Principal AI/ML Engineer

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 inclusion, talented peers, comprehensive benefits and career development opportunities. Come make an impact on the communities we serve as you help us advance health optimization on a global scale. Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together. We are looking for a Senior professional who combines deep software engineering expertise with a solid understanding of AI-Driven Development Lifecycle (AIDLC) practices. This individual will lead the adoption of AI-native engineering across teams, leveraging modern AI tools to accelerate software delivery, enhance quality, and transform traditional development practices. The ideal candidate is a seasoned hands-on engineer, technology strategist, and change agent who can define engineering roadmaps, evaluate emerging AI technologies, guide teams through AIDLC transformation, and establish best practices for AI-assisted software delivery. This role will play a critical part in evolving engineering teams from traditional SDLC models to AI-native delivery models. The ideal candidate is a seasoned hands-on engineer, technology strategist, and change agent who can define engineering roadmaps, evaluate emerging AI technologies, guide teams through AIDLC transformation, and establish best practices for AI-assisted software delivery. This role will play a critical part in evolving engineering teams from traditional SDLC models to AI-native delivery models. Primary Responsibilities: Software Engineering Leadership Design, develop, and optimize enterprise-scale Java applications using Java 17/21, Spring Boot, Microservices, REST APIs, and cloud-native architecture Lead technical design, architecture decisions, code reviews, and engineering best practices Develop scalable, secure, resilient, and highly maintainable software solutions Drive modernization initiatives including framework upgrades, cloud adoption, API modernization, and technical debt reduction Mentor engineers and technical leads across multiple teams AI-Assisted Engineering & AIDLC Adoption Champion AI-Driven Development Lifecycle (AIDLC) practices across engineering teams Utilize AI tools such as GitHub Copilot, coding agents, AI testing tools, AI code review systems, and agentic workflows to improve engineering productivity Define and implement AI-first engineering standards, guardrails, and governance frameworks Drive adoption of specification-driven development, AI-generated testing, AI-assisted design, and agentic delivery practices Establish metrics to measure AI adoption, productivity gains, quality improvements, and delivery acceleration Coach teams on effective human-in-the-loop engineering practices Technology Strategy & Innovation Continuously monitor industry trends related to AI, Generative AI, Agentic AI, Software Engineering, Cloud Platforms, and Developer Productivity Evaluate emerging tools, frameworks, and engineering methodologies Build technology roadmaps and adoption strategies aligned with business objectives Conduct proof-of-concepts and pilot programs for new AI technologies Present recommendations and business cases to engineering and executive leadership Establish reusable AI assets, prompts, agents, skills, and engineering accelerators. Engineering Transformation Lead transformation of traditional Scrum teams into AI-enabled engineering pods Drive organizational change management for AI adoption Develop playbooks, standards, training programs, and implementation frameworks Influence engineering culture toward continuous learning and innovation Partner with architects, product leaders, QA, DevOps, and business stakeholders to institutionalize AI-native practices. Required Qualifications Comply with the terms and conditions of the employment contract, company policies and procedures, and any and all directives (such as, but not limited to, transfer and/or re-assignment to different work locations, change in teams and/or work shifts, policies in regard to flexibility of work benefits and/or work environment, alternative work arrangements, and other decisions that may arise due to the changing business environment). The Company may adopt, vary or rescind these policies and directives in its absolute discretion and without any limitation (implied or otherwise) on its ability to do so Required Qualifications: Experience Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field 14+ years of software engineering experience 8+ years developing enterprise Java applications 5+ years in technical leadership or architecture roles Proven experience leading enterprise-scale modernization initiatives Demonstrated experience driving adoption of AI-assisted development practices Technical Skills Solid expertise in: Java 17/21 Spring Boot Microservices Architecture REST APIs Event-driven Architecture MongoDB SQL Server / RDBMS Hibernate / JPA Kubernetes Docker Azure Cloud CI/CD Pipelines GitHub Enterprise AI Engineering Skills GitHub Copilot AI Coding Agents Prompt Engineering Agentic Workflows AI-Assisted Testing Specification-Driven Development AI Governance & Guardrails AI Quality Validation AI Productivity Measurement Architecture & Engineering Practices Domain-Driven Design Secure Coding Performance Engineering Observability DevSecOps Cloud-Native Design Patterns 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.