Associate Director - Product

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.

Role Overview

As the Associate Director of Agentic Business Transformation, you will be the chief architect of our AI Native Ops Strategy. Your mission is to identify, redesign, and deploy autonomous AI agent workflows that move the needle on operating margins, speed, and accuracy. With a core mindset of Operational Excellence, you will ensure that AI agents are not just "added" to existing processes, but are used to fundamentally reimagine how we deliver value.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Architecture: Define the vision for moving from "Copilots" (human-led AI) to "Agents" (AI-led workflows) across core departments like Finance, Sales, and Supply Chain.
• Workflow Re-Engineering: Use Lean and Six Sigma principles to deconstruct messy, manual processes and rebuild them as "agentic" workflows where AI can independently reason and act.
• Human-Agent Collaboration Models: Design the "rules of engagement" for how our human employees oversee, guide, and intervene with autonomous digital workers.
• Value Realization (OpEx): Define and track rigorous KPIs linked directly to P&L outcomes, such as 30-50% reduction in cycle times or significant drops in back-office costs.
• Governance & Ethics: Act as the "Human-in-the-Loop" guardian, establishing clear guardrails, escalation paths, and ethical boundaries for autonomous decisions.
• Stakeholder Storytelling: Translate complex AI capabilities into clear business narratives for executive leadership to secure buy-in and investment.

·Operational Excellence & Compliance

• Maintain deep operational and financial insight through routine analysis of performance data to identify trends and improvement opportunities.
• Ensure all processes and deliverables meet or exceed regulatory, compliance, and operational standards.
• Implement robust quality assurance frameworks to guarantee accuracy, timeliness, and compliance across appeal operations.

·Technology Deployment & Innovation

• Lead the design, scoping, and execution of technology-driven projects aimed at improving operational efficiency and scalability.
• Define objectives, timelines, resource allocation, and success metrics for automation initiatives, ensuring alignment with business priorities.
• Drive adoption of AI/ML technologies across appeal operations, targeting 80% role enablement to enhance productivity and decision-making.

·Performance Monitoring & Issue Resolution

• Proactively monitor service levels to detect early signs of degradation and initiate corrective actions.
• Collaborate with cross-functional leaders, business partners, and subject matter experts to identify root causes and implement short-term fixes and long-term strategic solutions.
• Communicate remediation plans effectively to stakeholders and track progress against defined goals.

What We're Looking For 

• Operational Excellence Mastery: Deep experience in process optimization (e.g., Lean, Six Sigma, or Kaizen) and a track record of driving measurable efficiency gains.
• Strategic Thinking: The ability to see the "big picture" and identify which business bottlenecks are best solved by autonomous agents versus traditional automation.
• Change Management Leadership: Proven ability to guide human teams through the psychological and structural shifts of working alongside AI "colleagues".
• Problem-Solving Curiosity: A high degree of "innate curiosity" about how emerging technology can solve old business problems.
• Effective Communication: The skill to bridge the gap between technical teams (who build the agents) and business units (who use them).

Qualification:

• Graduate degree 
• 5+years of leadership experience in Business Transformation, Operations, or Strategy Consulting.
• Demonstrated experience deploying large-scale automation or digital transformation projects (e.g., RPA, ERP, or early GenAI pilots).
• Experience in high-complexity sectors such as Healthcare,Shared services etc

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.