Associate Software Engineer

** Requisition number:
** 2392142

** Job category:
** Technology

** Our Company*
* 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.*
* ** Position Summary*
* 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 Git Hub and Git Hub 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 United Health 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…