Lead AI/ML Engineer- Hybrid Eden Prairie, MN
About The Position
The Optum Health AI team is looking for a Lead AI/ML Engineer to leverage cutting-edge AI technologies to transform healthcare operations, improve patient experience, and enhance scalability. This role specifically focuses on Voice AI, a key strategic initiative aimed at creating a seamless experience for members and agents, reducing manual work, and improving scalability. The engineer will establish foundational capabilities such as language translation, accent harmonization, and real-time transcription, which will be applied across various Optum Health AI pillars and set enterprise-wide standards for external vendor evaluations. The role involves partnering closely with ECS Business to lead estimates, solution architecture, roadmap alignment, and engineering to deliver production-ready, reusable, scalable, secure, and compliant prototypes.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, or a related technical field; 4+ years of software engineering experience may substitute for a degree
- 10+ years of software engineering experience, including designing, building, and deploying production-grade AI/ML models and systems
- 4+ years of experience developing applications leveraging Large Language Models (LLMs), LLM workflows, Agentic AI, evaluation techniques, and observability platforms
- 3+ years of experience leading engineering teams, mentoring engineers, defining technical standards, and driving solution architecture
- Experience with Python, backend services, cloud platforms, and CI/CD pipelines to deliver scalable, secure, production-ready solutions
Nice To Haves
- Master’s or Ph.D. degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, or a related technical field
- Technical experience with Databricks, Azure AI, Azure Transcription Services, RLlib, PyTorch, OpenAI, or similar AI/ML platforms and frameworks
- Experience developing with front-end frameworks, REST/WebSocket APIs, and secure cloud-native application patterns
- Experience working in healthcare, including EHR integration and HIPAA-compliant AI application development
- Deep machine learning domain knowledge across NLP, speech, personalization, recommendation systems, computer vision, or anomaly detection
- Demonstrated adaptability, ownership, learning agility, and curiosity in solving ambiguous, high-impact technical problems
Responsibilities
- Lead and mentor AI/ML engineers, setting technical direction, engineering standards, and a culture of continuous learning
- Design, build, and deploy responsible Voice AI capabilities, including speech handling, enhanced ASR, bilingual switching, slurred speech recognition, dynamic personality, and multi-modal/multi-cloud interactions
- Translate AI advances in real-time transcription and speech processing into scalable, reusable, production-ready enterprise capabilities
- Partner with ECS Business to drive solution architecture, cost estimation, and roadmap alignment across modern and legacy technology stacks
- Embed ethical AI and HIPAA-compliant security standards across the model development lifecycle
- Implement advanced engineering features such as dynamic interactive forms, adaptive updates, and conditional logic to improve patient-agent workflows
- Define enterprise standards for evaluating and vetting external AI vendors
- Use enterprise-approved AI tools to automate workflows, accelerate delivery, and drive continuous improvement
Benefits
- Comprehensive benefits package
- Incentive and recognition programs
- Equity stock purchase
- 401k contribution
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
