Senior Architect

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 in making healthcare work better for everyone through people-led, responsible AI while Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

Role Purpose

The Sr. Architect shapes enterprise-scale platform and solution strategies across digital, banking, payment, reimbursement, and AI-enabled capabilities in complex healthcare and financial services ecosystems. The role translates ambiguous business needs into clear target-state architectures, integration approaches, operating models, implementation options, and executive recommendations.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Lead enterprise platform strategy and business architecture across digital platforms, banking integrations, payment ecosystems, reimbursement workflows, AI-enabled capabilities, and provider and member experiences
• Translate business opportunities into target-state architecture concepts, capability models, system interaction flows, API integration patterns, data handoffs, and implementation options
• Partner with technical architecture and engineering teams to define scalable solution approaches across experience layers, orchestration services, systems of record, banking/payment platforms, identity services, operational tooling, and external partner systems
• Shape reusable platform capabilities that support multiple business domains, customer segments, products, channels, and future expansion needs rather than one-off implementations
• Lead solutioning for regulated financial workflows, including funds movement, account funding, payment modality selection, settlement, reconciliation, exception handling, reporting, auditability, and operational support
• Partner with banking, treasury, finance, payment operations, and technology stakeholders to define account structures, settlement timing, reconciliation requirements, payment-fulfillment processes, operational impacts, implementation dependencies, and readiness criteria
• Support solution design for healthcare benefit and reimbursement experiences, including claim intake, receipt/document submission, member payout selection, payment fulfillment, status visibility, customer communications, and operational review workflows
• Apply an AI-first mindset when shaping solutions by identifying where AI-enabled capabilities may improve outcomes, while partnering with dedicated AI strategy and product teams where appropriate
• Evaluate regulatory, compliance, security, identity, sanctions-screening, fraud, access-control, audit, data-retention, and customer communication implications as part of solution strategy and design
• Lead external partner and vendor solutioning discussions to align requirements, integration approach, feasibility, dependencies, readiness criteria, and operating model expectations
• Develop executive-ready materials, solution diagrams, technical decision summaries, implementation considerations, and risk/tradeoff options for senior stakeholders
• Partner with Product and Business to establish launch and scale readiness expectations, including production support models, monitoring, escalation paths, operational documentation, validation approach, and post-launch improvement loops

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:

• 5+ years of experience in business architecture, platform strategy, digital transformation, product technology leadership, technical strategy, solution architecture, or enterprise solution delivery
• Experience designing or influencing enterprise platforms involving APIs, orchestration layers, systems of record, data flows, identity/access services, operational tooling, and third-party integrations
• Experience leading complex cross-functional solutioning across product, architecture, engineering, operations, compliance, finance, banking, legal, security, data, and external partner teams
• Experience translating complex business and technical concepts into target-state architectures, solution options, executive recommendations, implementation plans, operating models, and executive-level solution materials
• Experience working in regulated healthcare, financial services, banking, payments, reimbursement, or similarly controlled environments with compliance, risk, auditability, security, identity/access, sanctions-screening, customer communication, and operational-readiness considerations
• Demonstrated ability to lead through influence, structure ambiguity, align senior stakeholders, and convert complex business, technical, operational, and regulatory tradeoffs into actionable decisions

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with banking or payment infrastructure, including account structures, funds movement, ACH, check, digital payment modalities, payment status, settlement, reconciliation, funding flows, exception handling, and reporting
• Experience with healthcare benefit, reimbursement, claim, or member financial experiences, including receipt/document submission, adjudication dependencies, payment preference capture, fulfillment, servicing, appeals, reporting, and audit requirements
• Experience participating in AI-enabled solutioning, including document intelligence, intelligent decisioning, workflow automation, explainability, model governance, human review, and downstream integration, without requiring direct ownership of enterprise AI strategy
• Experience with digital identity and access models, including authentication, authorization, role-based access, app-to-app redirects, identity context, entitlement logic, and user provisioning
• Experience with vendor-hosted or partner-integrated platforms, including solution reviews, integration design, implementation planning, readiness validation, production support alignment, issue-escalation management, or go-to-market support as a technical product SME
• Deep knowledge of commercial payments and/or banking businesses

Positioning Summary

This role requires a senior architect with solid enterprise solution, banking/payment, and regulated-platform experience The ideal candidate applies an AI-first mindset to solution design, contributes to AI-enabled capability decisions where relevant, and partners with dedicated AI strategy and product teams rather than owning enterprise AI strategy

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.

At UnitedHealth Group, our mission is to help people live healthier lives and help make the health system work better for everyone. Together, we are shaping the future of healthcare by harnessing technology and innovation to make care simpler to navigate, more affordable and more connected for the people we serve. We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone feels welcomed, valued, heard and respected, empowering people to bring their authentic selves to work and strengthening our collective impact through diverse talents, backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.

UnitedHealth Group and its affiliated brands are 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 and its affiliated brands are a drug-free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment.