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. Come make an impact on the communities we serve as you help us advance health equity on a global scale. Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

Optum AI is chartered to drive value on high impact enterprise AI problems, democratize AI through the enterprise ML platform, accelerate the adoption of Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) and drive Responsible AI. Projecting to deliver $8.4B of benefit value over the next 5 years through these efforts as well as reduce risk through safe, accurate, and unbiased AI, this is a key focus of the enterprise.

As an individual contributor, the Senior AI/ML Engineer, you will contribute to driving the research, development and application of innovative techniques from NLP, NLU and LLM technologies as well as multi-modal models to improve health outcomes in a responsible way.

You’ll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely * from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Developing and implementing models and methods that extend and improve LLM capabilities and reliability including LLMs and generative AI models

• Develop innovative AI algorithms for leveraging multiple sources of data (e.g., wearables, mobile devices, IoT, natural language, image, claims) to develop early signals for detecting health state changes

• Develop and evaluate predictive AI models on large datasets to track patient health and identify decline or improvements in health

• Defining the strategies, priorities, and metrics for AI models

• Collaborating with the Optum AI team, and cross-disciplinary teams such as product and clinical teams

• Document research findings thoroughly and maintain well organized code

• Author/co-author papers, posters, proposals, and presentations

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:

• MS degree in Computer Science, Information Science, Statistics, Mathematics, or related field

• 3+ years of research or industry experience

• 3+ years of developing machine learning applications

• Experience training and evaluating AI/ML models and understanding of statistical techniques and concepts

• Experience with Advanced Deep Learning

• In-depth experience with Python and the Python data science libraries (NumPy/SciPy/Pandas/scikit-learn/etc.)

Preferred Qualifications:

• PhD in Computer Science, Information Science, Statistics, Mathematics, or related field

• Experience working with healthcare data

• Experience fine-tuning LLMs and/or improving pre-trained LLM’s performance

• Solid technical and scientific knowledge about generative AI

• Knowledge of frameworks such as Langchain or Llamaindex

*All employees working remotely will be required to adhere to UnitedHealth Group’s Telecommuter Policy.

California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, or Washington Residents Only: The salary range for this role is $88,000 to $173,200 annually. Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to local labor markets, education, work experience, certifications, etc. UnitedHealth Group complies with all minimum wage laws as applicable. In addition to your salary, UnitedHealth Group offers 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 UnitedHealth Group, you’ll find a far-reaching choice of benefits and incentives.

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.

At UnitedHealth Group, our mission is to help people live healthier lives and make the health system work better for everyone. We believe everyone–of every race, gender, sexuality, age, location and income–deserves the opportunity to live their healthiest life. Today, however, there are still far too many barriers to good health which are disproportionately experienced by people of color, historically marginalized groups and those with lower incomes. We are committed to mitigating our impact on the environment and enabling and delivering equitable care that addresses health disparities and improves health outcomes — an enterprise priority reflected in our mission.

Diversity creates a healthier atmosphere: UnitedHealth Group is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.

UnitedHealth Group is a drug - free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment.