Remote Director, Payer Network Optimization & Economics

UnitedHealth Group; Eden Prairie (MN); Hybrid; USD 113,000 - 193,000; Full time

Job summary

UnitedHealth Group is seeking a Director of Payer Network Optimization to own the network optimization product strategy within Value Connect. You will translate healthcare economics, benchmarks, and analytics into scalable, explainable decision-support workflows that drive cost, quality and access improvements.

The role requires coordinating with engineering, actuarial, medical economics, and field teams to deliver measurable ROI.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of overall experience across healthcare, technology, analytics, product, or related environments.
• 5+ years of experience in payer network strategy, network economics, medical economics, healthcare economics, cost-of-care analytics, or closely related areas.
• 5+ years translating complex healthcare business or domain problems into technology, analytics, AI, or scalable product capabilities, including partnering with Product, Engineering, UX, Data Science, or technology teams and prioritizing solutions based on customer value, business impact, feasibility, data readiness, and scalability.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively across network strategy, actuarial/finance, medical economics, analytics/data science, technology, and business stakeholders.
• Proven executive and client communication skills, including the ability to simplify complex network and economic concepts, navigate differing SME perspectives, and translate them into clear decisions and product opportunities.
• Demonstrated innovation and AI orientation, including the ability to identify where AI, automation, advanced analytics, or emerging technology can create meaningful customer or business value.

Responsibilities

• Own the Network Optimization product strategy, roadmap, prioritization, delivery, commercialization, and outcome goals within Value Connect
• Prioritize high-value use cases across network strategy and value-based network design, access, adequacy, provider performance, referrals, leakage, steerage, site of service, accountable care organization fit, alternative payment model fit, shared savings, and cost-of-care improvement
• Translate network strategy, healthcare economics, benchmarks, simulations, and analytics into trusted decision-support workflows-not static dashboards or retrospective reporting
• Partner with engineering, UX, data science, architecture, actuarial, medical economics, network strategy, advisory, clinical, compliance, and go-to-market teams to deliver scalable capabilities
• Ensure product logic, AI-enabled insights, and recommendations are explainable, evidence-backed, user-centered, and aligned to client value and measurable ROI
• Communicate roadmap decisions, tradeoffs, dependencies, risks, value story, and performance outcomes clearly to senior stakeholders, clients, and commercial partners

Skills

Payer network strategy

Network economics

Healthcare economics

Analytics & AI

Executive communication

Cross-functional collaboration

Product strategy

Tools

AI Development Lifecycle

Job description

UnitedHealth Group is seeking a Director of Payer Network Optimization to own the network optimization product strategy within Value Connect. You will translate healthcare economics, benchmarks, and analytics into scalable, explainable decision-support workflows that drive cost, quality and access improvements.

The role requires coordinating with engineering, actuarial, medical economics, and field teams to deliver measurable ROI.