Senior AI/ML Engineer - Remote

UnitedHealth Group; San Diego (CA); Remote; USD 120,000 - 215,000; Full time

Job summary

UnitedHealth Group's Optum Tech is advancing autonomous medical coding in a SaaS platform using machine learning and LLMs. You will work with data scientists and software engineers to build scalable production solutions, deploying and monitoring models for millions of medical charts daily.

Remote work from anywhere in the U.S. is supported, with in-person requirements only for certain locations (Minneapolis, DC) as specified.

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science or higher in Computer Science, Engineering, Statistics, or related field, or 4+ years of equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years of industry experience building and operating ML systems in production (or equivalent depth), with a track record of shipped impact.
• 3+ years of experience in C# or Python.
• 3+ years of Azure experience.
• 3+ years of experience in supervised learning, feature engineering, evaluation methodology, bias/variance; deep learning and/or gradient boosting.
• 3+ years of MLOps expertise including CI/CD for ML, containers, Kubernetes/serverless inference, model registries, reproducibility, and model monitoring.
• 1+ years of experience with LLMOps including prompt engineering, retrieval-augmented generation, fine-tuning, evaluation, and safety/guardrails.

Responsibilities

• Ship production ML systems end-to-end: problem framing, data discovery, feature engineering, training, evaluation, deployment, monitoring, and iteration
• Design robust ML system architectures with low-latency inference and high availability
• Build and maintain reliable data and model pipelines using modern MLOps practices (CI/CD for ML, model registries, experiment tracking, automated retraining)
• Contribute to technical scoping and break down complex initiatives into executable roadmaps; drive execution across cross-functional partners
• Establish evaluation strategies: metrics, simulation, counterfactuals, and A/B tests; quantify impact and ensure statistical rigor
• Implement model observability and governance: drift detection, performance monitoring, fairness/bias assessments, and model documentation
• Collaborate closely with product, design, data, and platform teams to translate product goals into ML opportunities and measurable outcomes

Skills

Python

C#

Azure

MLOps

LLMOps

CI/CD for ML

Kubernetes

Model monitoring

Data pipelines

Research & training

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher in CS/Engineering/Statistics

4+ years relevant experience

Tools

Azure

Kubernetes

Job description

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.

This role will enable autonomous medical coding in a SaaS platform by integrating machine learning and LLMs. Working closely with data scientists and software engineers through data extraction, research, training, and deployment to create a scalable production solution that can handle millions of medical charts daily. You will work with cutting edge models, LLM, software, and tools in a fast-paced environment.

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:

• Ship production ML systems end-to-end: problem framing, data discovery, feature engineering, training, evaluation, deployment, monitoring, and iteration
• Design robust ML system architectures with low-latency inference and high availability
• Build and maintain reliable data and model pipelines using modern MLOps practices (CI/CD for ML, model registries, experiment tracking, automated retraining)
• Contribute to technical scoping and break down complex initiatives into executable roadmaps; drive execution across cross-functional partners
• Establish evaluation strategies: metrics, simulation, counterfactuals, and A/B tests; quantify impact and ensure statistical rigor
• Implement model observability and governance: drift detection, performance monitoring, fairness/bias assessments, and model documentation
• Collaborate closely with product, design, data, and platform teams to translate product goals into ML opportunities and measurable outcomes

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:

• Bachelor of Science or higher in Computer Science, Engineering, Statistics, or related field, or 4+ years of equivalent practical experience
• 5+ years of industry experience building and operating ML systems in production (or equivalent depth), with a track record of shipped impact
• 3+ years of experience in C# or Python
• 3+ years of Azure experience
• 3+ years of experience in supervised learning, feature engineering, evaluation methodology, bias/variance; deep learning and/or gradient boosting
• 3+ years of MLOps expertise including CI/CD for ML, containers, Kubernetes/serverless inference, model registries, reproducibility, and model monitoring
• 1+ years of experience with LLMOps including prompt engineering, retrieval-augmented generation, fine-tuning, evaluation, and safety/guardrails

Preferred Qualifications:

• Domain experience in recommendations, ranking, time-series forecasting, optimization, or reinforcement learning
• Open-source contributions, publications, or patents experience
• MLOps expertise including CI/CD for ML, containers, Kubernetes, model registries, reproducibility, and model monitoring
• Demonstrated excellent communication and product sense; able to translate business needs into technical plans and explain tradeoffs to non-ML stakeholders
• Proven privacy, security, and responsible AI practices (GDPR/CCPA, PII handling, fairness)
• Proven solid ML/statistics fundamentals: supervised learning, evaluation methodology, feature engineering, bias/variance tradeoffs; deep learning or gradient boosting experience

*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 $120,100 - $214,500 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.

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