Principal AI/ML Engineer — Remote (US)

Optum; Eden Prairie (MN); Remote; USD 165,000 - 282,000; Full time

Job summary

Optum is seeking a Principal AI/ML Engineer for GTS to lead enterprise AI initiatives across healthcare workflows. You will personally write production code, own delivery from experimentation to production, and collaborate with CIO-level stakeholders to drive high-impact AI solutions.

The role emphasizes fast-paced, flexible remote work within the U.S., with in-office requirements in certain locations. You will shape architecture, implement agentic systems, and advance responsible AI practices

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience.
• 12+ years of software engineering experience.
• 3+ years designing, deploying, and operating AI/ML capabilities in production.
• 2+ years of experience shipping LLM-powered apps or agentic systems.
• Experience with cloud platforms, CI/CD, logs, metrics, and incident handling.
• Experience using AI coding tools to design and iterate complex systems.

Responsibilities

• Partner with executive leadership to identify high-value opportunities and shape priorities.
• Lead rapid applied research and experimentation with AI models and tools.
• Build and ship production AI systems with enterprise integration and reliability.
• Engineer reliable agentic workflows with multi-step orchestration and safeguards.
• Apply LLM-assisted coding to explore architectures and validate code.
• Develop grounded AI capabilities with RAG and semantic search pipelines.
• Establish evaluation and continuous improvement through automated tests and telemetry.
• Embed security, privacy, and responsible AI in all processes.
• Set technical direction and mentor senior engineers on design and delivery.
• Deliver initiatives at pace with measurable business and engineering outcomes.

Skills

AI/ML design

RAG systems

Agent orchestration

Code review & testing

Executive communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in computer science or related field

12+ years of software engineering experience

Tools

Cloud platforms

Kubernetes

LLM tooling

Security & privacy controls

Job description

Optum is seeking a Principal AI/ML Engineer for GTS to lead enterprise AI initiatives across healthcare workflows. You will personally write production code, own delivery from experimentation to production, and collaborate with CIO-level stakeholders to drive high-impact AI solutions.

The role emphasizes fast-paced, flexible remote work within the U.S., with in-office requirements in certain locations. You will shape architecture, implement agentic systems, and advance responsible AI practices