Senior Vice President, OptumRx Strategy - Market Intelligence & Strategic Planning

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 Senior Vice President, Optum Rx Strategy is the enterprise strategy leader responsible for shaping Optum Rx's long-term direction by grounding leadership decisions in deep external market understanding-including competitive dynamics, regulatory forces, customer needs, and emerging industry trends. This role builds and mobilizes a strategy agenda that clarifies where Optum Rx should invest, compete, differentiate, and exit, and ensures those choices translate into enterprise planning and downstream execution.

The Strategy function is not product-specific, but it directly influences product direction by identifying unmet needs, whitespace opportunities, and external pressures that shape roadmaps and investment priorities.

You'll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely * from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges. 

Hybrid in MN/DC: This position follows a hybrid schedule with four in-office days per week.

Role Scope (What Strategy Owns)

• Market Assessment & Foresight (market forces, competitors, regulatory shifts, customer needs, trends)

• Enterprise Strategic Planning (LRP, ABP, strategic investment themes)

• Opportunity Identification & Prioritization (whitespace, adjacencies, growth vectors; partnership/M&A pipeline support)

• External Thought Leadership for executives (market/regulatory/competitor synthesis to prepare for opportunity and risk)

• Cross-functional Alignment across Product, Capabilities, Finance, Program Management, and COE/Enablement to ensure strategy is reflected in investment and execution mechanisms

Success Profile

The successful leader is externally oriented and market-curious, with the ability to convert complex competitive and regulatory signals into clear strategic choices. They are confident operating with ambiguity, influencing across a matrix, and ensuring enterprise planning and prioritization reflect market reality-while enabling leaders to move faster with more conviction.

Primary Responsibilities:

1) External Market Intelligence & Competitive Strategy (Primary Focus)

• Establish a market intelligence capability that continuously monitors competitors, client expectations, payer/employer dynamics, pharmacy services trends, and regulatory signals to inform strategic choices and risk posture

• Deliver clear, executive-ready perspectives on what is changing externally, what it means for Optum Rx, and where leadership should act (invest / accelerate / partner / divest / stop)

• Own Optum Rx's enterprise-level competitive positioning narratives and strategic implications for portfolio direction

2) Enterprise Strategic Planning (LRP / ABP / Investment Themes)

• Lead development of Optum Rx enterprise strategy and translate it into planning cycles including Long Range Planning (LRP) and Annual Business Planning (ABP), ensuring tight linkage between external realities and internal commitments

• Define strategic investment themes and choices that guide prioritization discussions across the enterprise

3) Opportunity Identification, New Growth Vectors, and Business Incubation

• Identify and prioritize whitespace opportunities, adjacencies, and new growth vectors that may translate into future product concepts or capability needs

• Shape early business cases and strategic framing for high-value opportunities, partnering with Finance and enterprise stakeholders as needed

• Support evaluation of strategic partnerships and M&A opportunities by coordinating strategic rationale, market context, and executive decision framing

4) Strategic Input to Product & Enterprise Prioritization

• Partner with Product leaders to inform ideation, prioritization, and roadmap direction based on market intelligence and leadership priorities

• Ensure strategy is consistently reflected in downstream investment and governance mechanisms through coordination with Product, Capabilities, Finance, Program Management, and COE/Enablement partners

5) Cross-Organizational Alignment & Executive Advisory

• Serve as an enterprise integrator and neutral strategic "quarterback" for cross-Optum Rx priorities that span multiple lines of business, ensuring decision clarity, alignment, and momentum

• Influence senior leadership and cross-functional partners with evidence and data

• Drive ideas through execution by resourcing project appropriately and influencing both directly and indirectly

• Provide executive advisory support through concise synthesis, decision memos, and strategic options framing tied to market and competitive reality

  
  

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:

• Bachelor's degree

• 15+ years of progressive experience in strategy, market intelligence, business planning, consulting, or related leadership roles (healthcare/pharmacy preferred)

• Demonstrated ability to build and apply external market insights (competitive positioning, market trends, customer needs, regulatory environment) to drive enterprise decisions

• Solid executive communication skills (written/verbal), including facilitation and senior stakeholder influence

• Superior analytical and strategic problem-solving capability, including experience translating complex inputs into clear executive guidance

• Comfort operating in highly matrixed environments; proven ability to lead without authority and drive cross-functional alignment

• Deep familiarity with PBM / pharmacy services market dynamics and healthcare value chain economics

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Advanced degree (MBA, MHA, or similar)

• Experience supporting partnership and M&A strategy, including market diligence framing and executive decision materials

• Healthcare/Pharmacy industry experience

*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 $225,000 to $375,000 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 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.