Senior Digital Accessibility Engineer

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.

Optum Consumer Experience and Digital Product team focuses on advancing a digital-first Optum, championing Optum’s priority to be the ultimate health destination for consumers. We deliver consumer-centric experiences and optimal digital products that drive business growth by connecting enterprise solutions, improving digital self-service, and creating a comprehensive view of the consumer and their needs. We leverage technology, consumer-centered design, data and analytics to improve the consumer experience with the health care system, making it easier to access, and afford, high-quality care.

Our UnitedHealth Group mission – helping people live healthier lives and helping make the health care system work better for everyone – serves as our why; our values unite us around how we will achieve it. When we follow our mission and live our values, we deliver quality solutions that will help change the health care system for the better.

To ensure our digital experiences are inclusive and consumer-centric, the Accessibility Center of Excellence (ACOE) leads teams in building accessible solutions. partners with teams to build accessible solutions. The ACOE provides guidance, training, and talent to product teams across Optum and UHC, helping ensure our products are usable by everyone. The team is seeking energetic, motivated, and resourceful individuals to join their mission.

As a Senior Digital Accessibility Engineer, you will collaborate with leadership to advance accessibility across the enterprise, educate product teams on requirements and tools, and contribute to scalable, inclusive design practices. You’ll support large initiatives, recommend process improvements, and participate in working groups focused on standards, research, and tool development.

Success in this role requires empathy for people with disabilities, a passion for product improvement, curiosity, and the ability to mentor and share knowledge effectively.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Execute and support accessibility strategies for self-sufficiency to expand expertise within product teams across the enterprise
• Collaborate with product teams across the enterprise to promote the need for accessible products and services under the guidance of Accessibility Center of Excellence leadership
• Serve as the lead on client projects, providing direction and mentoring to digital accessibility engineers and product teams, and reporting status updates to project team leadership
• Participate in large projects or initiatives, such as the Engineering Standards (mobile or web), by researching and documenting best practices for usability and accessibility and sharing use cases to promote accessibility best practices
• Assess and validate Optum, UHC, and UHG digital properties to ensure compliance with WCAG
• Perform accessibility assessments on various digital properties, including web pages, desktop applications, mobile applications, and documents
• Document assessment results using available reporting templates and tools
• Write Rally or Jira user stories based on standard accessibility templates
• Present findings to internal product teams and external clients, educating them on specific accessibility requirements and tools
• Identify accessibility issues in visual and interactive designs and promote the use of accessible design pattern library components
• Research and stay updated on new development frameworks to assist developers in creating accessible products
• Support the Accessibility Center of Excellence by researching and writing posts for team websites
• Write curriculum and lead accessibility training for peers and clients
• Apply HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and ARIA knowledge to digital properties as part of client engagements and governance processes.

• Identify new opportunities to support and contribute to the growth of the Accessibility Center of Excellence

   

• Comply with the terms and conditions of the employment contract, company policies and procedures, and any and all directives (such as, but not limited to, transfer and/or re-assignment to different work locations, change in teams and/or work shifts, policies in regard to flexibility of work benefits and/or work environment, alternative work arrangements, and other decisions that may arise due to the changing business environment). The Company may adopt, vary or rescind these policies and directives in its absolute discretion and without any limitation (implied or otherwise) on its ability to do so

Required Qualifications:

• BA/BS degree in information technology, information design, computer science, human-computer interaction (HCI), instructional design, quality assurance, assistive technology, or a related field; equivalent industry training and experience are also acceptable
• 3+ years working in a fast-paced and highly collaborative environment with experience in large, complex software or web applications.
• 2+ years as a digital accessibility engineer, analyst, or tester
• Experience with leveraging AI technologies to enhance accessibility processes and tools, including the ability to train and mentor teams on the effective use of AI in accessibility work
• Experience working with WCAG standards
• Experience using design pattern libraries for client products
• Knowledge of user-centered design, Agile methodology, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
• Advanced proficiency in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
• Knowledge of assistive technologies and accessibility-related software such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, ZoomText, Dragon NaturallySpeaking, or similar speech recognition applications
• Ability to work independently and in diverse team settings
• Proficiency in collaborating with teams unfamiliar with inclusive design or accessibility concepts
• Demonstrated organizational and multi-tasking abilities

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.