Senior AI/ML Engineer

Optum; San Francisco (CA); Remote; USD 146,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

UnitedHealth Group’s Optum AI team seeks an accomplished AI/ML scientist to advance LLM and NLP capabilities. You’ll develop scalable models for real-time processing and contribute to responsible AI standards.

You will collaborate with world‑class researchers, define strategic priorities for deep learning, RAG and LLMs, and help drive adoption of new science across service teams while working remotely within the U.S.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in computer science or related quantitative field.
• 5+ years of experience using ML to solve NLP, multimodal RT processing, or other AI domains.
• 3+ years of DL frameworks such as PyTorch and/or TensorFlow.
• 3+ years developing ML applications.
• 3+ years experience in Responsible AI metrics, best practices and/or solutions.
• 3+ years ML and RL research and development experience.

Responsibilities

• Develop models and methods that extend and improve LLM capabilities and reliability.
• Research and implement scalable machine learning models for real-time processing.
• Developing new solutions and science best practices in Responsible AI.
• Developing our research and innovation agenda.
• Defining the strategies, priorities, and metrics for technical progress in Deep Learning, RAG and LLMs.
• Collaborating with the Optum AI team and fellow scientist and engineers.
• Driving adoption of new science and best practices among service teams.

Skills

Machine Learning

NLP

RL Research

Education

Master's degree in computer science

Ph.D. in Machine Learning

Tools

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Job description

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

Optum Tech is a global leader in health care innovation. Our teams develop cutting-edge solutions that help people live healthier lives and help make the health system work better for everyone. From advanced data analytics and AI to cybersecurity, we use innovative approaches to solve some of health care’s most complex challenges. Your contributions here have the potential to change lives. Ready to build the next breakthrough? Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

Optum AI is UnitedHealth Group’s enterprise AI team. We are AI/ML scientists and engineers with deep expertise in AI/ML engineering for health care. We develop AI/ML solutions for the highest impact opportunities across UnitedHealth Group businesses including UnitedHealthcare, Optum Financial, Optum Health, Optum Insight, and Optum Rx. In addition to transforming the health care journey through responsible AI/ML innovation, our charter also includes developing and supporting an enterprise AI/ML development platform.

Optum AI team members:

• Have impact at scale: We have the data and resources to make an impact at scale. When our solutions are deployed, they have the potential to make health care system work better for everyone
• Do ground-breaking work: Many of our current projects involve cutting edge ML, NLP and LLM techniques. Generative AI methods for working with structured and unstructured health care data are continuously being developed and improved. We are working in one of the most important frontiers of AI/ML research and development
• Partner with world-class experts on innovative solutions: Our team members are developing novel AI/ML solutions to business challenges. In some cases, this includes the opportunity to file patents and publish papers about the methods we develop. We also collaborate with AI/ML researchers at some of the world’s top universities

You’ll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely * from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges.

For all hires in the Minneapolis or Washington, D.C. area, you will be required to work in the office a minimum of four days per week.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Developing and implementing models and methods that extend and improve LLM capabilities and reliability
• Research, design and implement scalable machine learning models for real-time processing
• Developing new solutions and science best practices in Responsible AI
• Developing our research and innovation agenda
• Defining the strategies, priorities, and metrics for technical progress in Deep Learning, RAG and LLMs
• Collaborating with the Optum AI team and fellow scientist and engineers
• Driving adoption of new science and best practices among service teams

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:

• Master degree in computer science or related quantitative field
• 5+ years of experience using ML to solve problems in natural language processing (NLP), multimodal RT processing, and/or other AI domains
• 3+ years of DL frameworks such as PyTorch and/or TensorFlow
• 3+ years of developing machine learning applications
• 3+ years of experience in developing Responsible AI metrics, best practices and/or solutions
• 3+ years of solid ML and RL research and developing experience

Preferred Qualifications:

• Ph.D. in Machine Learning with focus on NLP and/or GenAI
• Experience with Advanced Deep Learning, applied math and statistics
• Experience fine-tuning LLMs and/or improving pre-train LLM’s performance
• Solid technical and scientific knowledge in generative AI

*All employees working remotely 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 $145,500 - $249,500 annually based on full-time employment. We comply with all minimum wage laws as applicable.

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.

UnitedHealth Group is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer under applicable law and qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, religion, age, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by local, state, or federal laws, rules, or regulations.

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

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.