Senior Full Stack 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're looking for a hands-on Senior Full Stack AI Engineer to design, develop, deploy, and support AI-powered applications using an AI Development Lifecycle (AIDLC) approach. This role combines expertise in AI/ML engineering, Generative AI, modern frontend development, backend engineering, and cloud-native platforms to deliver scalable, secure, and production-ready applications.

The ideal candidate will have a solid foundation in AI/ML engineering and full stack application development, with expertise in React, Next.js, Node.js, Python, and AI-powered application integration. You will work closely with Applied Scientists, Product Teams, Data Engineers, Platform Engineers, and Lead AI Engineers to operationalize AI capabilities and deliver impactful business solutions.

Primary Responsibilities

AI Solution Development & AIDLC

• Develop and deploy AI-powered applications following AI Development Lifecycle (AIDLC) principles
• Translate business and product requirements into scalable AI-enabled solutions
• Contribute to the design, development, testing, deployment, monitoring, and continuous improvement of AI applications
• Partner with Applied Scientists and AI Engineers to operationalize machine learning and Generative AI solutions
• Support production readiness, adoption, and operational excellence of AI applications

Full Stack Application Development

• Develop modern full-stack applications using React, Next.js, TypeScript, Node.js, and Python
• Build responsive, accessible, and high-performing user interfaces using modern frontend engineering practices
• Create reusable UI components, libraries, and design patterns that improve consistency and developer productivity
• Develop REST APIs, GraphQL services, Backend-for-Frontend (BFF) services, and microservice-based applications
• Build real-time user experiences using WebSockets, Server-Sent Events (SSE), and event-driven architectures

AI/ML & Generative AI Engineering

Integrate AI/ML capabilities into enterprise applications and business workflows

Develop solutions utilizing

Machine Learning models

Deep Learning models

Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)

Vector Search and Semantic Retrieval

Prompt Engineering

• Agentic AI workflows
• Support development of AI copilots, conversational interfaces, recommendation engines, intelligent assistants, and workflow automation solutions
• Collaborate on model integration, inference services, evaluation frameworks, and AI quality improvements

Platform Engineering & Production Operations

• Build backend services supporting AI inference, orchestration, and enterprise integrations
• Develop cloud-native applications and distributed services supporting scalable AI workloads
• Implement MLOps, LLMOps, CI/CD, deployment automation, and monitoring practices
• Establish observability through logging, monitoring, tracing, alerting, and operational dashboards
• Optimize applications and AI workloads for performance, reliability, scalability, and cost efficiency

Security, Quality & Engineering Excellence

• Implement secure development practices including OAuth, SSO, RBAC, encryption, and enterprise security controls
• Follow Responsible AI, governance, compliance, and risk management requirements
• Participate in code reviews, architecture discussions, testing strategies, and quality assurance activities
• Contribute to reusable engineering frameworks, shared services, and platform accelerators
• Mentor junior engineers and promote engineering best practices within the team
• 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, Engineering, Information Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, or related field
• 8+ years of experience in software engineering, AI/ML engineering, or full stack application development
• Solid experience building enterprise applications using React, Next.js, TypeScript, Node.js, and modern frontend technologies
• Experience integrating AI/ML capabilities into applications and business workflows

Hands-on experience with

Machine Learning models

Large Language Models (LLMs)

Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)

Prompt Engineering

Semantic Search

• Agentic AI concepts and workflows
• Experience developing APIs, microservices, and Backend-for-Frontend (BFF) architectures
• Experience with MLOps, deployment automation, CI/CD pipelines, and monitoring solutions
• Experience working with cloud platforms such as Azure, AWS, or GCP
• Solid understanding of application security, observability, performance optimization, and reliability engineering
• Understanding AI Development Lifecycle (AIDLC), SDLC, and production engineering practices
• Proficiency in Python and backend frameworks such as FastAPI, Flask, or Django
• Proven solid analytical, problem-solving, communication, and collaboration skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience developing AI copilots, conversational AI applications, and intelligent automation solutions
• Experience with AI application frameworks such as LangChain, LangGraph, Semantic Kernel, LlamaIndex, AutoGen, CrewAI, or similar technologies
• Experience with vector databases and retrieval platforms including Pinecone, Weaviate, ChromaDB, pgvector, Azure AI Search, or equivalent solutions
• Experience with Databricks, Snowflake, Kafka, Spark, and modern data platforms supporting AI applications
• Experience building reusable UI frameworks, component libraries, and design systems

Experience developing event-driven and real-time applications

Experience contributing to technical design reviews, engineering standards, and application modernization initiatives

Experience working within healthcare, financial services, insurance, or other regulated industries

Solid understanding of frontend performance optimization, accessibility standards, SSR/ISR, and responsive design principles

Familiarity with Docker, Kubernetes, Infrastructure-as-Code, and cloud-native deployment practices

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.