Director, AI/ML Applied Science

Director, AI/ML Applied Science - Remote
Requisition number: 2365564
Job category: Technology
Primary location: Minnetonka, Minnesota
Date posted: 09/23/2026
Overtime status: Exempt
Travel: No
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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.

Optum AI is UnitedHealth Group's enterprise AI team. We are AI/ML scientists and engineers with deep expertise in AI/ML engineering for health care. We develop AI/ML solutions for the highest impact opportunities across UnitedHealth Group businesses including UnitedHealthcare, Optum Financial, Optum Health, Optum Insight, and Optum Rx. In addition to transforming the health care journey through responsible AI/ML innovation, our charter also includes developing and supporting an enterprise AI/ML development platform.

Optum AI team members:

Have impact at scale: We have the data and resources to make an impact at scale. When our solutions are deployed, they have the potential to make health care system work better for everyone.
Do ground-breaking work: Many of our current projects involve cutting edge ML, NLP and LLM techniques. Generative AI methods for working with structured and unstructured health care data are continuously being developed and improved. We are working in one of the most important frontiers of AI/ML research and development.
Partner with world-class experts on innovative solutions: Our team members are developing novel AI/ML solutions to business challenges. In some cases, this includes the opportunity to file patents and publish papers about the methods we develop. We also collaborate with AI/ML researchers at some of the world's top universities.
You'll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely * from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges. For all hires in the Minneapolis or Washington, D.C. area, you will be required to work in the office a minimum of four days per week.

Primary Responsibilities:

Develop novel machine learning models for prediction of health outcomes and improved care, engagement models, and other applications from both structured and unstructured data
Develop and execute the vision for engineering platforms, and reusable code that will be used by thousands of other engineers for automation and improved efficiency of AI/ML development
Stay up to date with latest technologies and literature recommending solutions to improve business goals
Mentor data scientists, AI/ML scientists, and engineers to ensure the delivery of the AI/ML projects, and provide guidance on how to best use specific tools or technologies to achieve the desired results
Collaborate with cross-functional teams to determine applicability of AI to business problems
Closely collaborate with the Responsible Use of AI (RUAI) team to ensure that the delivered solutions are compliant with the company policies and standards
Write both internal and external documentation of the novel algorithms, including patents and publications in machine learning and other scientific conferences and journals as well and/or infrastructure design and deployment procedures
Evangelize the benefits of the AI models and platforms built in our team to drive adoption for employees and functional roles across the UHG enterprise including technology, operations, marketing, legal, compliance, people team, internal infrastructure, and more

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:

Masters degree in Computer Science, Math, Statistics, or a related field and 10+ years experience OR a PhD in Computer Science or a related field and 5+ years experience
3+ years experience focused on AI/ML/NLP solutions delivery
5+ years of experience experience leading and implementing AI/ML projects from ideation to delivery, evaluation, and maintenance in production
Hands-on experience implementing AI/ML and/or NLP solutions
Proven experience in Python and AI/ML frameworks and tools (e.g., MLFlow, TensorFLow, PyTorch)
Experience developing and deploying data pipelines, machine learning models, or applications on cloud platforms (e.g., Azure, AWS, Databricks, AzureML)
Experience with Gen AI solution pipelines (e.g., RAG) and Large Language Modeling and Transformer Architectures (e.g., BERT, GPT, etc.)
Proven presentation experience with the ability to explain complex AI/ML concept and results to technical and non-technical audiences
Proven understanding of mathematical foundations of machine learning, including statistics, linear algebra, and computer science
Preferred Qualifications:

PhD in Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics, or a related discipline
Experience in healthcare (AI)
Experience working with cross-functional and distributed teams in a global and diverse environment
Experience in establishing AI/ML best practices, standards, and ethics
Working knowledge of Software Development tools and practices including DevOps and CI/CD tools (e.g., Git, Jenkins, Docker, Kubernetes, etc.)
Security and vulnerability management (package scans, remediation)
Familiarity with data versioning tools (Delta Lake, DVC, LakeFS, etc.)
Experience with model observability tools for insights into the behavior, performance, and health of your deployed ML models (tracking, alerting, compliance monitoring, etc.)
*All employees working remotely will be required to adhere to UnitedHealth Group's Telecommuter Policy

Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to local labor markets, education, work experience, certifications, etc. In addition to your salary, we offer 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 us, you'll find a far-reaching choice of benefits and incentives. The salary for this role will range from $134,600 to $230,800 annually based on full-time employment. We comply with all minimum wage laws as applicable.

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.