Distinguished AI Engineer

Elevance Health; Nashville (TN); Hybrid; USD 255,000 - 417,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Benefits package

Job summary

Elevance Health is seeking a Distinguished AI Engineer to lead design, development, and deployment of large-scale, production-grade AI systems enabling enterprise-wide innovation. The role requires architectural leadership, experience with LLMs, agentic systems, and modernizing legacy software.

The candidate will set technical direction, build reusable AI platform capabilities, and mentor teams while partnering with engineers across the enterprise to raise engineering velocity and system

Qualifications

• Requires a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field with extensive experience in software engineering and distributed systems.
• Experience delivering production-grade AI/ML systems at scale, including agentic systems or large LLM-based apps, and modernizing large legacy systems.
• Strong programming expertise in Python, Java, or similar.
• Deep experience with APIs, microservices, cloud platforms, CI/CD and DevOps practices.

Responsibilities

• Architect and deliver scalable, resilient AI solutions leveraging agentic systems, LLMs, distributed systems, and event-driven architectures.
• Define enterprise-wide technical direction, including architecture patterns, integration standards, and reusable platform capabilities.
• Lead AI-driven modernization of legacy systems via automated code transformation and service decomposition.
• Design and implement AI-enabled SDLC practices to improve engineering velocity and quality.
• Establish technical standards, governance, and best practices for AI systems, including monitoring and responsible AI.

Skills

Distributed systems

Large-scale architecture

Python/Java

APIs/microservices

Cloud platforms

CI/CD/DevOps

LLMs/AI systems

Engineering leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree in CS/IT

Tools

Kubernetes

Docker

Cloud platforms (AWS/GCP/Azure)

CI/CD tools

Job description

Distinguished AI Engineer

Location: This role requires associates to be in-office 3 days 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. 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 will be responsible for leading the design, development, and deployment of large-scale, production-grade artificial intelligence (AI) systems and platforms that enable enterprise-wide innovation and modernization.

How you will make an impact

• Architect and deliver scalable, resilient AI solutions leveraging technologies such as agentic systems, large language models (LLMs), distributed systems, and event-driven architectures.
• 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 hand-on engineering.

Minimum Requirements

• Requires a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field and a minimum of 15 years of experience in software engineering, deep expertise in distributed systems and large-scale architecture, or any combination of education and experience, which would provide an equivalent background.
• Experience delivering production-grade AI/ML systems at scale, building agentic systems or complex LLM-based applications, modernizing large, complex legacy systems, and delivering high-quality systems also required.
• Strong programming expertise in Python, Java, or similar required.
• Deep experience with APIs, microservices, and event-driven architectures, cloud platforms, and CI/CD and DevOps practices required.

Preferred Skills, Capabilities and Experiences

• Advanced experience designing and leading distributed systems and large-scale architectures is strongly preferred.
• Experience establishing enterprise technology standards and influencing technical direction across multiple teams or business domains is preferred.
• Experience serving as a technical authority for software engineering practices, architecture, platform strategy, and modern application architectures, including APIs, microservices, cloud technologies, and DevOps practices, is strongly preferred.
• Experience delivering production-grade AI/ML systems at scale, building agentic systems or complex LLM-based applications, modernizing large, complex legacy systems, and delivering high-quality systems is preferred.
• Strong programming expertise in Python, Java, or similar technology is preferred.
• Deep experience with APIs, microservices, and event-driven architectures, cloud platforms, and CI/CD and DevOps practices is preferred.

For candidates working in person or virtually in the below location, the salary* range for this specific position is $254,584 to $416,592.

Location: California, Washington, Illinois.

In addition to your salary, Elevance Health offers benefits such as a comprehensive benefits package, incentive and recognition programs, equity stock purchase and 401k contribution (all benefits are subject to eligibility requirements). The salary offered for this specific position is based on a number of legitimate, non-discriminatory factors set by the Company. The Company is fully committed to ensuring equal pay opportunities for equal work regardless of gender, race, or any other category protected by federal, state, and local pay equity laws.

The salary range is the range Elevance Health in good faith believes is the range of possible compensation for this role at the time of this posting. This range may be modified in the future and actual compensation may vary from posting based on geographic location, work experience, education, and/or skill level. Even within the range, the actual compensation will vary depending on the above factors as well as market/business considerations. No amount is wages or compensation until such amount is earned, vested, and determinable under the terms and conditions of the applicable policies and plans. The amount and availability of any bonus, commission, benefits, or any other form of compensation and benefits that are allocable to a particular employee remains in the Company’s sole discretion unless and until paid and may be modified at the Company’s sole discretion, consistent with the law.

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.

We offer a range of market-competitive total rewards that include merit increases, paid holidays, Paid Time Off, and 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 and financial education resources, to name a few.

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 Accessibility Accommodation Request Form (https://forms.cloud.microsoft/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=8giMvgesLESaRuvu61vU17EJaA0EP3FIissI8zmZ_NpUNUgyTFRUMkY5NE5JNDFWMkhaUzQxMkJLWS4u&route=shorturl) 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 (https://info.flclearinghouse.com/).