Position Summary:CVS Health is seeking a highly technical, self-directed AI Staff Engineer to lead the design and development of agentic AI-powered search experiences across Aetna's digital platforms (web and mobile).
This AI Staff Engineer sits at the intersection of AI architecture, platform engineering, and domain integration, enabling intelligent search capabilities across healthcare, pharmacy, and insurance experiences.
As a pure individual contributor at the staff level, you will own end-to-end solutioning and execution - from problem framing through architecture design and implementation. You will operate in a highly autonomous environment with evolving product structure, requiring strong judgment, technical depth, and the ability to translate ambiguity into scalable solutions.
A successful candidate demonstrates deep engineering expertise, the ability to independently design and deliver complex production-grade AI-driven systems, and a proactive approach to unblocking technical and organizational challenges.
Key Responsibilities:Agentic AI Architecture & Design- Design and evolve agentic search systems, including orchestration layers and domain-specific sub-agents. Make architectural decisions on when to introduce new agents versus extending existing capabilities, balancing scalability, performance, and maintainability
End-to-End Solution Ownership - Independently translate loosely defined product needs into clear technical solutions, architecture designs, and implementation plans. Design, build, and deliver complex features in the search platform with production-quality standards
Hands-On Development- Actively write and own production code for core platform components, setting the standard for quality, scalability, and maintainability across the system
Operate in Ambiguity- Work with product and stakeholders to shape and define requirements where they are unclear, establishing scope, success criteria, and delivery plans in an evolving product environment
Cross-Team Collaboration- Partner with product and domain teams (e.g., benefits, pharmacy, provider) to integrate search capabilities, ensure correctness and relevance of results, and align platform capabilities with business needs
Technical Decision-Making & Tradeoffs- Make informed decisions across system design, agent composition, latency vs. accuracy tradeoffs, and domain ownership boundaries
Pragmatic System Design- Apply strong engineering judgment to avoid over-engineering agentic solutions, favoring pragmatic designs that balance complexity, performance, and maintainability
Problem Solving & Unblocking- Proactively identify and resolve technical and organizational challenges
Required Qualifications:- 7+ years of experience in large-scale software development and distributed systems
- 3+ years of experience designing and building production-grade AI-driven systems, including agentic or orchestration-based architectures
- 3+ years of hands-on programming expertise (Python and/or backend technologies) with production-level system ownership
Preferred Qualifications:- Experience in healthcare, insurance, or pharmacy domains, with familiarity in member-facing digital platforms
- Experience designing or working with: AI-powered search systems (semantic search, retrieval, ranking) and LLM-based orchestration and multi-agent systems
- Experience designing systems with complex business logic and domain ownership boundaries
- Experience with authentication and secure system design in regulated environments
- Strong communication skills with the ability to collaborate effectively across technical and non-technical stakeholders
- Ability to develop clear technical designs, solution briefs, and architecture documentation
Education:- Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience (HS diploma + 4 years relevant experience)
Pay RangeThe typical pay range for this role is:
$130,295.00 - $260,590.00
This pay range represents the base hourly rate or base annual full-time salary for all positions in the job grade within which this position falls. The actual base salary offer will depend on a variety of factors including experience, education, geography and other relevant factors. This position is eligible for a CVS Health bonus, commission or short-term incentive program in addition to the base pay range listed above. This position also includes an award target in the company's equity award program.
Great benefits for great peopleWe take pride in offering a comprehensive and competitive mix of pay and benefits that reflects our commitment to our colleagues and their families.
This full-time position is eligible for a comprehensive benefits package designed to support the physical, emotional, and financial well-being of colleagues and their families. The benefits for this position include medical, dental, and vision coverage, paid time off, retirement savings options, wellness programs, and other resources, based on eligibility.
Additional details about available benefits are provided during the application process and on Benefits Moments.
We anticipate the application window for this opening will close on: 09/03/2026
