Senior Manager AI/ML Engineering (Contact Center Tech side, Amazon LEX)

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

Engineering Leadership

Lead and mentor engineering teams building AI/ML and Conversational AI solutions

Define and execute technology roadmaps aligned with business goals

Drive engineering excellence through scalable, reliable, and secure software practices

Establish delivery, quality, and adoption metrics to measure success

Agile Delivery & Execution

Drive Agile delivery across multiple teams using Scrum, Kanban, or SAFe methodologies

Ensure predictable execution through effective planning, prioritization, and risk management

Balance innovation, technical debt, and business priorities to achieve delivery outcomes

Foster a culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence

AI Strategy & Innovation

Accelerate AI adoption across products, platforms, and internal processes

Lead innovation initiatives leveraging Generative AI, Conversational AI, Voice AI, and intelligent automation

Evaluate emerging AI technologies and drive experimentation at scale

Champion responsible AI and AI Development Lifecycle (AIDLC) practices

Conversational AI & Platform Integration

Lead the development of enterprise-grade chatbots, voice bots, and virtual assistants

Provide technical leadership across Amazon Lex, Google Dialogflow, and Google ADK

Drive integration with enterprise applications, CCaaS platforms, and customer engagement solutions

People & Stakeholder Leadership

Build, coach, and develop high-performing engineering teams

Foster an inclusive, collaborative, and innovation-focused culture

Partner effectively with business leaders, product teams, architects, and executive stakeholders

Drive alignment across cross-functional teams to deliver business outcomes

Engineering Excellence & Compliance

Drive adoption of CI/CD, Terraform, DevOps, and cloud-native engineering practices

Implement Shift-Left approaches for quality, security, and operational readiness

Ensure compliance with enterprise security, privacy, and governance requirements

Promote DevSecOps and Responsible AI best practices

Comply with the terms and conditions of the employment contract, company policies and procedures, and any and all directives (such as, but not limited to, transfer and/or re-assignment to different work locations, change in teams and/or work shifts, policies in regards to flexibility of work benefits and/or work environment, alternative work arrangements, and other decisions that may arise due to the changing business environment). The Company may adopt, vary or rescind these policies and directives in its absolute discretion and without any limitation (implied or otherwise) on its ability to do so

Required Qualifications

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field

10+ years of software engineering experience, including 5+ years in engineering leadership roles

Experience leading enterprise AI/ML and engineering teams

Technical Expertise

Solid hands-on experience with

Amazon Lex

Google Dialogflow

Google ADK

Experience building and scaling

Voice Bots

Chatbots

Virtual Assistants

Proficiency in Python, Node.js, or TypeScript

Solid experience with CI/CD pipelines, Terraform, DevOps practices, and cloud-native architectures

AI & Platform Experience

Solid understanding of AI Development Lifecycle (AIDLC) and Responsible AI principles

Experience integrating AI solutions with enterprise systems and workflows

Exposure to LLMs, RAG, Agentic AI, and modern AI architectures

Experience working with CCaaS platforms and integrations

Leadership & Business Acumen

Solid people leadership, coaching, and talent development experience

Excellent stakeholder management and executive communication skills

Proven ability to drive AI transformation and organizational change

Demonstrated track record of delivering innovative solutions with measurable business impact

Preferred Qualifications

Certifications in AI/ML, Cloud Technologies, Agile, or DevOps

Experience with Azure AI, AWS AI/ML, or Google Cloud AI services

Experience with Genesys, NICE, Five9, Amazon Connect, or similar CCaaS platforms

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.