About this opportunity
Optum lists this Lead Software Engineer - Remote opportunity in schaumburg, Illinois. Review the employer’s description below for duties, qualifications and application requirements.
Job description
Improve the lives of others while Caring. Connecting. Growing together.
Job Description - Lead Software Engineer - Remote )
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.
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
Lead design and delivery of modernized adjudication services, aligned to the program roadmap and target architecture
Responsible for upholding engineering best practices and implementing appropriate architectural designs to deliver safe and robust solutions
Build and enhance Java/Spring-based services and APIs supporting adjudication modernization initiatives
Decompose legacy capabilities into modular, testable, independently deployable components (where appropriate), improving maintainability and delivery velocity
Own end-to-end implementation for assigned modernization features: requirements clarification, technical design, build, test, release, and production support
Partner with product, architecture, and downstream platform teams to ensure modernized components integrate cleanly with existing claim processing flows
Implement robust observability (logs/metrics/traces), alerting, and SLO-focused engineering to improve reliability and operational readiness
Drive performance and scalability improvements for claim transaction workflows (latency, throughput, resiliency, failure isolation)
Establish and maintain technical documentation (designs, run-books, support procedures) for modernized services
Perform impact assessment and gap analysis from reverse engineering efforts
Drive cross-team technical coordination for delivery schedules, dependencies, and integration testing (internal and with partners/vendors, as applicable)
Provide technical guidance into stakeholder communications (engineering impacts, release readiness, implementation constraints, risks, mitigations) using approved internal guidance
Cloud, containers, and platform engineering (Azure + AWS)Design, build, and operate cloud-native services on Azure and/or AWS, selecting appropriate managed services and patterns for reliability and cost
Package and deploy applications using Docker and Kubernetes (K8s), applying secure configuration, resource tuning, and rollout strategies
Build/maintain CI/CD pipelines for automated build, test, security scanning, and deployment across environments
Improve infrastructure and deployment automation (IaC practices where used by the team), reducing manual steps and increasing repeatability
AI engineering (prompt, agentic, harness) to accelerate deliveryAdoption of AI solutions in daily development workflow activities
Design and develop AI agents to automate/accelerate engineering and analysis tasks (e.g., code conversion, documentation, testing acceleration, migration support)
Apply AI prompt engineering and agentic AI patterns to create reliable task-oriented assistants with measurable outcomes
Be an AI champion within the team, encouraging and mentoring peers to leverage the power of AI to achieve solutions sooner
Build and maintain AI harness engineering capabilities (evaluation harnesses, regression suites, guardrails, telemetry) to ensure agent quality, safety, and repeatability
Integrate AI tooling into the developer workflow (CI hooks, PR checks, knowledge retrieval, standardized templates) to improve throughput and reduce defects
Establish operational controls for AI-enabled automation (access, logging, validation, fail-safes, human-in-the-loop where needed)
Quality, security, and operational excellenceChampion engineering best practices: clean code, design reviews, automated testing (unit/integration/contract), and secure-by-design implementation
Diagnose and resolve complex production issues; perform root-cause analysis and implement preventative fixes
Ensure compliance with internal security, privacy, and SDLC controls (secrets management, vulnerability remediation, dependency hygiene)
Collaboration and leadership expectationsProvide technical leadership for assigned initiatives: mentor engineers, unblock delivery, and raise the bar on engineering quality
Collaborate effectively across product, operations, architecture, and partner teams to deliver outcomes on schedule
Communicate progress, risks, and trade-offs clearly to stakeholders; expedite appropriately with mitigation options
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
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, or a related technical field or equivalent practical experience
10+ years of professional software engineering experience, with demonstrated ownership of complex, production critical systems
5+ years leading development teams, delivering robust and safe solutions for enterprise systems
Core Engineering SkillsHands on experience designing and building cloud native applications deployed to Azure and/or AWS
Experience building and consuming APIs (REST, messaging, integration layers) supporting high volume transactional workloads
Demonstrated experience working on or integrating with pharmacy claims adjudication systems or similarly complex transaction processing platforms
Proven experience with Docker and Kubernetes (K8s), including containerized deployments, configuration, and runtime troubleshooting
Experience participating in cross team delivery efforts where missed deadlines introduce operational, financial, or compliance risk
Deep familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and secure SDLC practices expected in OptumRx Technology environments
Solid proficiency in Java and Spring / Spring Boot, delivering enterprise grade, production ready services.
Proven ability to implement changes driven by external standards or regulatory mandates, ensuring correctness, auditability, and system stability
AI & Engineering Acceleration (Required for This Role)Hands on experience with AI prompt engineering for software development, analysis, or automation use cases
Experience developing or applying agentic AI solutions to automate engineering workflows or accelerate delivery outcomes
Working knowledge of AI harness engineering concepts, including evaluation, regression, guardrails, and reliability considerations for AI assisted systems
Proven ability to integrate AI assisted solutions responsibly into enterprise engineering environments
Operational & Quality ExpectationsStrong production ownership mindset, including:
Troubleshooting and resolving complex issues
Root cause analysis
Implementing preventative improvements
Experience implementing observability (logging, metrics, alerts) aligned to mission critical system expectations
Commitment to secure coding, data protection, and privacy controls required in healthcare technology
Preferred Qualifications
Domain ExperienceExperience supporting healthcare, PBM, or claims processing platforms, with an understanding of high availability and regulatory sensitive systems used in pharmacy or payer environments
Experience supporting legacy modernization initiatives, especially decomposing monolithic or mainframe adjacent systems into service based architectures
Familiarity with NCPDP transaction standards (e.g., D.0 and/or vF6) or experience delivering large scale standards migrations
Experience operating in multi cloud environments (Azure + AWS) with an understanding of resiliency and cost considerations at scale
Knowledge of infrastructure as code and automated environment provisioning used in OptumRx platforms
Technical LeadershipExperience mentoring engineers and elevating technical quality across a team without formal people management responsibilities
Demonstrated ability to act as a technical leader or senior individual contributor, influencing architecture, design standards, and engineering best practices.
Proven ability to clearly communicate technical decisions, risks, and trade offs to both engineering and non engineering stakeholders
Experience designing repeatable, production safe AI agents for engineering or platform workflows.
Familiarity with applying AI tools to:Code modernisation
Standards analysis and mapping
Documentation and knowledge acceleration
Test generation or validation
*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 - $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.
UnitedHealth Group is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you need special assistance or accommodation for any part of the application process, please call to be connected to Recruitment Services. Recruitment Services hours of operation are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. CT, Monday through Friday.
UnitedHealth Group is a registered service mark of UnitedHealth Group, Inc. The UnitedHealth Group name with the dimensional logo, as well as the dimensional logo alone, are both service marks for the UnitedHealth Group, Inc.
Diversity creates a healthier atmosphere: UnitedHealth Group is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.
UnitedHealth Group is a drug-free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment.
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Worksite address
schaumburg, IL, 60159, US
Who can apply
Review the original listing for work authorization, qualifications and employer requirements.