Distinguished AI Engineer

The Elevance Health Companies, Inc.; Indianapolis (IN); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Merit increases

Paid holidays

Paid Time Off

401(k) + match

Stock purchase plan

Life insurance

Job summary

Elevance Health is seeking a Distinguished AI Engineer to design, build, and scale enterprise AI solutions across machine learning, generative AI, and AI agents in a hybrid, in-office-1-day-per-week model in Indianapolis. The role demands hands-on leadership, architecture influence, and delivery across the AI development lifecycle.

Ideal candidates bring deep technical expertise and business acumen, with a track record of building reusable AI services at scale and integrating AI capabilities

Qualifications

• Requires a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
• 15+ years of software engineering and distributed systems experience, including leadership and architecture experience.
• Experience designing, developing, and operating production-grade software solutions in enterprise environments.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and scale enterprise AI solutions across ML, GenAI, and AI agents.
• Architect scalable, resilient AI systems using LLMs, distributed architectures, and event-driven patterns.
• Mentor engineers and influence technical direction across teams while delivering reusable AI services.

Skills

Machine learning

GenAI

AI agents

Education

Bachelor's degree in IT/CS/Engineering or related field

Tools

Python

Java

Job description

Anticipated End Date: 2026-09-04

Position Title: Distinguished AI Engineer

Location: This role requires associates to be in-office 1 day per week, fostering collaboration and connectivity, while providing flexibility to support productivity and work-life balance. This approach combines structured office engagement with the autonomy of virtual work, promoting a dynamic and adaptable workplace. Ideal candidates will be able to report to our Pulse Point location in Indianapolis, IN. Alternate locations may be considered if candidates reside within a commuting distance from an office. Please note that per our policy on hybrid/virtual work, candidates not within a reasonable commuting distance from the posting location(s) will not be considered for employment, unless an accommodation is granted as required by law.

The Distinguished AI Engineer is a highly experienced, hands-on AI individual contributor to design, build, and scale enterprise AI solutions across machine learning, generative AI, and AI agents. This role is for a senior technical expert who can directly develop production-grade AI capabilities while also influencing architecture, delivery models, and engineering practices across the organization. The ideal candidate combines deep technical expertise with strong business acumen and has a proven track record of building reusable AI services at scale. This is not a pure research or management role; we are looking for a hands‑on builder who thrives in complex enterprise environments and can help modernize how AI solutions are developed and deployed. The ideal candidate can also make sound buy, build, and integrate decisions across commercial and open‑source AI solutions, selecting the right approach based on business need, regulatory requirements, speed to value, and long‑term maintainability.

How you will make an impact

• Design, develop, and deploy enterprise AI solutions spanning traditional machine learning, generative AI, and agentic AI systems.
• Architect and deliver scalable, resilient AI solutions leveraging technologies such as agentic systems, large language models (LLMs), distributed systems, and event‑driven architectures.
• Serve as a senior hands‑on contributor, technical leader, and subject matter expert across the AI development lifecycle.
• Build reusable AI services, frameworks, accelerators, and reference architectures leveraged across multiple teams and use cases.
• Partner with business domain SMEs, product, engineering, architecture, security, data, and business teams to translate business opportunities into scalable AI solutions.
• Lead, buy, build, and integrate decisions across commercial and open‑source AI solutions, balancing speed, cost, risk, security, scalability, and strategic differentiation.
• Use modern AI‑assisted development tooling to improve speed, quality, and efficiency of solution delivery.
• Guide implementation teams through architecture, design, model selection, evaluation, deployment, and operationalization of AI solutions.
• Mentor junior AI engineers and elevate the broader organization’s AI engineering capabilities.
• Influence technical direction across teams through expertise, credibility, and collaboration rather than formal authority.
• Ensure solutions are designed for enterprise requirements including scalability, security, observability, governance, and maintainability.
• Define enterprise‑wide technical direction, including architecture patterns, integration standards, and reusable platform capabilities.
• Lead AI‑driven modernization of legacy systems through automated code transformation, service decomposition, and continuous optimization.
• Design and implement AI‑enabled software development lifecycle (SDLC) practices to improve engineering velocity and quality.
• Establish technical standards, governance frameworks, and best practices for AI systems, including monitoring, evaluation, and responsible AI.
• Partner with engineering teams and stakeholders to enable adoption of AI‑assisted development and drive continuous improvement in system performance and productivity.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship while influencing enterprise technology decisions through deep expertise and hands‑on engineering.

