Associate Project Manager

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.

We are seeking a highly organized, proactive, and detail-oriented Associate Project Manager to support strategic initiatives, project governance, and business execution. This role will enable disciplined planning, coordination, reporting, and follow-through across priority initiatives, helping ensure business commitments are tracked, risks are surfaced, and outcomes are delivered with clarity and accountability. The ideal candidate will be comfortable coordinating with stakeholders, managing multiple priorities, supporting governance routines, preparing meaningful business updates, and driving action-oriented follow-through that improves visibility, alignment, and operational effectiveness.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Project Management & Coordination
  • Support planning, coordination, governance, and delivery tracking for strategic projects, transformation initiatives, and operational priorities aligned to business objectives
  • Maintain project plans, milestones, deliverables, dependency trackers, risk logs, action registers, and status reporting to enable disciplined execution
  • Coordinate with cross-functional stakeholders to monitor progress, manage dependencies, identify risks, and escalate issues requiring timely attention
  • Support project reviews, governance forums, and leadership discussions by documenting decisions, actions, owners, and follow-ups through closure
  • Prepare dashboards, business updates, presentations, and governance materials that communicate project health, progress, risks, and outcomes clearly
• Strategy Execution, Governance & Business Operations
  • Support execution of strategic priorities and business objectives through structured governance, performance tracking, and operational follow-through
  • Enable informed decision-making by consolidating business updates, performance insights, and reporting inputs into clear, action-oriented materials
  • Track milestones, risks, dependencies, decisions, and performance indicators to strengthen accountability and delivery visibility
  • Improve governance routines, reporting mechanisms, and operating rhythms to enhance transparency, consistency, and execution discipline
  • Help translate business priorities into actionable plans, measurable milestones, and sustainable execution routines
  • Support continuous improvement and operational efficiency through data-informed problem solving, process simplification, and disciplined follow-up
  • Foster cross-functional alignment and stakeholder engagement to accelerate execution, remove barriers, and achieve business objectives
  • Handle sensitive project, business, and leadership-related information with professionalism, discretion, and appropriate confidentiality
• Comply with all applicable Company policies, procedures, and business directives, changes including those relating to work location, team assignments, work schedules, and flexible work arrangements

Required Qualifications:

• Graduate degree or equivalent experience
• 3+ years of experience in project management, PMO, business operations, governance, or strategic execution roles
• Experience using project management or workflow tracking tools such as Jira, Smartsheet, MS Project, Planner, or similar platforms
• Solid experience preparing project status updates, governance materials, business reviews, dashboards, scorecards, and leadership-ready reporting
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Power BI, Tableau, and Alteryx
• Demonstrated ability to support cross-functional initiatives by tracking milestones, risks, dependencies, decisions, actions, and stakeholder commitments
• Demonstrated solid communication, organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment

Preferred Qualifications:

• Project management certification or equivalent 
• Experience in healthcare, insurance, operations, shared services, or other highly regulated business environments
• Experience supporting executive-level reviews, governance forums, leadership updates, or business performance discussions
• Experience partnering with cross-functional teams across operations, technology, analytics, finance, or business leadership
• Exposure to transformation programs, operating model improvements, process simplification, or continuous improvement initiatives
• Working knowledge of Lean, Six Sigma, Agile, or structured problem-solving methodologies
• Demonstrated ability to convert ambiguous business needs into structured plans, milestones, trackers, and actionable reporting
• Demonstrated solid storytelling and presentation skills with the ability to translate data, risks, progress, and outcomes into concise business insights

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.