Director, AI/ML Engineering - Claims Automation & Orchestration - Remote

UnitedHealth Group•Eden Prairie, MN

3d•$176,700 - $302,900•Remote

About The Position

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 to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together. Optum is a global organization that delivers care, aided by technology, to help millions of people live healthier lives and help make the health system work better for everyone. 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. The Director, AI/ML Engineering – Claims Automation & Orchestration will lead the design and delivery of an AI-enabled orchestration capability for Optum Health claims platforms. This role will help connect automation across claims adjudication, eligibility, payment integrity, appeals and other related processes by coordinating agentic AI, deterministic automation, workflow, validation and observability into a scalable end-to-end execution model. This leader will stay hands-on technically while building and leading an engineering team focused on improving claims processing speed, quality, transparency and operational efficiency. This role owns the shared orchestration layer and enabling standards; Success requires a solid technical leader who can operate across a complex, matrixed health care technology environment, influence senior stakeholders and translate emerging AI capabilities into production-ready solutions. 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.

Requirements

8+ years of experience in AI/ML engineering, automation engineering, platform engineering, software engineering or related technology leadership roles
5+ years of experience designing or delivering automation solutions across multiple systems, platforms or business processes
5+ years of experience establishing engineering standards, governance, observability, validation or control mechanisms for production technology solutions
5+ years of experience designing integration patterns, APIs, event-driven architectures, workflow orchestration, platform services or reusable engineering capabilities
3+ years of experience applying AI/ML, generative AI, agentic AI, workflow automation, rules engines, RPA or related technologies to improve business process execution
3+ years of experience building or leading engineering teams, including direct or matrixed leadership of engineers, architects or technical delivery teams
3+ years of experience partnering with business, product, operations, compliance, security and architecture stakeholders in a complex matrixed environment
Experience partnering with business, product, operations, compliance, security, and architecture stakeholders in a complex matrixed environment

Nice To Haves

Experience with health care payer operations, claims platforms, claims adjudication, payment integrity, appeals, provider data or related health care administrative processes
Experience with platforms such as Facets or other enterprise claims systems
Experience with agent orchestration frameworks, durable workflow engines, AI evaluation tools, observability platforms, BI/dashboarding tools or comparable technologies
Experience scaling AI-enabled or automation-enabled capabilities from prototype to production in a regulated enterprise environment
Experience communicating technical strategy, risks, tradeoffs and measurable outcomes to senior leadership

Responsibilities

Lead the architecture and delivery of a cross-platform claims orchestration layer that coordinates work across claims systems, automation tools, AI services, workflow engines and human-in-the-loop processes
Design a runtime routing model that determines when to use agentic AI, deterministic rules, workflow automation, RPA or manual escalation based on task type, confidence, risk and business requirements
Establish durable execution patterns so multi-step and multi-day claims processes can persist state, recover from failures and resume work across multiple platforms
Create common integration standards, reusable interfaces and task handoff patterns that allow platform teams to connect into a shared orchestration capability without duplicating work
Build validation and control mechanisms including business-rule checks, output evaluation, confidence scoring, exception handling and human review for low-confidence, high-risk or high-dollar scenarios
Instrument the orchestration layer with observability, telemetry and outcome reporting to monitor throughput, quality, adoption, exceptions, failures and business impact
Partner across Claims Technology, Operations, Product, Compliance, Security, Enterprise Architecture and platform engineering teams to align the orchestration strategy with enterprise standards and business priorities
Recruit, build, coach and lead a team of 5 to 20 AI/ML engineers, automation engineers and solution architects while remaining hands-on in technical design, prototyping and tool evaluation
Define and communicate success measures, delivery milestones, risks and operating model needs to senior technology and business leadership