Senior Director of AI-Driven Software Engineering

Optum

Minnetonka (MN)

On-site

USD 159,300 - 273,200

Full time

14 days+

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Job summary

Optum is seeking a Senior Director of Software Engineering to lead engineering teams within UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual Technology. You will drive architecture, design, and deployment of enterprise AI‑powered applications and multi‑platform systems.

You will partner with product and business leaders, emphasize responsible AI, and foster DevSecOps, cloud‑native delivery, and mentoring of engineers. This role offers remote work nationwide with in-office 4 days/week in some areas.

Qualifications

10+ years of professional software engineering experience, including designing and building large‑scale, multi‑platform applications.
5+ years of experience in direct people management or leadership, overseeing multi‑disciplinary engineering teams or principal engineers.
3+ years of experience designing, developing, and deploying AI‑powered applications, ML systems, or automated software solutions.
3+ years of experience with enterprise cloud platforms (Azure, AWS, GCP) and modern architecture patterns (microservices, API design, event‑driven systems).
2+ years of experience establishing engineering standards, architectural patterns, and driving the adoption of modern DevOps/CI‑CD pipelines.
Current or previous experience in the healthcare domain.

Responsibilities

Provide strategic leadership and technical direction for a large‑scale software engineering organization, guiding the architecture, design, and deployment of complex, multi‑platform systems.
Lead the design, development, and deployment of enterprise‑scale AI‑powered solutions and platforms to address complex business and healthcare challenges, with an emphasis on responsible and ethical use of AI.
Strategically use AI to solve problems, unlock opportunities, and deliver tangible business value to the organization.
Champion AI as a core driver of your team's success and proactively shape how that AI is developed, deployed, and utilized.
Champion the ethical use of AI by embedding transparency, fairness, and accountability throughout the entire AI lifecycle.
Integrate enterprise AI tools, set AI goals in development plans, and align hiring with AI competencies, actively removing barriers to accelerate adoption.
Evaluate emerging technologies and AI trends to inform solution design, drive strategic innovation, and keep the organization at the forefront of technical capabilities.
Empower and guide engineering teams to leverage enterprise‑approved AI tools and technologies to streamline workflows, automate repetitive tasks, and continuously improve software delivery velocity and quality.
Drive engineering excellence, modern development practices (DevSecOps, CI/CD, cloud‑native architectures), and product‑centric delivery across engineering squads.
Foster a culture of continuous learning, innovation, and collaboration, mentoring principal engineers and engineering leaders.
Collaborate with business leaders, product owners, and other stakeholders to translate business vision into robust, scalable technology solutions