Associate Software Engineer

Associate Software 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, and data they need to feel their best. Here, you will find a culture guided by diversity and inclusion, talented peers, comprehensive benefits, and career development opportunities. Come make an impact on the communities we serve as you help us advance health equity on a global scale. Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

As an Associate Software Engineer within Optum Technology, you will be part of an innovative engineering team focused on building, scaling, and maintaining secure, cloud-native AI platforms and backend services. In this role, you will apply a structured, standard approach to software development, collaborating across teams to deliver high-quality code, automate workflows, and deploy AI-powered application features that drive organizational efficiency and transform customer experiences.

You'll enjoy the flexibility to telecommute* from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges.

Primary Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and deliver scalable, secure, cloud-native AI platforms and backend microservices
• Own the end-to-end service lifecycle including design, development, deployment, performance tuning, and production support
• Define and enforce engineering standards, evaluation frameworks, and observability practices for backend AI systems
• Perform performance profiling, optimization, and reliability improvements across core applications and services
• Collaborate with product, architecture, security, and governance teams to ensure compliant, secure, and responsible deployment
• Execute software engineering activities across analysis, design, coding, testing, debugging, and maintenance with a focus on high quality
• Leverage enterprise-approved AI tools and techniques to streamline development workflows, automate common tasks, and drive continuous improvement
• Evaluate emerging tools, frameworks, and techniques to inform solution design and support strategic innovation

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

• 2+ years of software development experience
• 1+ years of experience building backend applications and microservices using Python
• 1+ years of experience with RESTful API development using frameworks such as FastAPI
• 1+ years of experience with version control and automated workflows using GitHub and GitHub Actions
• Demonstrated experience utilizing AI tools or techniques to automate tasks, improve workflow efficiency, or build application features

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, or a related field
• 1+ years of experience with building AI agents, Generative AI, LLMs, Google ADK, Anthropic MCP, Prompt engineering, Evaluation frameworks, or Observability

*All Telecommuters 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 $60,200 to $107,400 annually based on full-time employment. We comply with all minimum wage laws as applicable.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

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 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.

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.