Director Data Analytics,

UnitedHealth Group; Dublin; Hybrid; EUR 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible work arrangements

Job summary

UnitedHealth Group is seeking a strategic Director of Analytics within Optum to shape the analytics strategy, drive data-driven decisions, and deliver measurable business impact across Payment Integrity. You will oversee ~30 FTEs across US and offshore, partnering with local data science teams to unlock growth opportunities and improve performance through automation and governance.

The role requires proven leadership in healthcare analytics, strong communication with senior stakeholders, and the

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience.
• Proven extensive experience in an analytical role, preferably within healthcare.
• Demonstrated leadership experience managing teams and delivering cross-functional business impact.
• Proficiency in data analysis tools, including pivot tables and data visualization.
• Demonstrated deep knowledge of claims processing and/or claims auditing.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills for senior stakeholder updates.
• Ability to influence and guide teams in fast-paced production environments.
• Experience translating data into strategic recommendations and measurable outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Partner with local data science teams to identify high-value use cases and unlock growth opportunities through analytics and automation.
• Provide strategic thought leadership across Payment Integrity to improve performance and scale best practices.
• Influence the broader Payment Integrity strategy with market-relevant ideas and data-driven recommendations.
• Act as a connector across business, operations, analytics, and Data Science teams to align initiatives with enterprise priorities.
• Shape the future operating model for analytics within Payment Integrity and promote new ways of working.
• Set direction for project teams, resolve issues, and provide leadership to team members.
• Build organizational capability by teaching new skills and increasing technical proficiency.
• Lead the delivery of projects using agile methodologies and disciplined execution.
• Analyze data from multiple sources to identify the most effective approaches.
• Lead priority projects including process design, statistical modeling, and financial reporting.
• Identify and implement automation to improve operational efficiency.
• Develop project plans to achieve business goals and objectives.
• Advance quantitative analytics capabilities to meet performance targets.

Skills

Leadership

Data analysis

Pivot tables

Data visualization

Healthcare analytics

Strategic thinking

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience

Job description

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. You’ll 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.

Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

This is a key leadership role on the Non‑Clinical Core Analytics team, reporting to the Senior Director of Non‑Clinical Core Analytics. The role is accountable for shaping and delivering the analytics strategy that supports UHC Data Mining goals, including medical cost savings identification, revenue growth, C&P reduction, true positive rate performance, and platform migration outcomes. This is a strategic role. The role translates business priorities into clear investment decisions, shaping funding, headcount, and value narratives that align strategy to measurable outcomes. It drives the operating cadence through disciplined scorecards and executive storytelling, ensuring performance is transparent, comparable, and decision‑ready. It orchestrates complex, cross‑functional delivery by clarifying ownership, putting governance in place, and proactively de‑risking execution through data, processes, and alignment.

Leading a team of approximately 30 FTEs across the US and offshore, this Director sets direction, builds capability, and ensures the team delivers measurable business impact. A central focus of this role is unlocking growth through data‑driven opportunity identification and solid partnership with local data science teams. The Director leads efforts to monitor savings performance, surface growth opportunities, move opportunities through internal governance, and works closely with Business Performance partners to deliver operational efficiency through automation, autoload, and autoclose initiatives. The role is expected to translate analytics into action by aligning advanced insights, business priorities, and execution plans that improve performance at scale.

The Director oversees teams responsible for managing and transforming both structured and unstructured data, while advancing agile ways of working, strengthening technical capability, and expanding the use of business intelligence, dashboards, data visualizations, decision‑support tools, segmentation models, and business case analysis. Success in this role requires the ability to anticipate emerging risks, solve complex problems, lead teams through change, and communicate effectively with senior stakeholders across the business. The role also serves as a senior escalation point for ongoing challenges in automation, TPR, savings delivery, and remediation planning, providing clear readouts and performance updates to leadership.

