Remote Lead AI/ML Engineer - Scale AI in Health Tech

UnitedHealth Group; Eden Prairie (MN); Hybrid; USD 146,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive benefits package

Incentive and recognition programs

Equity stock purchase

401k contribution

Job summary

UnitedHealth Group's Optum Tech team seeks a Lead AI/ML Engineer to architect and implement high‑performance backend systems and intelligent automation across distributed clinical applications. You will guide cross‑functional teams to deliver secure APIs, data integration pipelines, and observability in a cloud environment.

The role emphasizes collaboration with data scientists and product stakeholders, with a focus on scalable, secure production systems and end‑to‑end CI/CD workflows in a

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in AI/ML engineering or related fields.
• 3+ years with Large Language Models (LLMs), generative AI, prompt engineering, or retrieval‑augmented systems (RAG).
• 3+ years building event‑driven backend components using Apache Kafka.
• 3+ years working with relational databases (Oracle, PostgreSQL, or MySQL) using Spring Data JPA and Hibernate.
• 3+ years implementing API security protocols (OAuth 2.0, JWT, OAuth Client Credentials).
• 2+ years developing agentic AI systems, including multi‑step reasoning workflows or tool‑calling agents.
• Hands‑on experience with modern AI orchestration frameworks (LangChain, LangGraph, LlamaIndex, Semantic Kernel, AutoGen, CrewAI, etc.).
• Experience deploying scalable AI solutions in cloud environments (Azure, AWS, GCP) using microservices/containers.

Responsibilities

• Lead design, development, and deployment of scalable backend services and AI/ML integrations.
• Build event-driven components using Apache Kafka and integrate with Oracle/PostgreSQL/MySQL via Spring Data JPA/Hibernate.
• Apply API security protocols (OAuth 2.0, JWT) to secure microservices and endpoints.
• Lead CI/CD automation, containerization, and cloud deployment with Docker, Kubernetes, and AWS/Azure.
• Establish end‑to‑end monitoring and observability across distributed clinical systems using Splunk, ELK, Prometheus, Grafana.
• Drive engineering best practices, code quality, and continuous improvement within the team.
• Collaborate with data scientists, software engineers, and product stakeholders to operationalize AI solutions.

Skills

AI/ML engineering

LLM experience

Kafka event-driven

Spring Data JPA

API security OAuth/JWT

Agentic AI systems

AI orchestration frameworks

Cloud/microservices

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in CS/SE or related field

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

AWS

Azure

GCP

Spring Data JPA

Hibernate

Oracle

PostgreSQL

MySQL

Job description

UnitedHealth Group's Optum Tech team seeks a Lead AI/ML Engineer to architect and implement high‑performance backend systems and intelligent automation across distributed clinical applications. You will guide cross‑functional teams to deliver secure APIs, data integration pipelines, and observability in a cloud environment.

The role emphasizes collaboration with data scientists and product stakeholders, with a focus on scalable, secure production systems and end‑to‑end CI/CD workflows in a