Director, AI/ML Engineering

UnitedHealth Group•Irvine, CA

14h•$176,700 - $302,900•Remote

About The Position

Optum Tech is hiring a Director, AI/ML Engineering to lead the vision, architecture, and execution of the Prior Authorization AI/ML roadmap. The role defines AI-native operating models and serves as the organization's senior technical authority for AI, machine learning, generative AI, agentic AI, and intelligent automation. The director partners with business, clinical, operations, product, and technology leaders to identify valuable AI opportunities and turn business challenges into technical solutions. The position includes designing and building scalable AI platforms and reusable services, participating directly in the design, development, and production deployment of AI solutions, and owning delivery from ideation through production support. The director leads experimentation, proofs of concept, pilots, production releases, and technical design reviews, while establishing engineering standards and best practices. The role also sets standards for model governance, explainability, auditability, transparency, monitoring, and safe operationalization. It ensures alignment with healthcare regulations and organizational AI governance policies, while mentoring technical leaders and fostering an AI-first engineering culture. The position may be performed remotely from anywhere in the U.S. Employees hired in the Minneapolis or Washington, D.C. area must work in the office at least four days per week. Remote employees must comply with UnitedHealth Group's Telecommuter Policy.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Data Science, or a related discipline.
12+ years of software engineering experience.
7+ years leading AI/ML engineering teams.
5+ years delivering enterprise-scale AI solutions in production.
Experience designing, building, and deploying solutions using large language models (LLMs), retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and agentic AI frameworks in production environments.
Demonstrated expertise in AI platform architecture and engineering on cloud platforms such as Microsoft Azure and/or Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Proven ability to translate complex business challenges into technical solutions.

Nice To Haves

Healthcare, PBM, Utilization Management, Prior Authorization, or Clinical Operations experience.
Experience building decision-support platforms in regulated environments.
Knowledge of healthcare interoperability standards.

Responsibilities

Lead the vision, architecture, and execution of the Prior Authorization AI/ML roadmap.
Define and drive AI-native operating models across authorization.
Partner with business, clinical, operations, product, and technology leaders to identify high-value AI opportunities.
Develop strategic investment plans, technical roadmaps, and delivery priorities aligned with business objectives.
Serve as the organization's senior technical authority for AI, machine learning, generative AI, agentic AI, and intelligent automation.
Design and build scalable AI platforms and reusable services.
Lead technical design reviews and ensure engineering excellence.
Participate actively in the design, development, and production deployment of AI solutions.
Lead rapid experimentation, proofs of concept, pilots, and production releases.
Own end-to-end delivery accountability from ideation through production support.
Define standards for model governance, explainability, auditability, and transparency.
Establish monitoring frameworks to evaluate accuracy, drift, bias, safety, and compliance.
Ensure alignment with healthcare regulatory requirements and organizational AI governance policies.
Create repeatable frameworks for safe deployment and operationalization of AI solutions.
Mentor technical leaders and foster an AI-first engineering culture.
Establish best practices for experimentation, model development, deployment, and continuous learning.