Lead Software Engineer - Remote

Overview

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.

We are seeking a Lead Software Engineer to join the Claims Preprocessing team. The role involves managing operational development and support, including application deployments, production support, and implementing machine learning solutions such as generative AI to improve Priority 1 application support. The position requires knowledge of both traditional software development life cycle methods and modern AI algorithms, proficiency in Java Full Stack, Kafka, React, Node.js,

experience with the GenAI stack (including RAG and agents), expertise in AI evaluation tools and techniques, and an ongoing commitment to responsible use of AI within regulated healthcare environments.

The ideal candidate brings strong domain expertise in claims preprocessing workflows, deep hands-on engineering ability, architectural decision-making capability, and a proven track record of reducing incidents, improving system SLAs, and driving measurable reliability advancements.

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.

• Lead and manage a high performing team of software engineers, providing coaching, mentorship, and fostering a collaborative culture
• Partner with Product Owners and stakeholders to define scope, requirements, priorities, and delivery expectations
• Develop and maintain project plans, technical roadmaps, and execution strategies for new features, enhancements, and platform initiatives
• Oversee engineering activities end to end—from design and development through deployment, production operations, and continuous improvement
• Drive Agile practices and ceremonies (PI planning, standups, backlog refinement, reviews) to ensure predictable, high quality delivery
• Lead incident response, root cause analysis, and post mortems; implement corrective actions to improve reliability and reduce recurrence
• Architect, evolve, and manage observability platforms using Open Telemetry, Splunk, Grafana, or similar tools
• Build and maintain automation frameworks and tools to reduce manual work, improve consistency, and increase operational efficiency
• Ensure engineering excellence through robust vulnerability management, automated testing, solid code quality standards, and performance monitoring
• Partner with SREs, platform teams, and global engineering groups to align architecture, priorities, and delivery outcomes
• Identify opportunities to improve system reliability, performance, scalability, and operational maturity, lead implementation of improvements
• Leverage AI-powered tools and platforms to enhance observability, incident response, and operational efficiency
• Support cloud modernization initiatives, including on-prem to cloud migration strategies and implementation

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.

• Bachelor s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent experience
• 12+ years of experience in SDLC, SRE, Dev Ops, or related engineering domains
• 3+ years of experience leading engineering or operations teams
• Hands on experience architecting and implementing observability solutions (Open Telemetry, Splunk, Grafana, Prometheus)
• Hands on experience applying AI/GenAI capabilities—such as RAG, agents, or ML driven…