Associate Director, Vendor Strategy and Growth Enablement - Remote

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 Associate Director, Vendor Strategy and Growth Enablement sits on Optum Behavioral Health's Growth and Strategic Accounts team and is accountable for shaping how vendor and partnership opportunities support enterprise growth, proposal competitiveness, and strategic accounts across lines of business.

This role serves as the growth side owner for evaluating, prioritizing, and advancing vendor backed solutions before they enter enterprise intake, governance, or contracting pathways. The Associate Director ensures vendor opportunities are assessed as strategic assets rather than point solutions and that leadership decisions are supported by clear clinical, financial, operational, and regulatory rationale.

Operating with a high degree of judgment and influence, this role integrates growth strategy, Clinical Governance, and enterprise decision making to protect proposal credibility, strengthen UnitedHealthcare growth relationships, and prevent downstream risk.

You'll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely * from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges. For all hires in the Minneapolis or Washington, D.C. area, you will be required to work in the office a minimum of four days per week.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Serve as the accountable owner for vendor and partnership strategy in support of UnitedHealthcare growth, strategic accounts, and proposal development
• Lead vendor and partnership opportunities through C&S Clinical Governance and related enterprise review pathways, ensuring decisions are informed, timely, and defensible
• Own growth side readiness for enterprise vendor intake and contracting workflows, ensuring assumptions are accurate and complete before entering Mercury or procurement processes
• Translate vendor proposals into executive ready narratives and recommendations across clinical value, financial ROI, regulatory risk, and operational feasibility
• Partner with Clinical Strategy, Medical Economics, Actuarial, Procurement, Legal, Compliance, and market teams to align growth with enterprise requirements
• Surface tradeoffs, gaps, and risks early to improve decision quality and prevent downstream risk
• Anticipate future RFP and market needs and proactively shape vendor readiness to support competitive positioning across LOBs
• Strengthen institutional knowledge, governance discipline, and portfolio visibility related to vendor and partnership strategy

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:

• 7+ years of experience in vendor strategy, partnership strategy, healthcare growth, or related roles
• Experience preparing decision ready materials for senior leaders, governance committees, or executive audiences
• Demonstrated experience leading complex, cross functional initiatives through influence rather than authority
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office tools including Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook
• Demonstrated solid business judgment and ability to evaluate tradeoffs across growth opportunity, financial impact, and risk
• Demonstrated excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Demonstrated solid analytical, organizational, and problem solving capabilities

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in behavioral health and managed care environments
• Experience with enterprise governance, vendor intake, or contracting review processes
• Experience partnering with finance or actuarial teams on ROI or medical economics assessments
• Demonstrated ability to operate effectively in highly matrixed, ambiguous environments

*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.