Senior Director, STARS Clinical Design - 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 diversity and inclusion, talented peers, comprehensive benefits and career development opportunities. Come make an impact on the communities we serve as you help us advance health equity on a global scale. Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

The Senior Director, Clinical Design - Stars serves as a senior clinical strategy and product leader for Care at Home (CaH) and Senior Community Care (SCC) risk-based businesses, with primary accountability for designing, scaling, and operationalizing clinical and quality initiatives that improve outcomes and performance across the Medicare Quality and STARS ecosystem.

This role is responsible for designing and leading quality initiatives impacting key STARS measures of highest priority to CaH and SCC risk businesses, and other H&CCD businesses that may impact STARS, while integrating those efforts into broader clinical model evolution work wherever possible for risk-based businesses. The leader will partner closely with business, clinical, operational, and enterprise stakeholders to translate quality strategy into executable programs that improve performance across STARS, HEDIS, Part D, CAHPS, and HOS measures.

In partnership with business and performance leadership, this role provides strategic direction across clinical model evolution, quality performance, and product enablement, while liaising with Clinical Excellence, Optum Health, and enterprise STARS organizations to drive alignment and execution in a highly matrixed environment.

This position requires exceptional leadership, strong clinical design acumen, deep knowledge of the Medicare Quality program, and the ability to influence and execute across complex stakeholder groups.

You'll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely from anywhere within the U.S. For hires in the Minneapolis or Washington, D.C. area, in-office presence may be required a minimum of four days per week, consistent with role and business expectations.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Design and lead implementation for quality initiatives impacting key STARS measures of highest priority to Care at Home (CaH) and Senior Community Care (SCC) risk businesses and other H&CCD businesses that may impact STARS
• Own the strategy for improving performance across the Medicare Quality program, including STARS, HEDIS, Part D, CAHPS, and HOS
• Translate regulatory, clinical, and quality requirements into scalable, operationally executable programs
• Partner with operational leaders to ensure initiatives are effectively implemented, measured, and sustained
• Design and prioritize interventions based on business need, performance gaps, and opportunities to improve clinical, operational, pharmacy, and experience-related measures
• Integrate STARS and quality initiatives into broader clinical model evolution efforts wherever possible for risk-based businesses
• Ensure alignment across clinical workflows, provider engagement, operational execution, and quality outcomes
• Influence clinical design decisions to optimize quality performance while maintaining member experience, operational efficiency, and scalability
• Define and support the clinical and quality product strategy that enables improved STARS performance and risk outcomes
• Partner with product and program leaders to ensure the roadmap includes capabilities that support clinical quality, measurement, reporting, and intervention execution
• Guide initiatives from strategy and design through pilot, deployment, and enterprise-scale execution.
• Liaise with Clinical Excellence, Optum Health, and enterprise STARS organizations as needed to align priorities, leverage best practices, and reduce duplication
• Navigate execution in a highly matrixed environment, balancing enterprise direction with business and market needs
• Partner with clinical, operations, product, technology, analytics, finance, growth, and market-facing functions and stakeholders to ensure coordinated prioritization and execution
• Serve as a senior subject matter expert for clinical quality and STARS initiatives
• Present strategy, progress, risks, and outcomes to executive leadership in forums such as MBRs, QBRs, and enterprise reviews
• Provide strategic guidance to a network of dotted-line contributors across product, clinical, program management, and market-facing functions
• Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, and data-driven decision-making

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 healthcare product strategy, clinical program design, quality management, or related roles, with prior understanding of the Medicare Quality program (STARS, HEDIS, Part D, CAHPS, and HOS measures)
• Experience designing and implementing clinical programs within a payer, Medicare Advantage, or other risk-bearing organization
• Demonstrated experience working with and operationalizing programs designed to impact these measures
• Proven success leading large-scale, cross-functional initiatives in complex, matrixed environments
• Executive communication with the ability to synthesize strategy, performance, and value for senior stakeholders

Preferred Qualifications:

• Clinical licensure (MD or RN) with experience in clinical design in a payer or risk-bearing entity driving STARS initiatives
• Background in home-based care, care delivery, payer or clinical and operational integration
• Expertise in data-driven quality improvement, clinical performance measurement, and analytics-informed decision-making
• Experience leveraging technology and training teams to optimize clinical program performance including engagement rates, documentation standards, gap closure performance

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 $159,300 to $273,200 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.    

OptumCare 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.  

OptumCare is a drug-free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment.