Director of Design - Optum Health - 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.

Optum's Enterprise Digital Product Office is seeking a highly creative and strategic Director of Design to lead a UX/UI design team supporting the Optum Health experience Portfolio.  This leader will play a critical role in shaping innovative digital experiences that improve how customers, providers, and care teams engage across the healthcare ecosystem.

The ideal candidate has experience leading design teams that support multiple portfolios and lines of business, with responsibilities for UX strategy, resource planning, prioritization and execution across a broad body of work. They will be equally comfortable defining long-term experience visions, driving strategic initiatives, and delivering high-quality experiences that create measurable business and customer value.

This is a hands-only leadership role. In addition to leading teams and setting strategy, the successful candidate will contribute directly to design work and deliverables, leveraging deep expertise in UX, visual design, prototyping, and design tools such as Figma. They will serve as a player-coach, guiding teams through complex challenges while remaining actively engaged in the work.

Success in this role requires the ability to inspire and develop designers, influence stakeholders at all levels of the organization, align work across multiple portfolios, and elevate the quality and consistency of experiences across products, programs and initiatives.

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:

• Lead, mentor, and grow a team of 5-8 UX/UI designers within the Optum Health space
• Drive innovation, human-centered experience strategies from concept through execution
• Lead the design strategy for AI powered, conversational, and agentic experiences, ensuring solutions are intuitive, trustworthy, and human-centered
• Proven experience of driving the adoption of emerging AI design practices, including conversation design, and generative user experiences and incorporating them into the design process
• Partner closely with product, engineering, research, and business leaders to define and deliver best-in-class experiences
• Establish clear priorities for the design organization and align team efforts to strategic business objectives
• Foster a culture of creativity, collaboration, accountability and continuous improvement
• Present design strategies, concepts, and recommendations to executive leadership with clarity and confidence
• Influence cross-functional stakeholders and build solid partnerships across the organization
• Help evolve design processes, workflows, and pattern libraries to support scale and consistency
• Navigate ambiguity and lead effectively within a dynamic, fast-paced environment
• Remai hands-on in design execution by creating concepts, prototypes, and experience explorations, while also providing design support during high-demand periods or critical initiatives
• Drives continuous improvement in design processes and methodologies, staying abreast of industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices

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:

• 8+ years of experience in UX/UI design
• Proven experience leading, managing teams and developing high-performing design teams
• Experience designing AI-powered digital products, including conversational, generative, or agentic experiences
• Experience developing and driving multiple experience visions, roadmaps and UX programs in parallel while ensuring alignment to enterprise priorities
• Demonstrated experience leading UX strategy and feature delivery work across multiple portfolios of UX programs and business units simultaneously
• Deep understanding of user experience principles, design methodologies, interaction patterns, and design systems/pattern libraries
• Expertise translating vision and strategy into tangible user experiences, from early concept development through detailed feature design and delivery
• Proficiency with modern AI-enabled design tools, including Figma Make
• Advanced proficiency in Figma, including prototyping, workshops and executive-ready storytelling artifacts
• Proven ability to manage competing priorities, allocate design resources effectively, and balance strategic initiatives with ongoing product deliver across a complex portfolio landscape
• Demonstrated ability to operate as a player-coach, providing leadership and direction while remaining actively engaged in design execution when needed
• Demonstrated solid portfolio demonstrating both strategic, visionary work and hands-on product or feature-level design execution
• Demonstrated excellent communication, facilitation, and storytelling skills, with the ability to tailor messages from executive audiences to individual contributors

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience leading design within healthcare or highly regulated industries
• Experience partnering closely with enterprise product and engineering organizations
• Familiarity with consumer-facing digital health experiences and service design

#UHCPJ

*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 $134,600 - $230,800 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.