Technology Product Leader, AI-First Modernization

Optum Tech is a global leader in health care innovation. Our teams develop cutting-edge solutions that help people live healthier lives and help make the health system work better for everyone. From advanced data analytics and AI to cybersecurity, we use innovative approaches to solve some of health care's most complex challenges. Your contributions here have the potential to change lives. Ready to build the next breakthrough? Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

This is a newly created leadership role with end-to-end accountability for the technology product organization at UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual (UHC E&I). It exists because we are modernizing how a 50-million-member business builds and ships software - and we believe that transformation must be led by an AI-first product thinker, not a traditional roadmap manager.

You will lead a Technology Product Management team (of about 75 people) through a multi-year modernization, working as the direct counterpart to our business product leader and in lockstep with engineering. Together, the three of you form the leadership triangle that owns the end-to-end roadmap: business defines the why, you define the what and the how-it-gets-built, and engineering delivers. The work spans Broker, Employer, Member, and Provider experiences - all under the constraints of a regulated, security-sensitive healthcare environment.

If you are excited by re-imagining mature products with AI rather than incrementally improving them, and by leading people through that kind of change, this role is built for you.

Most large healthcare organizations are talking about AI. We are restructuring how product gets built around it, and we are willing to invest in the leadership to do it right. You will have executive visibility, a real budget, a real team, and a business that touches tens of millions of Americans. The ceiling on impact here is unusually high - and so is the bar for the person who takes it on.

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

For all hires within 30 minutes of an office in Minnesota or Washington, D.C., you'll be required to work a minimum of four days per week in-office.

What Success Looks Like in This Role:

• In your first 6 months, you have built trust with the business product leader and engineering leadership, and the three of you will operate as a single decision-making unit on roadmap and tradeoffs
• Within 12 months, AI is no longer a workstream - it is woven into how every product team scopes, designs, builds, and measures. You can point to shipped, AI-native experiences that meaningfully changed Broker, Employer, Member and/or Provider outcomes
• The Technology Product Management organization is recognized internally as a destination team: clearer career paths, more solid talent, and a reputation for shipping software
• Engineering velocity has materially improved through AI-assisted development practices you championed in partnership with engineering leadership
• Duplicative investments across the portfolio have been consolidated, and reporting is unified so business and technology stakeholders see the same numbers

Primary Responsibilities:

Set AI-First Product Direction

• Own the vision, strategy, and integrated roadmap for technology products supporting UHC E&I, with AI as the default design assumption rather than a feature add-on
• Continuously evolve the E&I AI strategy - identifying where AI changes the product, where it changes the operating model, and where it does neither - and make those calls explicit
• Translate business priorities into technology outcomes with clear milestones tied to customer experience, business impact, and measurable ROI

Lead the Team Through Modernization

• Build, develop, and retain a high-performing Technology Product Management team capable of operating in an AI-first way; this includes upskilling existing leaders and bringing in new talent where the gap is real
• Establish operating cadences, rituals, and product craft standards that turn modernization from a slogan into daily practice
• Coach product leaders to make sharper tradeoff decisions, write better specs, and partner more effectively with engineering and design
• Manage the change-management side of modernization - the human side - with the candor and steadiness that large transformations require

Partner with the Business Product Leader

• Operate as the technology counterpart to the business product leader; jointly own the end-to-end roadmap rather than a handoff between two roadmaps
• Be the trusted translator between business intent and technical reality, including when that means pushing back on either side
• Co-define success metrics that both organizations can commit to and be measured against

Partner with Engineering

• Work shoulder-to-shoulder with engineering leadership on architecture decisions, build-vs-buy calls, platform investments, and the AI tooling that engineering itself uses
• Drive transformation of the engineering delivery process at scale using AI - code generation, testing, review, and developer productivity - in partnership with engineering, not over the top of it
• Ensure delivery commitments are realistic, dependencies are visible, and quality, security, and compliance are designed-in from the start

Run the Portfolio

• Drive collaboration across business and technology teams to eliminate duplicative investments and maximize ROI
• Establish standardized metrics and reporting consumable by both business and technology stakeholders
• Champion operational efficiency, cost optimization, and seamless user experiences across Brokers, Employers, Members, and Providers
• Promote product management best practices and elevate the broader technology product community within UHC E&I

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:

• 10+ years in Technology Product Management in enterprise-scale environments, with at least 5 years leading product leaders (ie, managing through other leaders)
• Demonstrated experience leading a product organization through a real modernization - not a relabeling - including the people and culture work that goes with it
• Proven AI-first product instincts evidenced by having personally shipped products where AI is core to the experience or the operating model, and the ability to speak with depth about where AI works, where it does not, and why
• Track record of operating as the technology partner to a senior business leader, jointly owning outcomes rather than receiving requirements
• Hands-on experience driving transformation of engineering processes at scale using AI (developer tooling, code generation, automated testing, AI-assisted review)
• History of driving strategic differentiation through technology in complex, regulated industries
• Solid organizational design, talent development, and executive communication skills, including comfort presenting to C-suite and board-level audiences

Preferred Qualifications:  

• Healthcare industry experience, particularly Health Plan / Payer domain
• Experience modernizing a legacy product portfolio (not just building greenfield)
• Background that combines enterprise scale with startup-speed product instincts
• Current residence in or willingness to relocate to Minnesota
  

*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 $200,400 to $343,500 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.