Director of Strategy and Practice Operations - 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 Health is seeking a solutions-oriented, strategic leader with a proven track record in care delivery to join as Director of Practice Strategy and Optimization. This collaborative individual will help drive growth strategies and develop standards, targeting innovative partnerships with physician groups and key stakeholders.

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:

National Standards and Best Practices: Develop and implement national standards and best practices to ensure consistency and quality across the region, collaborating with local Care Delivery Organizations and other partners

• Lead the creation and implementation of in-clinic operational national standards and benchmarks to create consistency and quality across the enterprise and partner with markets to help achieve measurable results
• Identify, document, and promote best practices to enhance operational efficiency and effectiveness across OptumHealth
• Work closely with key stakeholders to gather insights and feedback for the development of standards and best practices
• Establish a continuous improvement and governance process to regularly update and refine standards and best practices based on industry trends and feedback
• Support training programs to ensure all staff are knowledgeable and compliant with national standards and best practices
• Monitor and evaluate the implementation of standards and best practices to ensure they are achieving desired outcomes
• Maintain comprehensive documentation of all standards and best practices and provide regular reports on their implementation and impact

Market Partnership and Delivery: Develop and implement market strategies and tactics to achieve OptumCare's objectives for the region through working collaboratively with the local Care Delivery Organizations and other partners in the market

• Develop and maintain strong, trust-based relationships with key customers by proactively engaging with them and understanding their evolving needs
• Key contributions to the performance of physician practices' market strategies across the Optum Health network
• Continue to cultivate and grow current operations in the market, focusing on both top-line and bottom-line growth
• Consultative, solutions-oriented "architect" who can identify needs, and coordinate partners, assets, expertise and focus to establish and evolve critical relationships with strategic partners
• Drive best in class benchmarking of operational processes and metrics, ensuring optimal efficiency and effectiveness
• Deliver on strategic roadmaps across specialists, referral, and productivity efforts

Program Leadership: Implement strategies to optimize OptumCare's growth agenda and synthesize changing market trends and gaps in capabilities

• Solutions-oriented professional who can anticipate challenges and identify effective paths forward
• Promote a culture of continuous improvement and innovative thinking while serving as a subject matter expert across clinical practice operations
• Drive focus on service and "customer" satisfaction, including patients, physicians, teammates, and partners Emphasizes collaborative value creation
• Leverage data and analytics to identify optimization efforts, share insights, and ensure progress towards objectives or industry trends occurring
• Communicate the status of initiatives to leadership by conducting regular stakeholder meetings, deep dives, and other progress updates as needed
• Track and manage metrics/dashboards and identify other reporting mechanisms to keep stakeholders updated on progress
• Serve as a liaison to other Optum Health entities to support integration and utilization of in-house capabilities that support the optimization efforts

Skillsets:

• Develop and execute scalable, solution-minded approaches 
• Excellent communication, relationship-building, problem solving, and analytical skills
• Creating and delivering value story for identified opportunities to senior clinical care leadership
• Solid, independent decision-making ability 
• Ability to deliver multiple priorities at a time
• Process and project management capabilities
• Proven track record of accomplishing work through others and inspiring others through times of ambiguity
• Experience communicating with and influencing thinking of clinical care leaders
• Experience delivering results with cross-functional teams in highly matrixed organizations

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 healthcare clinical operations and strategy experience
• 5+ years of experience in operations for an outpatient, multi-specialty medical group
• 3+ years of experience influencing and navigating complex, matrixed relationships, building strategic partnerships with stakeholders across businesses and functions
• 3+ years building and implementing standards and best practices
• Deep knowledge on the interplay between risk, quality and medical expense strategies
• Deep knowledge on strategies that reduce unnecessary utilization, cost leakage and variation
• Driver's License and access to a reliable transportation
• Ability to travel up to 25% of the time in the U.S.

Preferred Qualifications:

• 5+ years of experience working in a director or higher leadership capacity with physician and administrative leadership to deliver improvements on operations, lower costs and enhance patient experience

• 3+ years of experience working in a value based or capitated health care model

*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.