Principal Architect

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.

Optum is seeking an experienced Principal Architect - Public Sector Platforms, Security & Applications to provide architecture and technical leadership across our state government technology portfolio. Our teams design, develop, modernize, and operate mission-critical solutions and IT services spanning Enterprise Data Warehousing (EDW), Data and Analytics, Healthcare Access, Program Operations, digital applications and integrations, cloud and platform engineering, DevSecOps, reliability, and cybersecurity. This role will establish architectural coherence across Product Engineering, Tier 0/Platform Engineering, Security Operations, and DevOps/SRE while ensuring security, privacy, compliance, resiliency, interoperability, and operability are built into solutions from the start. The successful candidate will translate federal and state technology, security, privacy, and regulatory requirements into practical reference architectures, engineering standards, reusable patterns, automated guardrails, and platform capabilities that delivery teams can adopt across client programs.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Define and evolve target architectures across applications, platforms, cloud, data, analytics, integration, security, identity, observability, and reliability for state government solutions
• Establish architecture principles, reference architectures, technology standards, reusable patterns, and engineering guardrails that create consistency across programs while accommodating state-specific and contractual requirements
• Provide architecture leadership for solutions spanning EDW and data platforms, analytics, healthcare access, program operations, digital applications, integration services, cloud platforms, and cybersecurity
• Translate business, client, contractual, regulatory, security, privacy, and operational requirements into feasible technical architectures; identify risks, dependencies, trade-offs, and opportunities for reuse
• Establish data architecture patterns for EDW, data lakes/lakehouses, analytics, reporting, operational data stores, and batch, streaming, API-based, and event-driven integration, including classification, lineage, retention, masking, encryption, and access control
• Guide application and integration architecture for modern web applications, APIs, microservices, workflow solutions, distributed systems, and interoperability with state and federal systems and external partners
• Partner with Tier 0/Platform Engineering to turn architectural standards into reusable platform capabilities and secure golden paths for cloud foundations, networking, identity, containers/Kubernetes, Infrastructure as Code, CI/CD, secrets, API management, logging, monitoring, backup, and disaster recovery
• Embed security and privacy by design and translate applicable client and regulatory requirements into technical controls and reference architectures in partnership with Security Operations and delivery teams
• Apply applicable standards based on client, contract, data type, and system scope, including NIST CSF, NIST SP 800-53, NIST RMF guidance, NIST SP 800-207 Zero Trust, FIPS, HIPAA/HITECH, applicable CMS security and privacy requirements including ARS, IRS Publication 1075 for FTI, state cybersecurity and privacy standards, client policies, and applicable CIS benchmarks
• Establish secure patterns for identity, authentication, authorization, least privilege, privileged access, encryption, key management, secrets, segmentation, application security, API security, data protection, and continuous monitoring
• Translate security and regulatory controls into architecture and engineering requirements, identify inheritable controls, support control traceability and evidence generation, and promote reusable security capabilities across client programs
• Partner with DevOps/SRE and Product Engineering to establish consistent practices for CI/CD, DevSecOps, software supply-chain security, Infrastructure as Code, observability, SLIs/SLOs, resiliency, capacity, performance, disaster recovery, and production readiness
• Lead lightweight architecture reviews, Architecture Decision Records (ADRs), and an architecture-exception process with documented rationale, risk, ownership, and review dates
• Identify architectural fragmentation, duplicated capabilities, and systemic technical debt; develop remediation strategies and a 12-18 month architecture roadmap aligned to client needs, product strategy, platform investments, security requirements, and technology evolution
• Build reusable architecture templates, accelerators, patterns, and knowledge assets that improve consistency and delivery speed across programs
• Act as a senior technical advisor to engineering, delivery, and client stakeholders and influence across organizational boundaries through technical credibility, clear decisions, and practical engineering outcomes

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 or graduate degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field
• 10+ years of experience in enterprise architecture, solution architecture, platform engineering, security architecture, or technical consulting, including large-scale systems in state government, healthcare, or other regulated environments
• 8+ years of experience with cloud platforms such as Azure, AWS, or GCP and solid expertise across application, integration, data, platform, security, DevSecOps, and reliability architecture

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with state Medicaid, health and human services, healthcare access, integrated eligibility, claims, provider, program operations, EDW, or analytics platforms, and frameworks such as MITA and CMS guidance
• Experience with NIST SP 800-53, NIST CSF, NIST SP 800-207, NIST RMF, HIPAA/HITECH, CMS security requirements, IRS Publication 1075, FIPS, and/or state cybersecurity and privacy standards; experience with ATO, control inheritance, and compliance evidence automation is highly desirable
• Experience building internal developer platforms, reusable cloud capabilities, golden paths, policy-as-code, automated security/compliance guardrails, legacy modernization, or AI-enabled architectures

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 $134,600 - $230,800 annually based on full-time employment. We comply with all minimum wage laws as applicable.

At UnitedHealth Group, our mission is to help people live healthier lives and help make the health system work better for everyone. Together, we are shaping the future of healthcare by harnessing technology and innovation to make care simpler to navigate, more affordable and more connected for the people we serve. We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone feels welcomed, valued, heard and respected, empowering people to bring their authentic selves to work and strengthening our collective impact through diverse talents, backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.

UnitedHealth Group and its affiliated brands are an Equal Employment Opportunity employer under applicable law and qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, religion, age, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by local, state, or federal laws, rules, or regulations.

UnitedHealth Group and its affiliated brands are a drug-free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment.