Director Software Engineering - Data Platform engineering

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.

The Director, Platform Success & Solutions Engineering, is responsible for accelerating business outcomes and value realization through the effective adoption of enterprise data, analytics, and AI platforms across Lines of Business (LOBs). This role partners closely with business and technology leaders to identify opportunities, remove adoption barriers, and ensure platform investments deliver measurable business impact.

The position leads a team of Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs) and collaborates closely with Product Management, Platform Engineering, Architecture, and Operations teams to translate business needs into scalable solutions leveraging CDaO capabilities. The Director serves as the primary bridge between platform capabilities and business outcomes, driving customer success, platform adoption, and organizational transformation.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Own platform adoption, value realization, and business outcomes across Lines of Business through effective use of CDaO data and AI platforms
• Lead and develop a team of Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs) responsible for customer engagement, solution design, onboarding, and implementation success
• Partner with business and technology stakeholders to understand strategic priorities and translate them into scalable platform solutions
• Collaborate with platform engineering, product managers, and architects to influence platform roadmap priorities based on customer needs and adoption insights
• Champion modern engineering practices, automation, AI-assisted delivery, and platform best practices to accelerate time-to-value
• Provide technical leadership and architectural leadership for complex initiatives, ensuring solutions are scalable, secure, reliable, and aligned with enterprise standards
• Monitor and communicate adoption KPIs, business value realization, customer satisfaction, and optimization opportunities to stakeholders and leadership
• Drive operational excellence through effective prioritization, resource planning, and execution against strategic objectives and roadmap commitments
• Comply with all applicable Company policies, procedures, and business directives, changes including those relating to work location, team assignments, work schedules, and flexible work arrangements

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related discipline
• 14+ years of overall experience in software engineering, data engineering, and solution architecture. 4+ years of experience leading platform adoption, customer success, or customer-facing technical teams
• Deep experience with public cloud platforms including Azure, AWS, and/or GCP, with strong understanding of cloud-native data, analytics, AI/ML, security, networking, and operational architectures
• Experience managing customer-facing technical teams responsible for adoption, onboarding, implementation success, and business outcome realization
• Working knowledge of modern engineering and platform technologies including Python, Kubernetes, CI/CD, Infrastructure-as-Code, APIs, and automation frameworks
• Solid understanding of enterprise data and AI platforms such as Databricks, Snowflake, Microsoft Fabric, and modern analytics, AI/ML, and data product ecosystems
• Proven success leading enterprise adoption, customer success, digital transformation, platform modernization, or technology enablement initiatives
• Demonstrated ability to influence stakeholders and drive business outcomes through technology solutions
• Proven excellent communication and stakeholder management abilities - comfortable presenting to Sr. leadership
• Proven ability to navigate ambiguous problems and present solutions in crisp, and clear format

Preferred Qualifications:

• Certification in a cloud platform (AWS, GCP, Azure)
• Experience delivering AI/GenAI, advanced analytics, data products, modernization, or platform transformation initiatives
• Experience establishing Centers of Excellence (CoE), platform communities, developer enablement programs, or customer success organizations
• Experience working with platform product management, FinOps, governance, and enterprise-scale operating models
• Experience in healthcare, financial services, or other highly regulated environments

At UnitedHealth Group, our mission is to help people live healthier lives and make the health system work better for everyone. We believe everyone-of every race, gender, sexuality, age, location and income-deserves the opportunity to live their healthiest life. Today, however, there are still far too many barriers to good health which are disproportionately experienced by people of color, historically marginalized groups and those with lower incomes. 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.