Full Stack and AI Engineer

Optum; Basking Ridge (NJ); Remote; USD 92,000 - 164,000; Full time

Job summary

UnitedHealth Group seeks a Full Stack and AI Engineer to design, build, and maintain scalable backend services (Java/Python) and AI-enabled features. You will architect event-driven microservices with Kafka, optimize relational and NoSQL databases, and develop streaming/batch data pipelines.

Collaboration across product, QA, and platform teams is essential to deliver robust, compliant health-tech solutions.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience building backend systems in Java and/or Python.
• 3+ years of experience with PostgreSQL/MySQL/Oracle and/or MongoDB/Cassandra, including performance tuning.
• 3+ years of experience in cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP), containerization (Docker/Kubernetes), and CI/CD.
• 2+ years of experience with Kafka in production (exactly-once/at-least-once semantics, schema evolution, monitoring)

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain scalable backend services and APIs using Java and Python.
• Architect and implement event-driven/microservices solutions using Kafka.
• Model, optimize, and maintain relational and NoSQL databases.
• Develop data processing pipelines (streaming and batch) with focus on reliability and performance.
• Build and integrate AI/ML-powered features and collaborate with data science teams.
• Ensure production readiness: CI/CD, automated testing, monitoring and incident response.
• Enforce engineering best practices: code reviews, secure coding, documentation.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with product, QA, platform/SRE, and stakeholders.
• Design, develop, and deploy AI-powered solutions with responsible use of AI.

Skills

Java

Python

Distributed systems design

Event-driven architecture

AI-enabled solutions

REST/gRPC

CI/CD

Observability

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Computer Science or equivalent

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Kafka

PG/SQL/NoSQL databases

Pinecone/Weaviate/pgvector

Job description

Improve the lives of others while Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

Job Description - Full Stack and AI Engineer (2393533)

Full Stack and AI Engineer - 2393533

Our Company

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 startCaring. Connecting. Growing together.

You will enjoy the flexibility to telecommute* from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges.

Position Summary:

Software engineering is the application of engineering to the design, development, implementation, testing and maintenance of software in a systematic method. The roles in this function will cover all primary development activity across all technology functions that ensure we deliver code with high quality for our applications, products and services and to understand customer needs and to develop product roadmaps.

These roles include, but are not limited to analysis, design, coding, engineering, testing, debugging, standards, methods, tools analysis, documentation, research and development, maintenance, new development, operations and delivery. With every role in the company, each position has a requirement for building quality into every output. This also includes evaluating new tools, new techniques, strategies; Automation of common tasks; build of common utilities to drive organizational efficiency with a passion around technology and solutions and influence of thought and leadership on future capabilities and opportunities to apply technology in new and innovative ways.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Design, build, and maintain scalable backend services and APIs using Java and Python
• Architect and implement event-driven/microservices solutions using Kafka (topics, partitions, consumer groups, schemas, retries/DLQs)
• Model, optimize, and maintain relational and/or NoSQL databases (schema design, indexing, query tuning, migrations)
• Develop data processing pipelines (streaming and batch) with strong focus on reliability, observability, and performance
• Build and integrate AI/ML-powered features (model inference services, prompt orchestration, vector search, or ML pipelines) and collaborate with data science teams
• Ensure production readiness: CI/CD, automated testing, monitoring/alerting, and incident response/root-cause analysis
• Enforce engineering best practices: code reviews, secure coding, documentation, and mentoring junior engineers
• Collaborate cross-functionally with product, QA, platform/SRE, and stakeholders to deliver roadmap initiatives
• Design, develop, and deploy AI-powered solutions to address complex business challenges with emphasis on responsible use of AI

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:

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience building backend systems in Java and/or Python
• 3+ years of experience with databases (PostgreSQL/MySQL/Oracle and/or MongoDB/Cassandra), including performance tuning and transactional consistency
• 3+ years of experience in cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP), containerization (Docker/Kubernetes), and CI/CD
• 2+ years of experience with Kafka in production (exactly-once/at-least-once semantics, schema evolution, monitoring, capacity planning)
• 2+ years of experience designing distributed systems (microservices, REST/gRPC, concurrency, caching, resiliency patterns)
• 1+ years of experience delivering AI-enabled solutions (LLM integration, ML inference deployment, feature engineering, vector databases such as Pinecone/Weaviate/pgvector, or MLOps tools)

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science (or equivalent practical experience)

Soft Skills:

• Strong problem-solving, communication, and ability to lead technical design discussions

*All Telecommuters 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 $91,700 to $163,700 annually based on full-time employment. We comply with all minimum wage laws as applicable.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

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.

Diversity creates a healthier atmosphere: UnitedHealth Group is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.

UnitedHealth Group is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you need special assistance or accommodation for any part of the application process, please call 1-866-566-8715 to be connected to Recruitment Services. Recruitment Services hours of operation are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. CT, Monday through Friday.

UnitedHealth Group is a registered service mark of UnitedHealth Group, Inc. The UnitedHealth Group name with the dimensional logo, as well as the dimensional logo alone, are both service marks for the UnitedHealth Group, Inc.

Diversity creates a healthier atmosphere: UnitedHealth Group is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.

UnitedHealth Group is a drug-free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment.