Lead Software Engineer - Remote

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 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.
Optum AI is UnitedHealth Group's enterprise AI team. We are AI/ML scientists and engineers who build and operationalize AI capabilities across payer, provider, and pharmacy businesses, with a focus on safe, scalable, and production grade solutions.
As a Lead Software Engineer, you will be a hands on technical leader for AI driven products, owning the design and delivery of end to end systems that span modern front end experiences, cloud native services, and AI/ML integrations. You'll partner closely with Product, Data, Security, and Platform teams to turn ambitious ideas into resilient, production ready software.
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

Technical Execution & System Design
Design, build, and evolve end to end full stack systems spanning front end applications, backend services, APIs, and integrations
Drive and contribute to architectural decisions around scalability, reliability, performance, and security in distributed systems
Apply and uphold engineering standards, patterns, and best practices through design reviews, code reviews, and technical collaboration
Work closely with Product, Data, Security, and Platform partners to translate requirements into well designed technical solutions
Application & Platform Development
Develop modern front end applications using React or Angular with TypeScript, with emphasis on usability, accessibility, and performance
Build and maintain backend services and APIs using Python (FastAPI), Node.js, or equivalent modern frameworks, following RESTful and event driven patterns
Implement asynchronous processing, event driven workflows, and API versioning strategies as part of production systems
Contribute to and evolve cloud native, microservices based architectures running in public cloud environments
AI / ML Integration
Implement and integrate AI/ML capabilities into applications, including model inference APIs and data driven workflows
Make informed trade offs between real time vs. batch processing, latency, throughput, and scalability for AI enhanced features
Partner with Data Science and ML Engineering teams to operationalize AI features from prototype to production
Security, Identity & Compliance
Build secure applications with strong attention to authentication, authorization, data protection, and secrets management
Implement identity and access patterns such as OAuth2, RBAC, and token based session management
Ensure systems include appropriate logging, observability, and auditability aligned with enterprise and regulatory expectations (e.g., HIPAA aligned controls, where applicable)
DevOps & Operational Excellence
Contribute directly to CI/CD pipelines and DevOps workflows that support rapid, reliable delivery
Build and deploy containerized applications (e.g., Docker) using modern deployment pipelines and cloud native services
Monitor and improve system performance, reliability, and resilience to meet defined service level objectives (SLOs)
Use observability tools (logs, metrics, traces, dashboards) to understand and improve system behavior in production
Technical Leadership (Non Managerial)
Own and drive technical direction for complex initiatives, influencing architecture and design across multiple services or domains without formal people management responsibility
Serve as a technical lead on critical projects: coordinate work across engineers, identify dependencies, and ensure cohesive system design and delivery
Set and socialize technical standards and patterns for the team (e.g., reference architectures, code quality practices, testing strategies)
Act as a primary technical escalation point for complex system behavior, production incidents, and architectural tradeoffs-driving root cause analysis and long term remediation
Mentor mid and senior level engineers through design reviews, pair programming, and collaborative problem solving Technology Stack & Tools

Front End
React or Angular
TypeScript
State management and performance optimization for data heavy UIs
Backend & APIs
Python (FastAPI), Node.js or equivalent modern frameworks
RESTful APIs, asynchronous and event driven workflows
API versioning practices
Cloud & Containerization
Public cloud (AWS, Azure, or GCP)
Docker and container based runtimes
Cloud native services and microservices patterns
DevOps & CI/CD
CI/CD pipelines and automated testing
Tools such as GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or equivalent platforms
Security & Identity
OAuth2, RBAC, token based auth
Secrets management and secure data handling in regulated environments
AI / ML Integration & Tooling
Model inference APIs and data driven services
Experience with AI assisted development tools (e.g., Cursor, Claude Code, Windsurf, or similar)
Data & Observability
Logging, metrics, and tracing for distributed systems
Use of observability dashboards to monitor performance, reliability, and system behavior 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

Undergraduate degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
8+ years of professional software engineering experience, including building and operating complex, multi component distributed systems
4+ years building backend services and APIs using Python (FastAPI), Node.js, or similar modern frameworks
3+ years of experience serving as a technical lead for cross cutting initiatives (multiple services or teams), while remaining actively hands on in design and implementation
3+ years of developing modern front end applications with React or Angular and TypeScript
3+ years of deploying and operating applications in cloud environments (AWS, Azure, or GCP), including containerization with Docker and microservices based patterns
Experience using Vibe Coding methods and tools (eg Claude or Codex or GitHub Co-pilot) to support rapid prototyping, code regression testing, and/or other software engineering / integration tasks
Experience working in an Agile - Scrum - Kanban familiarity for development process using GitHub integrated with IDE to support development
Demonstrated experience defining and enforcing technical standards, reference architectures, and design patterns through reviews and hands on contributions (not just policy)
Experience evaluating, prototyping, and integrating emerging technologies, including AI/ML frameworks, agentic systems, and security tooling, and assessing their suitability for production use in regulated environments
Solid understanding and skills with DevOps tools to support continuous integration and continuous development (CICD) pipelines for their work
Advanced understanding of distributed systems design (failure modes, scaling strategies, data consistency, performance tradeoffs, and operational resilience).
Demonstrated expertise in production incident analysis and remediation, acting as a senior technical escalation point and driving systemic fixes
Proven ability to translate high level or ambiguous requirements into clear, actionable technical plans, including architecture, sequencing, and tradeoffs across security, compliance, performance, and scalability
Proven solid track record mentoring mid level and senior engineers and effectively communicating complex technical concepts, risks, and tradeoffs to cross functional partners (Product, Security, Data, Platform)
Preferred Qualifications

2+ years of experience working in healthcare or other highly regulated domains, ideally with exposure to clinical systems, health data platforms, or regulated data workflows
Experience integrating AI/ML features into production healthcare applications or payer/provider workflows
Practical understanding of security, privacy, and compliance considerations (e.g., HIPAA aligned controls or similar frameworks)
Proven to have built systems or software that uses agentic AI, generative AI, and/or AI models (reinforcement learning, federated learning, deep learning, supervised/unsupervised learning)
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 $112,700 to $193,200 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.
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.
UnitedHealth Group is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer under applicable law and qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, religion, age, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by local, state, or federal laws, rules, or regulations.
UnitedHealth Group is a drug - free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment.