[Remote] Director, AI ML Engineering - Remote

Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Optum is a global leader in health care innovation, seeking a Director of AI ML Engineering to define and own the engineering AI strategy. The role involves partnering with engineering teams to identify opportunities for AI agents, overseeing their lifecycle, and ensuring alignment with business objectives and enterprise standards.

Responsibilities

• Define and own the engineering AI strategy to measurably accelerate software development, quality, reliability, and operational efficiency through the use of AI agents
• Partner with engineering teams to analyze current workflows, development activities, and pain points across the SDLC, identifying high‑value opportunities where AI agents can deliver meaningful impact
• Develop a clear, prioritized roadmap of AI agent use cases aligned to business objectives, engineering strategy, and enterprise technology standards
• Build data‑driven proposals and business cases for AI agent investments, including baseline measurements, expected productivity gains, cost avoidance, quality improvements, and adoption metrics
• Lead the design, development, and deployment of AI agents that augment or automate engineering work (e.g., requirements analysis, design support, coding, testing, deployment, reliability, incident analysis)
• Oversee the end‑to‑end lifecycle of AI agents from proof of value through scaled production deployment, ensuring solutions are reliable, secure, observable, and maintainable
• Establish measurement frameworks, analytics, and KPIs to track realized value and continuously refine AI solutions based on usage, outcomes, and feedback
• Define a repeatable operating model for how engineering teams identify, build, govern, and adopt AI agents at scale
• Ensure all AI solutions adhere to enterprise architecture, security, privacy, regulatory, and responsible AI standards, including appropriate human‑in‑the‑loop controls
• Drive engineering enablement and change management, helping teams adopt new AI‑enabled ways of working and build confidence using AI as a force multiplier
• Serve as a trusted advisor and thought leader to engineering and technology leadership, translating complex AI concepts into clear decisions, trade‑offs, and business outcomes
• Collaborate closely with architecture, platform, product, data, and security partners to align AI agent strategy with broader enterprise initiatives

Skills

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience in applied AI, technology strategy, or complex enterprise systems
• 10+ years of experience delivering and leading complex technology initiatives, with demonstrated expertise either through hands-on software engineering experience OR through deep technical partnership roles, including the driving or ownership of complex systems, platforms, or large-scale transformation initiatives
• Experience connecting AI initiatives to measurable business value, using data, analytics, and outcome-based metrics
• Demonstrated experience designing, building, or operationalizing AI-powered solutions, including agent-based or LLM-driven systems applied in real-world environments
• Deep understanding of modern AI techniques and platforms, including large language models and agent frameworks used to accelerate software development and analysis
• Proven ability to identify high-value AI opportunities, translate them into clear use cases, and support delivery through collaboration with engineering teams
• Experience in PBM, U.S. Healthcare and/or RxClaim platform
• Experience designing, building, or leading agentic AI or multi-agent systems deployed in production environments
• Familiarity with modern SDLC and DevOps practices and how AI can accelerate areas such as testing, code quality, deployment, operations, and reliability
• Background in platform, enablement, or productivity teams, driving adoption of shared capabilities at scale
• Demonstrated success leading organizational change, moving teams from experimentation to sustained, value-driven technology adoption
• Proven excellent communication and leadership skills, with the ability to operate credibly across engineering, product, and executive stakeholders
• All employees working remotely will be required to adhere to UnitedHealth Group's Telecommuter Policy

Benefits

• A comprehensive benefits package
• Incentive and recognition programs
• Equity stock purchase
• 401k contribution (all benefits are subject to eligibility requirements)

Company Overview

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