Director Architecture - | Prairie, |

AI Architect

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:

• Define and own the AI architecture vision and standards across the organization
• Design scalable architectures for AI, GenAI, and agentic systems, including orchestration, memory, tools, and workflow patterns
• Establish reference architectures for RAG, agentic workflows, decision automation, and AI platforms
• Drive alignment between AI architecture and enterprise technology, data, and cloud strategies
• Lead architectural design for agentic AI frameworks (e.g., CrewAI, Agno, Google ADK, or equivalent)
• Define patterns for multi agent coordination, tool use, observability, and safety Guide teams on selecting and applying appropriate AI frameworks and models for different use cases
• Partner with engineering leaders to ensure AI solutions are implementable, scalable, and maintainable
• Review and approve AI solution designs, ensuring adherence to architectural standards
• Provide hands on architectural guidance during critical design, build, and scale phases
• Enable reuse of AI components and platforms to reduce duplication and accelerate delivery
• Establish guardrails for security, privacy, compliance, and responsible AI
• Partner with security, legal, and compliance teams to ensure AI solutions meet enterprise and regulatory requirements
• Define architecture patterns for model governance, prompt management, evaluation, and monitoring
• Influence and shape AI platform capabilities, tooling, and developer enablement
• Evaluate emerging AI technologies, vendors, and frameworks and recommend adoption where appropriate
• Drive architectural decisions that balance innovation, cost, performance, and risk
• Act as a senior technical advisor to executives and leadership forums
• Mentor architects and senior engineers, raising overall AI architecture maturity
• Communicate complex AI concepts clearly to technical and non technical stakeholders

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:

• 10+ years of experience in software engineering or architecture, with 5+ years in architecture leadership roles
• 8+ years of deep experience designing distributed systems and cloud native architectures
• 6+ years of hands on experience with agentic or orchestration frameworks (e.g., CrewAI, Agno, Google ADK, LangGraph, or similar)
• 6+ years of experience with Python and familiarity with modern full stack or platform architectures
• 6+ years of experience with data architecture, APIs, and integration patterns
• 5+ years of solid expertise in AI/ML and GenAI architecture, including production deployment considerations

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience building enterprise AI platforms or shared AI services
• Experience with Responsible AI, governance, and regulatory considerations
• Experience leading or mentoring architect communities
• Familiarity with RAG architectures, vector databases, and evaluation frameworks
• Proven ability to influence across engineering, product, security, and business teams
• Proven excellent communication and executive level presentation skills
• Proven background in healthcare, financial services, or other regulated environments

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). The salary for this role will range from $134,600 to $230,800 annually based on full-time employment. We comply with all minimum wage laws as applicable.

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.