Associate AI or 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.

Position in this function is responsible for designing, developing, and deploying AI-powered solutions using no-code, low-code, and advanced platforms, translating business needs into scalable applications that enhance products, workflows, and decision-making.

Primary Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain software that deploys machine learning models and algorithms into production environments
• Build and support AI/ML solutions using technologies such as:
• Natural Language Processing (NLP)
• Natural Language Understanding (NLU)
• Computer Vision
• Deep Learning
• Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR)
• Semantic and intent classification models
• Work with large-scale computing and data-processing frameworks
• Apply machine learning, statistics, probability, and optimization techniques to solve business problems
• Write production-quality code to build and support AI/ML tools and applications
• Analyze and prepare data for model development and deployment
• Communicate technical findings and analytics results to leadership and stakeholders
• Collaborate with data scientists, AI researchers, product teams, and software engineers to move models into production
• 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 regards 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

Success Profile for Grade 26

Candidates Should Demonstrate The Ability To

• Learn new AI/ML technologies quickly
• Develop and test machine learning models with guidance from senior engineers
• Write clean, maintainable, and well-documented code
• Perform data preparation, feature engineering, and model evaluation activities
• Collaborate effectively with data scientists, software engineers, and business stakeholders
• Contribute to production-ready AI/ML solutions while following engineering best practices

Required Qualifications

• Graduate degree or equivalent experience
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, or a related technical field
• Experience working with SQL and relational databases
• Knowledge of data structures, algorithms, object-oriented programming, and software development fundamentals
• Understanding of statistics, probability, and data analysis techniques
• Understanding of software development lifecycle (SDLC), source control systems (Git), and testing methodologies
• Basic understanding of Machine Learning concepts, algorithms, and model evaluation techniques
• Familiarity with machine learning frameworks such as Scikit-learn, TensorFlow, PyTorch, or similar technologies
• Proficiency in at least one programming language such as Python, Java, or Scala
• Demonstrated solid analytical, problem-solving, and debugging skills
• Proven effective verbal and written communication skills with the ability to work in a collaborative team environment

Preferred Qualifications

• Internship, academic project, or hands-on experience building AI/ML solutions
• Experience with cloud platforms such as Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud Platform
• Experience with big data technologies such as Spark, Databricks, Hadoop, or distributed computing frameworks
• Healthcare domain experience or experience working with regulated data environments Knowledge of MLOps concepts, CI/CD pipelines, model deployment, and monitoring
• Familiarity with NLP, Computer Vision, Deep Learning, or Predictive Analytics use cases
• Exposure to Generative AI, Large Language Models (LLMs), Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), prompt engineering, or AI agents
• Exposure to containerization technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes

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.