery
• Establish clear engineering governance, ownership, and tracking models for technical incidents and work intake
• Drive AI strategy and implementation across Therapy and SPJ workflows, enabling workflow automation, improved decision-making, and scalable operations
• Partner closely with business stakeholders to align software development priorities with key organizational outcomes
• Oversee vendor delivery partners, fostering accountability, enhancing code quality, and accelerating development velocity
• Ensure strict compliance of platform deliverables with CMS and other relevant healthcare regulatory requirements
• Advance modernization efforts to mitigate technical risk, reduce platform complexity, and maximize operational stability
• Review the work of other engineers, develop innovative architectural approaches, and serve as a technical expert and mentor
• Design, develop, and deploy AI-powered solutions using enterprise-approved tools to address complex business challenges, emphasizing the responsible and ethical use of AI
• Integrate enterprise-approved AI tools into development workflows, establishing AI goals in development plans and actively removing technical barriers to accelerate team adoption

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 or 4+ years of equivalent software engineering or technical leadership experience in lieu of a degree
• 4+ years of direct people management and team leadership experience, with formal responsibility for direct reports, performance management, and career development
• 4+ years of hands-on software development experience with .NET (C#) and modern application development frameworks
• 3+ years of experience working in Agile/Scrum environments with direct ownership of end-to-end technical delivery
• 3+ years of experience in stakeholder management, with a proven ability to translate complex business requirements into high-quality technical delivery plans
• 2+ years of experience building, deploying, and supporting modern front-end web applications using Angular
• 2+ years of experience managing production support, incident management, and work prioritization processes
• 2+ years of experience managing, collaborating with, or overseeing distributed and vendor-led technical teams
• 1+ years of experience leading, designing, or implementing AI, machine learning, or automation initiatives and successfully integrating them into operational business workflows

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience deploying machine learning models and algorithms in production environments
• Experience working with AI/ML techniques such as natural language processing (NLP), natural language understanding (NLU), semantic understanding, intent classification, computer vision, deep learning, or automatic speech recognition (ASR)
• Experience working with large-scale computing frameworks and data analysis systems
• Experience with healthcare regulatory standards, CMS interoperability compliance, or Duals onboarding
• Experience with modernizing legacy platform architectures and migrating software to cloud-native solutions
• Proven excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to convey complex analytical results and technical concepts to senior leadership and non-technical stakeholders

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  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 $145,500 - $249,500 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 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.

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