Lead Software Engineer

Improve the lives of others while Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

Job Description - Lead Software Engineer (2391981)

Lead Software Engineer - 2391981

Optum Tech is a global leader in health care innovation. Our teams develop cutting‑edge solutions that help people live healthier lives and help make the health system work better for everyone. From advanced data analytics and AI to cybersecurity, we use innovative approaches to solve some of health care’s most complex challenges. Your contributions here have the potential to change lives.

Ready to build the next breakthrough? Join us in making healthcare work better for everyone through people‑led, responsible AI while Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

Genoa Healthcare, part of Optum Rx, is seeking an experienced Lead Software Engineer to serve as a technical leader within its Forward Deployed Engineering program and delivery pods.

The Forward Deployed Engineering model embeds engineers directly with business and pharmacy teams to identify high‑value problems, understand operational workflows, rapidly build solutions, validate business value, and support adoption. FDEs bridge business strategy, AI, and software engineering rather than waiting for fully defined requirements.

This role will lead the technical design and hands‑on engineering delivery of secure, scalable software and AI‑enabled solutions. The Lead Software Engineer will work within a cross‑functional pod alongside product, business, AI/ML, quality, architecture, data, and operations partners to move solutions from discovery and prototype through production readiness, operational validation, and transition to long‑term ownership.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Provide technical leadership within a cross‑functional FDE pod, guiding architecture, engineering, integration, testing, deployment, and production readiness
• Embed directly with pharmacy operations and business stakeholders to understand workflows, uncover business needs, and translate ambiguous problems into buildable technical solutions
• Lead the architecture, design, development, testing, deployment, and support of enterprise applications, APIs, microservices, integrations, and AI‑enabled workflows
• Build and ship production‑quality code while working alongside software, AI/ML, data, quality, architecture, and Dev Ops engineers
• Rapidly develop prototypes and thin‑slice solutions to validate technical feasibility, operational fit, risk, and measurable business value
• Own the technical path from discovery through adoption, including integration requirements, controls, observability, reliability, and operational readiness
• Establish engineering practices for code quality, automated testing, code reviews, CI/CD, release management, documentation, and production support
• Diagnose and resolve complex architectural, performance, integration, reliability, and production issues
• Measure solution performance and adoption against defined business and operational outcomes
• Capture reusable components, patterns, technical lessons, and accelerators that can benefit other Genoa and Optum engineering teams
• Mentor engineers and help expand FDE, AI‑assisted engineering, and modern software‑delivery practices across Genoa

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, AI/ML, or related field, or equivalent experience
• 3+ years of software engineering experience, with proficiency in Python or other modern programming languages
• Experience building AI/ML, generative AI, or agent‑based solutions
• E…