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.

Optum.ai is an AI-native healthcare consulting and engineering organization within Optum Insight. Our mission is to commercialize AI innovations developed across UnitedHealth Group and deliver transformative AI solutions to customers across the Payor, Provider and Life Sciences sectors.

This is not a traditional Sales Engineering or pre-sales role. You will be a hands-on, customer-facing AI builder responsible for shaping opportunities, rapidly prototyping solutions, defining architectures, and helping customers envision and adopt AI solutions. We are looking for builders who can move seamlessly between executive conversations, whiteboarding architectures, and writing code.

As a Principal AI Solution Lead, you will own the technical strategy for strategic pursuits, mentor other Solution Leads and partner with GTM and Delivery to commercialize AI 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:

• Partner with GTM and Industry Leaders to shape strategic pursuits across Payor, Provider and Life Sciences
• Lead customer discovery workshops, executive presentations and technical solutioning sessions
• Track and manage the technical opportunity pipeline and support pursuit prioritization
• Mentor Solution Leads and establish engineering standards across strategic pursuits
• Design end-to-end AI/GenAI solution architectures
• Rapidly prototype proofs-of-value, demos and AI applications
• Support RFP/RFI responses, effort estimation and solution strategy
• Partner with AI Engineering & Delivery for seamless implementation handoff
• Participate in selective delivery rotations to remain close to production implementations

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:

• Solid hands-on AI/ML/GenAI engineering experience
• Experience leading strategic AI solutioning or architecture initiatives
• Experience with Python, LLMs, RAG, AI agents and modern AI frameworks
• Customer-facing experience leading workshops and executive discussions
• Healthcare experience across Payor, Provider and/or Life Sciences
• Solid product and design sensibility with an eye for elegant user experiences
• Demonstrated ability to rapidly prototype and iterate using AI-assisted software engineering workflows
• Proven builder mindset with a bias for action, experimentation and ownership

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Claude Code or similar AI-assisted development tools
• Experience building customer-facing AI demonstrations and accelerators
• Startup, innovation lab or product engineering experience
• Experience creating reusable AI assets and solution patterns

Why Join Optum.ai

Help build one of healthcare's first AI-native consulting and engineering organizations. Work directly with healthcare leaders, solve meaningful problems, and shape the future of AI in healthcare.

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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 $164,600 - $282,200 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.

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