Associate Director - Workforce 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 Operations and Workforce Analytics team partners with Risk & Quality Retrieval Operations and senior leadership to deliver best in class insights, forecasting, and decision support that drive operational excellence.

The Associate Director of Workforce Planning provides strategic and operational leadership over end to end forecasting, capacity planning, and workforce modeling for Optum Insight's Risk & Quality Retrieval Operations. This role is accountable for designing scalable planning frameworks, influencing enterprise decision making, and ensuring alignment between demand, capacity, financial objectives, and client commitments.

Serving as a trusted advisor to Operations, Finance, Client Services, and Executive Leadership, the Associate Director ensures workforce strategies enable growth, efficiency, quality, and regulatory compliance while supporting Optum's mission to improve health care performance and outcomes.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Strategic Workforce Planning & Forecasting Leadership
  • Own and evolve the enterprise forecasting and workforce planning strategy for Risk & Quality Retrieval Operations, ensuring accuracy, scalability, and alignment with Optum Insight business objectives
  • Lead development of short term, mid range, and long range capacity plans, incorporating volume demand, productivity, client requirements, and regulatory considerations
  • Deliver actionable insights through weekly, monthly, and quarterly forecasts, strategic capacity models, and scenario analyses
  • Translate complex operational trends into clear, executive ready narratives and recommendations
• Business Partnership & Executive Influence
  • Act as a strategic thought partner and trusted advisor to Operations, Client Services, Finance, and Senior Leadership
  • Proactively influence decisions related to hiring strategy, vendor capacity, automation, process design, and investment tradeoffs
  • Drive cross functional alignment on workforce strategies, planning assumptions, and operational priorities
  • Support executive governance forums, including monthly business reviews, capacity reviews, and leadership planning sessions
• Planning Process, Analytics & Continuous Improvement
  • Own and continuously enhance best practice forecasting, headcount planning, and capacity modeling processes and tools
  • Establish consistent methodologies, planning cadences, and performance metrics across retrieval operations
  • Lead innovation initiatives leveraging analytics, automation, and advanced modeling techniques to improve forecast accuracy and operational efficiency
  • Partner with Data & Analytics teams to develop and enhance data models supporting planning, productivity, and performance insights
• Leadership & Team Enablement
  • Provide functional leadership and mentoring to workforce planning and analytics resources supporting operations
  • At times, lead project based teams and provide short term oversight or directional guidance to planning analysts
  • Foster a culture of accountability, analytical rigor, and continuous improvement
• Additional Responsibilities
  • Deliver ad hoc analyses, scenario modeling, and presentations to support urgent operational and strategic needs
  • Ensure compliance with Optum and UnitedHealth Group policies, data governance standards, and security requirements
  • Perform other duties as assigned
• Supervisory Responsibilities
  • Matrix leadership and project oversight of workforce planning initiatives
  • May provide temporary or functional supervision to planning and forecasting staff (no direct people management required)
• Comply with the terms and conditions of the employment contract, company policies and procedures, and any and all directives (such as, but not limited to, transfer and/or re-assignment to different work locations, change in teams and/or work shifts, policies in regards to flexibility of work benefits and/or work environment, alternative work arrangements, and other decisions that may arise due to the changing business environment). The Company may adopt, vary or rescind these policies and directives in its absolute discretion and without any limitation (implied or otherwise) on its ability to do so

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Business, Operations, Analytics, or related field (or equivalent experience)
• 10+ years of experience in workforce planning, forecasting, capacity planning, financial modeling, or operations analytics
• Experience supporting large scale operations, preferably in healthcare services, data retrieval, revenue cycle, or contact center environments
• Expert proficiency in Microsoft Excel (advanced formulas, modeling, scenario analysis)
• Demonstrated solid executive level communication skills with ability to influence at all organizational levels
• Demonstrated ability to operate independently, manage ambiguity, and deliver results under tight deadlines

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's degree in Finance, Operations, Business Administration, Analytics, or related discipline
• Experience supporting Risk Adjustment, Quality, or Medical Records Retrieval operations
• Advanced experience with forecasting tools, workforce management systems, BI platforms, or statistical modeling
• Background working in matrixed, enterprise scale organizations

Core Competencies

• Strategic thinking and analytical problem solving
• Executive presence and stakeholder influence
• Operational acumen and financial insight
• High ethical standards, integrity, confidentiality, and data stewardship
• Continuous improvement mindset

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.