Sr AI/ML Engineer Remote Nationwide or Office-Based in MN/DC

UnitedHealth Group; Minnetonka (MN); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 215,000; Full time

Job summary

UnitedHealth Group’s Optum Tech UHC Technology team seeks a Senior AI/ML Engineer to design, build, and scale AI/ML solutions for Medicare & Retirement. You’ll collaborate across software, data science, and business partners to deploy robust ML models and MLOps pipelines in a production healthcare environment.

You’ll work remotely from anywhere in the U.S. with an office-based schedule (four in-office days per week) and contribute to health equity, scalability, and operational excellence while

Qualifications

• 5+ years in software engineering, data science, or AI/ML engineering.
• 3+ years designing, training, and deploying ML models in production.
• 2+ years with cloud infrastructure (AWS/Azure/GCP).
• 2+ years with SQL databases.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and deploy AI-powered solutions for enterprise-scale healthcare applications.
• Build and operationalize end-to-end machine learning models and AI services.
• Establish scalable MLOps pipelines and automated deployment and monitoring.
• Collaborate with software engineers, data scientists, and business partners to integrate AI capabilities into production apps.
• Ensure AI/ML models meet performance, scalability, security, and governance standards.

Skills

Software engineering

ML deployment

Python + ML libs

MLOps

Cloud platforms

SQL

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in CS/Data Science/AI

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

CI/CD

Job description

Optum is a global organization that delivers care, aided by technology to help millions of people live healthier lives. The work you do with our team will directly improve health outcomes by connecting people with the care, pharmacy benefits, data and resources they need to feel their best. Here, you will find a culture guided by inclusion, talented peers, comprehensive benefits and career development opportunities. Come make an impact on the communities we serve as you help us advance health optimization on a global scale. Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

As a Senior AI/ML Engineer within the Optum Tech UHC Technology team supporting UHC Medicare & Retirement, you will play a key role in designing, building, and scaling artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions that transform the healthcare experience for millions of Medicare-eligible individuals. You will collaborate with cross-functional teams to engineer innovative AI models, automate complex workflows, and deploy robust MLOps pipelines. By leveraging modern machine learning frameworks and cloud platforms, you will tackle high-impact business challenges and directly contribute to advancing health equity and operational excellence.

You’ll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely * from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges. This position follows a Office-Based schedule withfour in-office days per week.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Design, develop, and deploy AI-powered solutions to address complex business challenges with emphasis on responsible use of AI
• Use enterprise-approved AI tools to streamline workflows, automate tasks, and drive continuous improvement
• Evaluate emerging trends and technologies in artificial intelligence and machine learning to inform solution design and strategic innovation
• Build, train, tune, and operationalize end-to-end machine learning models and AI services for enterprise-scale healthcare applications
• Establish scalable MLOps frameworks, automated deployment pipelines, and continuous model monitoring practices
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including software engineers, data scientists, and business partners to integrate AI capabilities into production applications
• Ensure AI/ML models meet performance, scalability, security, and ethical governance standards

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:

• 5+ years of professional experience in software engineering, data science, or AI/ML engineering
• 3+ years of experience designing, training, and deploying machine learning models into production environments
• 3+ years of hands-on experience programming in Python and utilizing standard ML libraries/frameworks (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch, scikit-learn, XGBoost)
• 2+ years of experience with MLOps practices, automated model deployment, and monitoring
• 2+ years of experience with cloud infrastructure (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP) for scalable machine learning workflows
• 2+ years of experience with relational or non-relational database management and SQL

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, or a related technical field
• Experience with Large Language Models (LLMs), generative AI architectures, prompt engineering, or model fine-tuning
• Experience building AI/ML solutions within healthcare, health insurance, or Medicare & Retirement domain applications
• Experience with containerization technologies (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes) and CI/CD tools
• Familiarity with enterprise AI governance, model fairness, and healthcare data security standards (e.g., HIPAA)

*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.