Senior Director, Optum Workforce Management and Planning - Remote

UnitedHealth Group is a health care and well-being company that's dedicated to improving the health outcomes of millions around the world. We are comprised of two distinct and complementary businesses, UnitedHealthcare and Optum, working to build a better health system for all. Here, your contributions matter as they will help transform health care for years to come. Make an impact with a team that shares your passion for helping others. Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

Our mission is to help people live healthier lives and help make the health system work better for everyone. Every day, our teams combine advanced analytics, clinical expertise, and operational scale to transform how healthcare is delivered and experienced.

With more than 300,000 employees worldwide, Optum operates at significant scale. Ensuring the right talent is in the right place at the right time is critical to fulfilling our mission and sustaining our growth. The Enterprise Workforce Management & Planning function plays a key role in enabling this impact.

Optum is seeking a strategic and execution-focused Senior Director of Enterprise Workforce Management & Planning to help build and operationalize a centralized workforce management capability across the enterprise.

Today, workforce planning practices exist across multiple Optum businesses but are largely decentralized. This role will play a critical leadership role in designing, implementing, and scaling enterprise workforce planning frameworks, governance processes, and analytics capabilities.

The Senior Director will partner closely with Finance, Human Resources, Talent Acquisition, and business leaders to improve workforce planning discipline, enhance headcount governance, and enable more effective talent mobility across the organization.

This leader will help shift Optum from reactive workforce adjustments to a more proactive, data-driven workforce planning model, improving both business outcomes and employee experience.

You'll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely * from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges. For all hires in the Minneapolis or Washington, D.C. area, you will be required to work in the office a minimum of four days per week.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Enterprise Workforce Planning & Execution
  • Support the development and execution of an enterprise-wide workforce management and planning strategy
  • Design and implement workforce planning frameworks, processes, and tools across business units
  • Drive adoption of standardized practices for headcount planning, demand forecasting, and workforce analytics
• Headcount Governance & Financial Alignment
  • Lead execution of enterprise headcount governance processes, including requisition review and approval frameworks
  • Partner with Finance to ensure workforce plans align with budget targets and financial forecasts
  • Reduce inefficiencies in hiring practices, including the high volume of cancelled requisitions, by improving planning rigor and governance
  • Establish processes that ensure hiring decisions are data-driven and aligned to enterprise priorities
• Workforce Optimization & Talent Mobility
  • Build and scale processes that better align talent supply with demand across business units
  • Support the development of internal mobility and redeployment strategies to minimize workforce disruption
  • Improve coordination across the enterprise to reduce scenarios where one area is downsizing while another is hiring for similar skill sets
  • Enhance the speed and effectiveness of workforce redeployment efforts
• Workforce Analytics & Insights
  • Develop and operationalize enterprise workforce analytics and reporting capabilities
  • Deliver insights on headcount trends, hiring demand, attrition, and skill gaps to inform business decisions
  • Partner with HR and Finance teams to improve forecasting accuracy and workforce visibility
• Operating Model & Governance
  • Help define and implement a consistent workforce planning operating model across Optum
  • Facilitate cross-functional alignment across People Team, Finance, Talent Acquisition, and business leaders
  • Support governance forums and decision-making processes related to workforce planning
• Employee Experience & Change Management
  • Improve the employee experience during workforce transitions, including redeployment and internal mobility
  • Support change management efforts required to move toward a more centralized, enterprise workforce planning model
  • Promote a culture of proactive workforce planning and talent mobility

The Senior Director will be accountable for driving measurable improvements in workforce planning effectiveness, governance, and talent mobility

Workforce Planning Effectiveness

• Workforce Plan Accuracy: Variance between planned and actual headcount
• Adoption of Workforce Planning Frameworks: Percentage of business units utilizing standardized planning processes
• Forecast Accuracy: Improvement in predicting hiring demand and workforce needs

Requisition Governance & Hiring Efficiency

• Cancelled Requisition Reduction: Decrease in cancelled or unused requisitions
• Requisition Fill Rate: Percentage of approved roles successfully filled
• Time-to-Decision: Speed of requisition governance and approval processes

Workforce Optimization & Talent Mobility

• Internal Mobility Rate: Increase in roles filled through internal candidates
• Redeployment Efficiency: Time to place impacted employees into new roles
• Cross-Business Talent Movement: Increased movement of talent across Optum businesses

Financial & Productivity Outcomes

• Alignment to Workforce Budgets: Adherence to headcount and labor cost targets
• Labor Cost Efficiency: Improved workforce cost management
• Reduction in Reactive Hiring: Fewer unplanned hiring spikes

Workforce Visibility & Analytics

• Dashboard Adoption: Usage of workforce analytics by business and HR leaders
• Data Quality & Availability: Improved access to timely workforce data for decision-making

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 of experience in workforce planning, HR strategy, operations, or related fields
• Experience leading large-scale, cross-functional initiatives in complex organizations
• Experience with workforce analytics, headcount planning, or organizational design
• Solid partnership with Finance, HR, and business leadership

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in healthcare or large, highly matrixed organizations
• Familiarity with workforce planning tools and analytics platforms
• Background in HR transformation, workforce planning, or enterprise operations

*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 $159,300 to $273,200 annually based on full-time employment. We comply with all minimum wage laws as applicable.

Application Deadline: This will be posted for a minimum of 2 business days or until a sufficient candidate pool has been collected. Job posting may come down early due to volume of applicants.

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.