Software Engineering Lead - Python, fast API, AI/ML

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.

Primary

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end application delivery, including design, development, testing, deployment, and production support
• Develop, maintain, and enhance scalable Python-based applications, including bug fixes and feature development
• Design, build, and optimize AI-powered solutions leveraging LLMs, LangChain, LangGraph, and prompt engineering techniques
• Drive AI adoption by identifying opportunities to improve business processes, developer productivity, and operational efficiency using GenAI capabilities
• Analyze, prioritize, and resolve defects in partnership with Product, Business, and Engineering teams
• Design and implement automation across development, testing, monitoring, deployment, and operational processes
• Drive performance optimization, reliability improvements, and scalability initiatives
• Provide technical leadership through solution design, code reviews, mentoring, and engineering best practices
• Partner with stakeholders on technical assessments, project status, risk management, and issue resolution
• Evaluate emerging technologies, AI capabilities, and continuous improvement opportunities
• Lead QA, UAT, release management, and change management activities
• Own critical production incidents, root cause analysis, and SLA-driven issue resolution
• Participate in on-call support and ensure application stability and operational excellence
• Comply with all applicable Company policies, procedures, and business directives, changes including those relating to work location, team assignments, work schedules, and flexible work arrangements

Required

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or similar field
• 6+ years of experience as a Backend/Python Developer
• Hands-on experience with Azure cloud services, preferably including Azure Key Vault, Azure Monitor/Application Insights, and Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
• Experience working in Agile environments, including Scrum and Kanban methodologies
• Solid expertise in:
  • Backend Development: Python, FastAPI
  • AI/LLM Technologies: LangChain, LangGraph, prompt engineering, and integration with LLM APIs such as OpenAI, Claude, or Codex
  • Database: MongoDB
  • Testing: pytest, pytest-asyncio
• Proven excellent communication and collaboration skills with the ability to work effectively across teams and stakeholders
• Proven flexible and adaptable, with willingness to support critical project needs outside of standard business hours when required

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.