Senior Manager AI/ML Engineering - Remote

Optum; San Diego (CA); Remote; USD 149,000 - 255,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive benefits package

Equity stock purchase

401k contribution

Job summary

UnitedHealth Group is seeking a Senior Manager of AI/ML Engineering to lead a remote team delivering autonomous medical coding solutions across the U.S. You will shape the technical roadmap, drive ML/LLM production systems, and partner with clinical and compliance teams to ensure secure, compliant, scalable AI in healthcare.

This high-impact role requires hands-on leadership, strong Python and ML framework expertise, and experience deploying LLMs and MLOps at scale, with attention to privacy and

Qualifications

• 6+ years of technical experience in AI/ML engineering, machine learning development, or applied AI solution delivery.
• 2+ years of direct people management or technical leadership experience leading AI/ML engineering teams
• Production-grade ML pipelines, LLM-powered applications, and MLOps platforms handling large-scale data processing
• Experience establishing evaluation frameworks, model monitoring, CI/CD, and responsible AI standards for production models
• Experience deploying Large Language Models (LLMs), retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and prompt engineering in enterprise environments
• Proficiency in Python and deep learning/NLP frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, Hugging Face)

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and grow a high-performing team of AI/ML engineers focused on medical coding automation
• Define and execute the engineering strategy for machine learning and LLM-powered products at production scale
• Partner with data science and clinical teams to develop solutions for chart understanding, clinical concept extraction, code assignment, documentation analysis, and coding validation
• Drive the architecture of scalable inference and data-processing systems capable of handling millions of medical charts daily
• Ensure that AI systems meet stringent requirements for accuracy, reliability, latency, cost efficiency, privacy, security, and explainability
• Collaborate with software engineering leaders to integrate ML capabilities into robust SaaS products and customer workflows
• Partner with product and business stakeholders to prioritize initiatives, define success metrics, and translate customer needs into technical solutions
• Work with legal, compliance, security, and clinical stakeholders to support HIPAA-compliant, responsible, and auditable use of AI in healthcare
• Develop evaluation frameworks and quality metrics for coding accuracy, clinical validity, hallucination prevention, confidence estimation, and human review prioritization

Skills

AI/ML engineering

People management

ML pipelines

LLMs

Python

NLP frameworks

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's/PhD

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Terraform

Job description

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

Job Description - Senior Manager AI/ML Engineering - Remote (2392290)

Senior Manager AI/ML Engineering - Remote - 2392290

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 in making healthcare work better for everyone through people-led, responsible AI while Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

We are seeking a highly experienced and hands‑on Senior Manager of AI/ML Engineering to lead the ML engineering strategy and execution behind our cutting edge autonomous medical coding solutions. In this role, you will guide a team of machine learning engineers and collaborate closely with data scientists, software engineers, product managers, clinical experts, and compliance partners to build scalable, reliable, and secure AI systems for processing millions of medical charts every day.

You will be responsible for translating emerging advances in machine learning and LLMs into production‑ready capabilities that improve coding accuracy, efficiency, auditability, and clinical workflow integration. This is a high‑impact leadership role in a fast‑paced environment where you will help shape both the technical roadmap and the engineering culture of the organization.

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:

• Lead, mentor, and grow a high‑performing team of AI/ML engineers focused on medical coding automation
• Define and execute the engineering strategy for machine learning and LLM‑powered products at production scale
• Partner with data science and clinical teams to develop solutions for chart understanding, clinical concept extraction, code assignment, documentation analysis, and coding validation
• Drive the architecture of scalable inference and data‑processing systems capable of handling millions of medical charts daily
• Ensure that AI systems meet stringent requirements for accuracy, reliability, latency, cost efficiency, privacy, security, and explainability
• Collaborate with software engineering leaders to integrate ML capabilities into robust SaaS products and customer workflows
• Partner with product and business stakeholders to prioritize initiatives, define success metrics, and translate customer needs into technical solutions
• Work with legal, compliance, security, and clinical stakeholders to support HIPAA‑compliant, responsible, and auditable use of AI in healthcare
• Develop evaluation frameworks and quality metrics for coding accuracy, clinical validity, hallucination prevention, confidence estimation, and human review prioritization

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:

• 6+ years of technical experience in AI/ML engineering, machine learning development, or applied AI solution delivery
• 2+ years of direct people management or technical leadership experience leading AI/ML engineering teams
• Proven experience in architecting and deploying production‑grade machine learning pipelines, LLM‑powered applications, and MLOps platforms handling large‑scale data processing
• Hands‑on experience in establishing evaluation frameworks, model monitoring, continuous integration/deployment (CI/CD), and responsible AI standards for production models
• Demonstrated experience deploying Large Language Models (LLMs), retrieval‑augmented generation (RAG), and prompt engineering in enterprise production environments
• Solid technical proficiency in Python and deep learning/NLP frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, Hugging Face)

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, or a related technical field (or 4+ additional years of equivalent technical experience)
• Master’s degree or PhD in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, or a related discipline
• Experience in healthcare, clinical NLP, medical chart processing, medical coding automation (ICD‑10, CPT), or HIPAA‑compliant environments
• Experience with containerization, orchestration, and infrastructure‑as‑code tools (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform)

*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 $148,900 - $255,300 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 help make the health system work better for everyone. Together, we are shaping the future of healthcare by harnessing technology and innovation to make care simpler to navigate, more affordable and more connected for the people we serve. We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone feels welcomed, valued, heard and respected, empowering people to bring their authentic selves to work and strengthening our collective impact through diverse talents, backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.

UnitedHealth Group and its affiliated brands are 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 and its affiliated brands are 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.