Minimum Requirements

Requires a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field and a minimum of 15 years of experience in software engineering, including experience leading, designing, implementing, and operating distributed systems and large‑scale architectures, or any combination of education and experience which would provide an equivalent background.

Requires experience designing, developing, and maintaining software solutions using Python, Java, or comparable object‑oriented programming languages also required, as well as experience designing and implementing APIs, microservices, and event‑driven architectures, and applying cloud, CI/CD, and DevOps practices.

Preferred Skills, Capabilities & Experiences

• Subject matter expert in machine learning, GenAI, and AI agents preferred.
• Experience working in a Fortune 100 regulated company, startup, and/or top‑tier technology firm preferred.
• Proven success at building and deploying reusable AI services at scale preferred.
• Experience operationalizing AI in production with MLOps, LLMOps, observability, and governance practices preferred.

Job Level: Non‑Management Exempt

Workshift: Job Family: IFT > IT Architecture

Who We Are

Elevance Health is a health company dedicated to improving lives and communities - and making healthcare simpler. We are a Fortune 25 company with a longstanding history in the healthcare industry, looking for leaders at all levels of the organization who are passionate about making an impact on our members and the communities we serve.

How We Work

At Elevance Health, we are creating a culture that is designed to advance our strategy but will also lead to personal and professional growth for our associates. Our values and behaviors are the root of our culture. They are how we achieve our strategy, power our business outcomes and drive our shared success - for our consumers, our associates, our communities and our business.

Benefits

• Merit increases
• Paid holidays
• Paid Time Off
• Incentive bonus programs (unless covered by a collective bargaining agreement)
• Medical
• Dental
• Vision
• Short and long term disability benefits
• 401(k) +match
• Stock purchase plan
• Life insurance
• Wellness programs
• Financial education resources

Elevance Health operates in a Hybrid Workforce Strategy. Unless specified as primarily virtual by the hiring manager, associates are required to work at an Elevance Health location at least once per week, and potentially several times per week. Specific requirements and expectations for time onsite will be discussed as part of the hiring process.

The health of our associates and communities is a top priority for Elevance Health. We require all new candidates in certain patient/member‑facing roles to become vaccinated against COVID-19 and Influenza. If you are not vaccinated, your offer will be rescinded unless you provide an acceptable explanation.

Elevance Health will also follow all relevant federal, state and local laws.

Elevance Health is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, citizenship status, color, creed, disability, ethnicity, genetic information, gender (including gender identity and gender expression), marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, veteran status or any other status or condition protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws.

Applicants who require accommodation to participate in the job application process should submit the following form: Accessibility Accommodation Request Form and a member of the team will be in contact.

Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with all federal, state, and local laws, including, but not limited to, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance and the California Fair Chance Act.

Prospective employees required to be screened under Florida law should review the education and awareness resources at HB531 | Florida Agency for Health Care Administration.

Elevance Health is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer/Disability/Veterans.

Elevance Health is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, citizenship status, color, creed, disability, ethnicity, genetic information, gender (including gender identity and gender expression), marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, veteran status or any other status or condition protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws.

Applicants who require accommodation to participate in the job application process should submit the following form: Accessibility Accommodation Request Form and a member of the team will be in contact.

Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with all federal, state, and local laws, including, but not limited to, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance and the California Fair Chance Act.

Prospective employees required to be screened under Florida law should review the education and awareness resources at HB531 | Florida Agency for Health Care Administration.