Description

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 clinically educated and/or licensed, analytically strong individual to support the Clinical Value Creation function within Optum's Value Based Care strategy. The Associate Director will play a critical role in translating cost and utilization insights into actionable clinical opportunities that drive affordability.

This role is focused on doing the work - evaluating trends, identifying root causes, developing solution concepts, and advancing initiatives through the pipeline from ideation to execution. The Associate Director partners closely with Clinical, Health Care Economics (HCE), Finance, and operational stakeholders to ensure opportunities are clinically sound, operationally feasible, and financially impactful.

You'll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely * from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Trend Analysis & Opportunity Identification
  • Analyze cost, utilization, and variation data to identify actionable clinical opportunity areas
  • Partner with HCE and analytics teams to interpret trends, validate signals, and prioritize high impact opportunities
  • Perform root cause analysis to translate data insights into clinically meaningful problem statements
  • Maintain a continuous pipeline of opportunities across assigned workstreams
• Affordability Pipeline Development
  • Generate and advance ideas across pipeline stages (ideation → feasibility → solution design)
  • Support sizing of opportunities, including baseline performance, target impact, and ROI assumptions
  • Develop initial business cases and value hypotheses aligned to affordability targets
  • Ensure pipeline reflects a balanced mix of near term impact and longer term strategic opportunities
• Solution Concepting & Design
  • Translate prioritized opportunities into structured solution proposals
  • Incorporate clinical best practices, evidence based interventions, and operational considerations
  • Partner with SMEs and clinical leaders to validate clinical appropriateness and refine approaches
  • Define success measures, leading indicators, and performance targets
• Cross-Functional Collaboration & Workstream Execution
  • Actively participate in cross-functional working sessions with Clinical, Finance, HCE, and operational partners
  • Facilitate working sessions to progress analyses, refine opportunities, and align stakeholders
  • Coordinate inputs across partners to ensure readiness for governance and decision-making
  • Track progress and manage deliverables across multiple initiatives simultaneously
• Governance & Initiative Advancement
  • Prepare materials and recommendations for governance forums
  • Ensure initiatives meet defined criteria for advancement through pipeline stages
  • Support navigation of approval processes by incorporating feedback and refining proposals
  • Partner with execution teams to transition approved initiatives into implementation
• Performance Tracking & Continuous Improvement
  • Monitor performance of implemented initiatives and assess impact against expected outcomes
  • Identify opportunities for optimization, scaling, or course correction
  • Feed performance insights back into future ideation and pipeline prioritization
  • Maintain alignment with enterprise reporting and affordability frameworks

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:

• Clinical education and experience (e.g., RN, LCSW, RPh, PT/OT/SLP or similar)
• 5+ years of experience in clinical operations, population health, utilization management, affordability, or value-based care
• Experience working with cost and utilization data to identify improvement opportunities
• Experience building business cases, value estimates, or ROI models
• Expert level understanding of value-based care models, affordability initiatives, and medical expense drivers
• Demonstrated ability to translate data insights into actionable clinical or operational solutions
• Proven solid collaboration skills in matrixed, cross-functional environments
• Proven ability to manage multiple workstreams and deliverables with attention to detail

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's degree (MBA, MHA, MPH, or related field)
• Experience supporting initiative governance or structured operating models
• Remote - US | Travel up to 25%

*All employees working remotely will be required to adhere to UnitedHealth Group's Telecommuter Policy

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 $112,700 - $193,200 annually based on full-time employment. We comply with all minimum wage laws as applicable.

Application Deadline: This will be posted for a minimum of 2 business days or until a sufficient candidate pool has been collected. Job posting may come down early due to volume of applicants.

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.

UnitedHealth Group is 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 is a drug - free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment.