Director AI/ML Engineering

UnitedHealth Group; Chennai District; On-site; INR 2,800,000 - 4,200,000; Full time

Job summary

UnitedHealth Group’s Optum unit is seeking a senior leader to define and drive the enterprise Data & AI Platform Strategy. You will lead data engineering teams, build AI-ready foundations, and partner with Data Science to operationalize GenAI and Agentic AI across the organization.

The role emphasizes data governance, scalable cloud architectures, cost optimization, and a Data-as-a-Product operating model with clear ownership and SLAs.

Qualifications

• Extensive leadership in Data Engineering, Data Platforms or Enterprise Data Architecture.
• Experience implementing Data-as-a-Product frameworks and enterprise data strategies.
• Experience managing large-scale engineering orgs, budgets, vendors, and cloud spend.

Responsibilities

• Define and lead the enterprise Data & AI Platform Strategy for Analytics, ML, GenAI, and Agentic AI.
• Build AI-ready data foundations using semantic layers, metadata management, and governance.
• Lead data engineering teams responsible for ingestion, pipelines, and real-time data solutions.
• Establish engineering standards and modernize legacy systems into cloud-native architectures.
• Operate with Data Science and AI teams to operationalize ML, GenAI, and Agentic AI.
• Drive data governance, data quality, lineage, privacy, and compliance enterprise-wide.
• Promote a Data-as-a-Product operating model with clear ownership and SLAs.

Skills

Data leadership

Data platforms

AI/ML platforms

Enterprise data architecture

Data governance

Cloud cost optimization

MLOps

GenAI / Agentic AI

Job description

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.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Define and lead the enterprise Data & AI Platform Strategy, ensuring scalable, secure, resilient, and cost-efficient platforms for Analytics, ML, GenAI, and Agentic AI
• Build AI-ready data foundations using semantic layers, metadata management, data lineage, knowledge graphs, and governance frameworks
• Lead data engineering teams responsible for ingestion, transformation, storage, pipelines, APIs, data products, and real-time data solutions
• Establish engineering standards, reusable frameworks, and drive modernization of legacy systems into cloud-native architectures
• Partner with Data Science and AI teams to operationalize ML, GenAI, and Agentic AI solutions
• Enable capabilities such as feature stores, vector databases, embeddings, RAG, model deployment, monitoring, observability, explainability, and Responsible AI
• Drive enterprise-wide data governance, including data quality, stewardship, cataloging, lineage, master data management, privacy, and compliance
• Govern both AI training datasets and AI-generated outputs
• Promote a Data-as-a-Product operating model with defined ownership, SLAs, and quality standards
• Prioritize platform and data initiatives based on business value, AI readiness, and measurable outcomes
• Evaluate and implement emerging technologies including GenAI, Agentic AI, Data Fabric, Semantic Layers, Knowledge Graphs, and Intelligent Automation
• Lead proofs of concept and scale successful innovations across the enterprise
• Partner with business, product, analytics, and technology leaders to align platform investments with strategic objectives
• Present technology strategy and roadmap recommendations to executive leadership
• Manage budgets, vendors, cloud spend, operational performance, and platform reliability
• Establish KPIs for performance, availability, productivity, automation, and cost optimization
• Build, mentor, and develop high-performing Data & AI engineering teams
• Foster innovation, accountability, continuous learning, talent development, and career growth
• Comply with all applicable Company policies, procedures, and business directives, changes including those relating to work location, team assignments, work schedules, and flexible work arrangements

Required Qualifications:

• Extensive leadership experience in Data Engineering, Data Platforms, AI/ML Platforms, or Enterprise Data Architecture
• Experience implementing Data-as-a-Product frameworks and enterprise data strategies
• Experience managing large-scale engineering organizations, budgets, vendors, and cloud cost optimization initiatives
• Solid expertise in cloud-based data ecosystems and modern data platform architectures
• Deep knowledge of data engineering concepts including data pipelines, APIs, data products, streaming, and real-time processing
• Hands-on understanding of AI/ML operationalization, including:
  • MLOps
  • GenAI
  • Agentic AI
  • Vector Databases
  • RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)
  • Embeddings
  • Model Deployment & Monitoring