Distinguished Engineer

Elevance Health; Virginia (MN); Hybrid; USD 210,000 - 290,000; Full time

Job summary

Elevance Health seeks a Distinguished Engineer to lead the design, development, and deployment of large-scale AI systems across the enterprise. You will shape architectural direction, define patterns, and drive AI-enabled modernization of legacy platforms.

You will mentor engineers, set governance for AI systems, and partner with business and technology leaders to deliver scalable AI-enabled products. This hybrid role blends hands-on engineering with strategic leadership.

Qualifications

• Requires a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
• Minimum of 15 years of experience in software engineering, including leading, designing, implementing, and operating distributed systems and large-scale architectures.

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 through automated code transformation, service decomposition, and continuous optimization.
• Design and implement AI-enabled SDLC practices to improve engineering velocity and quality.
• Establish technical standards, governance frameworks, and best practices for AI systems, including monitoring and responsible AI.
• Partner with engineering teams to enable adoption of AI-assisted development and drive improvements in system performance.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship influencing enterprise technology decisions.

Skills

Distributed systems

AI/ML concepts

Architectural leadership

Cloud/DevOps practices

API design

Education

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

Tools

Python

Java

APIs

Microservices

CI/CD

DevOps

Cloud platforms

Job description

Anticipated End Date: 2026-09-30

Position Title: Distinguished Engineer

Job Description

Distinguished Engineer

Please note: This position is not eligible for current or future visa sponsorship

Hybrid: 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 Engineer is 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 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.
• 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, and Experiences

• Experience designing and delivering enterprise AI solutions that drive measurable business outcomes across healthcare domains including medical cost management, payment integrity, utilization management, claims, care management, pharmacy, and clinical operations.
• Deep expertise in agentic AI, LLMs, retrieval‑augmented generation (RAG), knowledge graphs, semantic layers, ontologies, conversational analytics, AI orchestration, and intelligent automation.
• Experience defining enterprise data strategies and modern data architectures, including open table formats (Apache Iceberg), data catalogs and catalog federation, metadata management, semantic models, data products, and interoperable multi‑platform data ecosystems.
• Experience building enterprise AI platforms and reusable capabilities, including AI gateways, semantic models, vector databases, governance, security, and responsible AI.
• Healthcare payer experience, including healthcare data, FHIR/HL7 interoperability, and regulated environments.
• Demonstrated ability to partner with business, clinical, and technology leaders to translate business strategy into scalable AI-enabled products and enterprise capabilities.
• Recognized technical leader with experience defining enterprise architecture, influencing technology strategy, and driving adoption of modern AI engineering practices.
• Experience designing, building, and operating large-scale distributed systems and cloud‑native applications.
• Experience developing software using Python, Java, or comparable object‑oriented programming languages.
• Experience designing APIs, microservices, event‑driven architectures, and implementing CI/CD and DevSecOps practices.
• Experience leading architecture and technical design for complex enterprise software platforms and mentoring engineering teams.
• Experience applying AI, machine learning, or generative AI technologies to develop production software solutions.

Job Level:

Non-Management Exempt

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.

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 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.

NOTE:

Workday keeps job postings active through 11:59:59 PM on the day