Job Details

Lead Software Engineer

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 diversity and inclusion, talented peers, comprehensive benefits and career development opportunities.

Optum AI is UnitedHealth Group's enterprise AI team. We are AI/ML scientists and engineers who build and operationalize AI capabilities across payer, provider, and pharmacy businesses, with a focus on safe, scalable, and production grade solutions.

As a Lead Software Engineer, you will be a hands on technical leader for AI driven products, owning the design and delivery of end to end systems that span modern front end experiences, cloud native services, and AI/ML integrations. You'll partner closely with Product, Data, Security, and Platform teams to turn ambitious ideas into resilient, production ready software.

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:

• Technical Execution & System Design
• Application & Platform Development
• AI / ML Integration
• Security, Identity & Compliance
• DevOps & Operational Excellence
• Technical Leadership (Non Managerial)

Technology Stack & Tools

• Front End
• Backend & APIs
• Cloud & Containerization
• DevOps & CI/CD
• Security & Identity
• AI / ML Integration & Tooling
• Data & Observability

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:

• Undergraduate degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, including building and operating complex, multi component distributed systems
• 4+ years building backend services and APIs using Python (FastAPI), Node.js, or similar modern frameworks
• 3+ years of experience serving as a technical lead for cross cutting initiatives (multiple services or teams), while remaining actively hands on in design and implementation
• 3+ years of developing modern front end applications with React or Angular and TypeScript
• 3+ years of deploying and operating applications in cloud environments (AWS, Azure, or GCP), including containerization with Docker and microservices based patterns
• Experience using Vibe Coding methods and tools (eg Claude or Codex or GitHub Co-pilot) to support rapid prototyping, code regression testing, and/or other software engineering / integration tasks
• Experience working in an Agile - Scrum - Kanban familiarity for development process using GitHub integrated with IDE to support development
• Demonstrated experience defining and enforcing technical standards, reference architectures, and design patterns through reviews and hands on contributions (not just policy)
• Experience evaluating, prototyping, and integrating emerging technologies, including AI/ML frameworks, agentic systems, and security tooling, and assessing their suitability for production use in regulated environments
• Solid understanding and skills with DevOps tools to support continuous integration and continuous development (CICD) pipelines for their work
• Advanced understanding of distributed systems design (failure modes, scaling strategies, data consistency, performance tradeoffs, and operational resilience).
• Demonstrated expertise in production incident analysis and remediation, acting as a senior technical escalation point and driving systemic fixes
• Proven ability to translate high level or ambiguous requirements into clear, actionable technical plans, including architecture, sequencing, and tradeoffs across security, compliance, performance, and scalability
• Proven solid track record mentoring mid level and senior engineers and effectively communicating complex technical concepts, risks, and tradeoffs to cross functional partners (Product, Security, Data, Platform)

Preferred Qualifications:

• 2+ years of experience working in healthcare or other highly regulated domains, ideally with exposure to clinical systems, health data platforms, or regulated data workflows
• Experience integrating AI/ML features into production healthcare applications or payer/provider workflows
• Practical understanding of security, privacy, and compliance considerations (e.g., HIPAA aligned controls or similar frameworks)
• Proven to have built systems or software that uses agentic AI, generative AI, and/or AI models (reinforcement learning, federated learning, deep learning, supervised/unsupervised learning)

*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 $112,700 to $193,200 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.