Senior Manager Systems Management - ITSM

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 ITSM Onboarding Lead is responsible for planning, coordinating, and executing the successful onboarding of new business partners and acquired entities onto the Optum ITSM platform. This role serves as the primary delivery lead for ITSM onboarding engagements, ensuring alignment to Optum standards across Incident, Change, Problem, CMDB, Service Catalog, Knowledge, Event Management and Reporting practices.

The role blends program leadership, process expertise, and cross‑functional coordination, acting as the single point of accountability from onboarding kickoff through go‑live and early stabilization.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Lead end‑to‑end ITSM onboarding engagements from kickoff through go‑live and transition to steady state operations
• Own creation and execution of onboarding plan, milestones, and delivery cadence across discovery, build, readiness, and launch phases
• Facilitate ITSM onboarding kickoff sessions, workshops, and recurring checkpoints with business partners and internal teams
• Guide partners through Optum ITSM processes including Incident, Problem, Change, CMDB, Service Catalog, Knowledge, Event Management and Reporting
• Ensure onboarding entities adopt ITSM standards, governance models, and required controls
• Partner with ITSM practice owners to validate process fit, configuration needs, and onboarding readiness
• Coordinate across ITSM practice teams (Incident, Change, Problem, CMDB, Knowledge, Service Catalog, Reporting, Data Services) to drive onboarding outcomes
• Act as the primary liaison between the business partner, ITSM platform teams, and delivery stakeholders
• Identify dependencies, risks, and gaps; drive mitigation plans to keep onboarding on track
• Serve as the primary point of contact for ITSM onboarding communications and status reporting
• Provide clear onboarding expectations, timelines, and next steps to partner leadership and delivery teams
• Escalate issues appropriately and drive resolution across functional boundaries
• Capture onboarding lessons learned and contribute to continuous improvement of ITSM onboarding processes, templates, and playbooks
• Support refinement of onboarding artifacts, kickoff materials, and delivery standards
• Energy, motivation, and commitment to drive results in a challenging, fast-paced environment
• 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 regards 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:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience
• Solid experience in IT Service Management (ITSM) delivery and transformation
• Experience leading cross‑functional projects and onboarding initiatives
• Hands‑on knowledge of ITIL‑aligned processes (Incident, Change, Problem, CMDB, Service Catalog, Knowledge)
• Proficiency with ServiceNow application functionality and capabilities 
• ITIL Foundations V3 or V4
• Proven ability to manage multiple stakeholders and complex delivery timelines
• Proven solid facilitation, communication, and organizational skills
• Proven ability to work during US business hours to work with business partners

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with ServiceNow or large‑scale enterprise ITSM platforms
• Experience supporting mergers, acquisitions, or large partner onboarding efforts
• Proven background in healthcare, regulated environments, or large enterprise technology organizations
• Demonstrated ability to meet commitments, build consensus, negotiate resolutions, and garner respect from other teams

Success Measures

• Onboarded partners meet Optum ITSM standards and readiness criteria at go‑live
• Clear onboarding plans, milestones, and ownership across all ITSM practices
• Positive partner feedback on onboarding clarity, execution, and support
• Reduced onboarding risk through proactive issue identification and resolution

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.