Senior Principal Data Analyst

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 diversity and inclusion, talented peers, comprehensive benefits and career development opportunities. Come make an impact on the communities we serve as you help us advance health equity on a global scale. Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

About the role:

As Senior Principal Data Analyst, you will play a key leadership role in advancing Optum's enterprise analytics capabilities and helping transform how data, analytics, and AI drive decision-making across the organization.

You will lead the development and execution of analytics strategies that improve business performance, strengthen operational effectiveness, and create measurable value for our customers and stakeholders. Working across business, product, technology, and analytics teams, you will help shape a modern analytics ecosystem that combines advanced analytics, data-driven decision making, and AI-enabled capabilities to accelerate insight generation and improve outcomes.

This role is focused on enabling analytics excellence across the enterprise, establishing scalable analytics practices, driving innovation, identifying opportunities for AI adoption, and ensuring analytics capabilities evolve to meet the changing needs of the business. You will champion a culture of curiosity, experimentation, continuous improvement, and measurable impact while leading teams responsible for delivering actionable insights and strategic analytics solutions.

The ideal candidate combines solid business acumen, analytics leadership experience, and a passion for innovation. They can translate complex business challenges into analytics opportunities, build high-performing teams, and influence senior leaders to adopt modern analytics and AI-driven approaches that improve efficiency, effectiveness, and decision quality.

Careers with Optum offer flexible work arrangements and individuals who live and work in the Republic of Ireland will have the opportunity to split their monthly work hours between our Dublin or Letterkenny office and telecommuting from a home-based office in a hybrid work model.

Primary Responsibilities:

Analytics Strategy & Transformation

Define and execute the strategic vision for enterprise analytics capabilities across Optum

Lead initiatives that modernize analytics practices, improve decision intelligence, and the use of data-driven insights throughout the organization

Identify opportunities to leverage AI, advanced analytics, and automation to improve operational efficiency, accelerate insight generation, and enhance business outcomes

Partner with senior business leaders to align analytics investments and priorities with enterprise objectives

Establish and measure key performance indicators that demonstrate the value and impact of analytics initiatives

Analytics Enablement & Innovation

Drive adoption of modern analytics methodologies, tools, and practices that improve scalability, accessibility, and business value

Promote responsible and effective use of AI across analytics workflows and decision-support processes

Foster a culture of innovation, experimentation, and continuous learning across analytics teams

Evaluate emerging analytics and AI capabilities and develop strategies for enterprise adoption where appropriate

Champion self-service analytics and democratization of data to empower business stakeholders

Business Partnership & Value Realization

Serve as a trusted advisor to executive and operational leaders on analytics strategy and opportunities

Translate complex business challenges into actionable analytics solutions that support strategic decision-making

Partner with cross-functional teams to identify opportunities for performance improvement, cost optimization, growth, and customer impact

Ensure analytics initiatives are aligned with measurable business outcomes and value realization objectives

Communicate insights, recommendations, and strategic opportunities effectively to executive audiences

Analytics Governance & Excellence

Establish standards, best practices, and governance processes that promote consistency, quality, and trust in analytics

Ensure analytics solutions are delivered in a scalable, compliant, and business-focused manner

Drive continuous improvement in analytics delivery processes, stakeholder engagement, and adoption

Promote data literacy and analytics maturity across the organization

Leadership & Talent Development

Lead, mentor, and develop high-performing analytics professionals and people leaders

Build an inclusive, collaborative, and high-accountability culture focused on innovation and business impact

Develop organizational capabilities that strengthen analytics expertise, consulting skills, storytelling, and strategic influence

Foster solid partnerships across analytics, technology, product, and business functions

You will 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 providing development for other roles you may be interested in.

Required Qualifications:

Proven extensive experience leading enterprise analytics, business intelligence, data science, or AI-enabled analytics organizations

Proven experience developing and executing analytics strategies that drive measurable business outcomes and support enterprise transformation initiatives

Demonstrated success identifying and scaling opportunities to leverage AI, advanced analytics, automation, and decision intelligence across business functions

Demonstrated solid understanding of modern analytics ecosystems, including data platforms, reporting solutions, advanced analytics, and AI-enabled capabilities

Proven experience partnering effectively with technology, product, and business leaders to deliver analytics solutions at enterprise scale

Proven ability to translate complex business challenges into actionable analytics strategies and roadmaps

Proven experience establishing analytics governance, operating models, standards, and best practices that improve consistency, adoption, and trust in analytics

Demonstrated success leading large-scale cross-functional initiatives involving analytics, business, operational, and technology stakeholders

Demonstrated solid executive communication, stakeholder management, and organizational influence skills

Proven experience building, leading, and developing high-performing analytics teams while fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement

Demonstrated solid understanding of responsible AI principles, analytics lifecycle management, and value realization methodologies

Proven experience measuring and communicating business impact from analytics and AI investments

Preferred Qualifications:

Advanced degree in Analytics, Data Science, Business, Economics, Statistics, Engineering, Computer Science, or a related discipline

Proven experience leading enterprise analytics modernization or AI transformation initiatives

Proven experience enabling adoption of AI-assisted analytics, decision-support capabilities, predictive analytics, or intelligent automation solutions

Demonstrated familiarity with cloud-based analytics environments and modern data platforms

Proven experience working closely with data engineering, software engineering, product, and technology teams to operationalize analytics capabilities

Proven experience developing analytics enablement frameworks, reusable methodologies, and organizational best practices that improve delivery effectiveness and adoption

Proven experience advancing analytics maturity, data literacy, and self-service analytics capabilities across large organizations

Proven experience within healthcare or other regulated industry environments

Please note you must currently be eligible to work and remain indefinitely without any restrictions in the country to which you are making an application. Proof will be required to support your application.

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.

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