This role also provides broader thought leadership across Payment Integrity, helping shape priorities beyond Data Mining by identifying emerging opportunities, influencing strategic direction, and promoting a more integrated analytics and automation agenda. The Director partners across functions to bring forward scalable ideas, connect local opportunities to enterprise priorities, and help define how analytics can be used to improve performance, strengthen decision‑making, and support long‑term capability building across the organization.

Job Scope And Guidelines

• Anticipates stakeholder and customer needs and proactively develops solutions that align to strategic priorities
• Serves as a key resource on complex and business‑critical issues
• Solves unique and complex problems with broad operational and financial impact
• Performs high‑level conceptual and analytical work to guide business decisions
• Reviews work performed by others and provides recommendations to improve quality, efficiency, and outcomes
• Forecasts and plans resource requirements to support delivery against priorities
• Authorizes deviations from standards when appropriate to enable better business outcomes
• Leads the function with a focus on performance, capability building, and continuous improvement
• Provides guidance and explanation on highly complex issues to a wide range of stakeholders
• Motivates, inspires, and develops team members through change and transformation
• Reviews the work of others and sets a high standard for quality and impact
• Develops innovative approaches to solve business challenges and accelerate performance
• Is recognized as a subject matter expert and strategic partner
• Serves as a leader, coach, and mentor to team members and cross‑functional partners

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

• Partner closely with local data science teams to identify high‑value use cases, accelerate innovation, and unlock new growth opportunities through analytics and automation
• Provide strategic thought leadership across Payment Integrity by identifying enterprise‑wide opportunities to improve performance, scale best practices, and expand the impact of analytics beyond traditional Data Mining activities
• Influence the broader Payment Integrity strategy by bringing forward market‑relevant ideas, innovation opportunities, and data‑driven recommendations that support growth, efficiency, and long‑term value creation
• Act as a connector across business, operations, analytics, and Data Science teams to align local initiatives to broader enterprise priorities and help mature the overall Payment Integrity analytics capability
• Help shape the future‑state operating model for analytics within Payment Integrity by championing new ways of working, strengthening governance, and embedding a culture of continuous improvement and innovation
• Set the direction for the project team, resolve issues, and provide clear leadership and guidance to team members
• Build organizational capability by teaching staff new skills and increasing technical proficiency across the team
• Lead the delivery of project assignments using agile methodologies and solid execution discipline
• Interpret and analyze data from multiple sources and recommend the most effective strategic and operational approaches
• Lead priority projects and strategic initiatives by contributing to process design, statistical modeling, and financial reporting
• Analyze reporting tools and outputs to investigate sources of variation and identify performance improvement opportunities
• Identify, prioritize, and oversee the design, testing, and implementation of automation solutions that improve operational efficiency
• Develop and manage project plans to achieve MBOs, business goals, and team strategic objectives
• Advance and scale quantitative analytics capabilities to achieve performance targets and inform decision‑making
• Provide senior leadership with clear, actionable updates on analytic performance, risks, remediation actions, and value realization

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

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience
• Proven extensive experience in an analytical role, preferably within healthcare
• Proven leadership experience managing teams and delivering cross‑functional business impact
• Demonstrated advanced proficiency in data analysis tools, including pivot tables and data visualization
• Demonstrated deep knowledge of claims processing and/or claims auditing
• Demonstrated solid analytical mindset, with well developed critical thinking and problem solving skills
• Demonstrated excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present ideas clearly to colleagues, clients, and senior leadership
• Proven ability to influence and guide teams in a fast‑paced production environment, including where formal authority may be limited
• Proven experience translating data into strategic recommendations, business cases, and measurable outcomes

Preferred Qualifications

• Proven experience in team leadership within core analytics environments
• Demonstrated understanding of automation approaches, advanced analytics, and data science models
• Proven experience partnering with data science teams to develop scalable solutions that drive growth, efficiency, and business value
• Proven experience leading teams through transformation, process change, and technology adoption

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.

Diversity creates a healthier atmosphere: Optum is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to gender, civil status, family status, sexual orientation, disability, religion, age, race, and membership of the Traveller community, or any other characteristic protected by law. Optum is a drug‑free workplace.