Director Ideation & Growth, Optum Payment Integrity, Operations

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:

Operations Payment Integrity within Optum Payer Operations is responsible for driving the development and execution of medical cost savings growth for UnitedHealthcare and Commercial client health plans by ensuring payment accuracy to support the enterprise objectives. The Operations Ideation & Growth function drives significant medical costs savings from claims received by health care providers through all lines of business / Health plans in parallel to other operations within Payer Payment Integrity, technology, analytic & enablement teams.

This Ideation & Growth director role is Ireland based leading ideation across the portfolio of Clinical products. The successful candidate will lead enterprise-wide innovation and strategic growth initiatives across UnitedHealthcare (UHC), Optum Health, and Payment Integrity products and services. This role is responsible for defining the vision, driving ideation, and delivering measurable outcomes in affordability, operational KPIs, and member and provider experience. The ideal candidate brings a system-thinking mindset, deep collaboration skills, and a passion for leveraging data, analytics, and emerging technologies to solve complex healthcare challenges.

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.

What you will do:

Lead the Clinical Ideation & Growth portfolio across Provider Audit, Itemized Bill Review (IBR), and emerging clinical solutions to deliver sustained medical cost savings, affordability, market share growth, and enterprise value realization

Own the end-to-end lifecycle of Clinical Growth initiatives, from opportunity identification, research, financial sizing, and business case development through validation, governance approval, deployment, and realization of forecasted value. Ensure concepts are measured against defined business cases and enterprise affordability targets

Develop and execute a multi-year Clinical Growth strategy informed by medical spend trends, provider billing behaviors, competitive intelligence, market dynamics, and emerging healthcare industry opportunities

Provide executive oversight of opportunity sizing, business case development, forecasting accuracy, initiative prioritization, deployment readiness, and affordability tracking. Maintain clear visibility of pipeline health, dependencies, realized value, and growth forecasts through established governance frameworks

Champion the use of AI/ML, predictive analytics, competitive intelligence, agentic review capabilities, medical record intelligence, and emerging technologies to improve ideation precision, accelerate deployment velocity, and unlock new sources of medical cost savings

Provide solid partnership across Clinical Operations, Product, Analytics, Technology, Competitive Intelligence, and Clinical SME organizations to identify, prioritize, and operationalize scalable solutions aligned with enterprise affordability and growth objective

Drive deployment and adoption of new concepts, sourcing alignment, scalability, and operational readiness. Establish accountability for savings realization, quality outcomes, and provider/member experience considerations

Develop strategic growth plans that the clinical product portfolio, broaden clinical coverage, and create new affordability opportunities across all lines of business and payment platforms

Lead, develop, and mentor a high-performing team of Clinical Growth professionals while fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, continuous improvement, strategic thinking, and enterprise collaboration

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.

What you will bring:

If you don't meet every single requirement, don't let that hold you back - we're just as excited about potential as we are about qualifications and experience, and you could be exactly who we're looking for.

Bachelor's degree in Health Administration, Business, Data Science, Public Health, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience

Demonstrated in-depth understanding of the U.S. healthcare system, including major healthcare entities and the claims lifecycle from adjudication through payment integrity

Proven extensive experience analyzing healthcare delivery trends and translating findings into actionable growth strategies and concept development initiatives

Proven extensive experience leading operational teams, managing ideation portfolios, and deploying initiatives within healthcare or payment integrity environments

Proven ability to apply systems thinking and strategic vision to identify root causes of claims leakage and develop scalable, data-driven solutions

Demonstrated success partnering with product, analytics, technology, and enablement teams to co-develop and deploy innovative solutions

Demonstrated familiarity with emerging technologies, including automation, machine learning, and artificial intelligence tools used to enhance ideation and solution development

Demonstrated ability to translate complex concepts into clear, actionable language for senior leadership, clients, and cross-functional stakeholders

Proven ability to foster a collaborative, inclusive, and high-performing team culture that promotes innovation, continuous improvement, and professional growth

Other useful skills and experience include:

Proven experience in Payment Integrity environments

Proven experience conducting financial analysis and prioritizing pipeline-driven demand

Demonstrated solid time management and prioritization skills, with the ability to manage multiple deadlines in high-paced environments and communicate effectively with senior leadership

Proven ability to maintain knowledge of multiple client protocols, governance requirements, and operational processes

What We Offer:

Opportunities for professional development

Inclusive and supportive team culture

Key benefits: Private health insurance, wellness programs, matching pension contribution, lunch provided by the company, training opportunities, employee donations matching and others

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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