Sr. Director, Payments Platform - Optum Financial - 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.

The Commercial Payments division within Optum Financial operates as a payment service provider (PSP) that enables healthcare, property & casualty, and warranty payers to efficiently distribute claim payments to providers through a centralized, multi-rail platform. By accepting payment instructions via file or API, the division orchestrates end-to-end payment delivery across multiple modalities-including ACH, ACH+, virtual credit cards, and checks-aligned to provider payment preferences. It provides integrated capabilities such as payment execution, reconciliation reporting, provider portals, and exception handling, ensuring a consistent and scalable payment experience. Increasingly, the division is evolving beyond a facilitation model to offer flexible service configurations, including full-service options with fund custody and compliance management, positioning Optum Financial to address diverse payer needs and capture broader market opportunities.

Optum Financial is seeking a strategic and technically fluent Senior Director, Payments Platform to lead the vision, development, and modernization of Payments 2.0 and CCS 2.0. This leader will define and deliver a scalable, AI-native, API-first platform that powers end-to-end healthcare payment and communications experiences across payers, providers, internal operations, and strategic partners. As Commercial Payments transitions from legacy point solutions to a unified platform model, this role will be instrumental in advancing the Optum Payments Network strategy.

The ideal candidate brings deep payments and fintech platform expertise, solid product management discipline, and proven 0-to-1 platform leadership. They will lead cross-functional teams across Product, Engineering, Architecture, AI, Operations, Security, Compliance, and Commercial functions to build scalable, secure, and commercially viable platform capabilities spanning payment orchestration, onboarding, fulfillment, communications, APIs, transaction visibility, and enterprise-scale operations.

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:

Platform Strategy, Innovation & Modernization

• Define and execute the vision, strategy, and roadmap for Payments 2.0 and CCS 2.0, leading 0-to-1 platform innovation and modernization
• Drive the transition from legacy systems to scalable, configurable, AI-native, API-first platforms that support long-term business growth
• Balance near-term delivery priorities with platform scalability, extensibility, customer adoption, and strategic objectives

Platform Capabilities & Product Leadership

• Lead platform capabilities across payments, communications, onboarding, fulfillment, reconciliation, reporting, and partner integrations
• Define reusable platform services, APIs, shared capabilities, and governance models that support multiple product domains
• Partner with Product, Engineering, Architecture, and AI teams to deliver modern, configurable solutions that improve customer and operational outcomes

Enterprise Scale, Reliability & Compliance

• Ensure platform architecture supports high-volume transaction processing, operational resilience, security, compliance, and observability
• Establish standards for platform health, performance, monitoring, disaster recovery, production readiness, and operational support
• Drive enterprise controls for payment integrity, data privacy, fraud prevention, auditability, and regulatory compliance

Cross-Functional Delivery & Adoption

• Lead execution across Product, Engineering, Operations, Security, Compliance, AI, Data, Sales, Marketing, and Client teams
• Translate business strategy into roadmaps, delivery plans, migration strategies, and measurable business outcomes
• Drive platform adoption and modernization efforts that improve implementation speed, operational efficiency, scalability, and customer experience

Governance, Metrics & Executive Leadership

• Establish platform governance, operating cadences, KPIs, executive dashboards, and strategic reporting
• Partner with executive leaders to prioritize investments, manage risks, and make tradeoff decisions across cost, speed, scope, and business value
• Measure platform success through adoption, transaction performance, reliability, operational efficiency, and financial outcomes

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:

• 12+ years of Product Management experience with deep expertise in Payments, FinTech, platform products, and enterprise technology solutions
• 5+ years leading payment platforms, fintech products, large-scale modernization initiatives, and enterprise software capabilities
• Deep Payments and FinTech platform experience, including payment processing, payment orchestration, disbursements, reconciliation, settlement, and large-scale transaction platforms
• Proven experience taking a platform, product, or major capability from concept through launch, adoption, and scale (0-to-1)
• Experience leading cross-functional teams across Product, Engineering, Architecture, Operations, Security, Compliance, and executive stakeholders
• Solid technical fluency with APIs, platform architecture, cloud-native systems, integrations, and enterprise product delivery
• Demonstrated success defining platform strategy, roadmaps, MVPs, adoption metrics, and product lifecycle management
• Proven ability to influence senior leaders, align complex stakeholder groups, and drive executive-level decisions
• Proven exceptional executive communication skills with the ability to translate technical complexity into business strategy and measurable outcomes

Preferred Qualifications:

• MBA, advanced technical degree, or relevant product/technology leadership certifications 
• Experience in healthcare payments, commercial payments, financial services, banking, treasury, payment processing, claims payment, payer-provider ecosystems, or healthcare fintech
• Deep understanding of payment rails and workflows including ACH, ACH+, virtual cards, checks, funding, settlement, reconciliation, 835/ERA, remittance, and straight-through processing
• Experience designing or leading API-first platforms, developer portals, integration ecosystems, or payment orchestration platforms
• Experience with AI-native product development, agentic workflows, AI-assisted data mapping, knowledge retrieval, workflow automation, or human-in-the-loop operating models
• Experience leading cloud modernization, platform hardening, PCI readiness, security controls, observability, and production support readiness
• Experience working with high-volume transaction processing platforms where reliability, scalability, auditability, and operational resilience are critical

*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 $159,300 - $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.

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.