Director, Operational Excellence - UHC Data and Analytics - Remote

Overview

The organization is seeking a Director of Operational Excellence to support its Data & Analytics Office. This newly formed office is building a capability-driven organization to power its strategic ambition. In this role, you will drive financial discipline, workforce planning, vendor governance, and process rigor, while partnering with cross-functional leaders to translate strategy into consistent, well-governed operational execution.

This position offers flexibility to work remotely from anywhere within the U.S. For 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.

Responsibilities

• Lead financial planning and analysis for the Data & Analytics Office, including:
  • Annual budgeting
  • Quarterly forecasting cycles
  • Tracking budget shifts and internal transfers across organizational realignments and project funding
• Own portfolio and workforce operations, including:
  • Reconciling hiring demand against budget
  • Tracking FTE and contractor capacity
  • Providing leadership visibility into staffing, utilization, and capitalizable labor across the office
• Build and maintain executive-ready financial scorecards that integrate data across financial, HR, and project systems to improve transparency, accelerate decision-making, and surface risks to plan
• Establish and run a vendor governance cadence and performance/compliance tracking to ensure vendor spend is aligned to value delivered
• Influence operating model and process transformation across the Data & Analytics Office, including:
  • Standardizing governance, tooling, and ways of working as the office moves toward a capability-driven structure
• Build trust-based partnerships across Data & Analytics leadership, Finance, IT, HR, and business stakeholders to deliver concise, data-backed recommendations and executive summaries
• Identify cost savings and process efficiencies through rigorous financial analysis, vendor negotiation, and data flow/systems reconciliation
• Establish and lead a small, dedicated operational excellence team, serving as a connective layer between the Data & Analytics Office and enterprise finance, HR, and procurement functions

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Business, Finance, or a related field
• 10+ years of progressive experience in financial planning & analysis, portfolio operations, or operational leadership, ideally supporting a large data, analytics, or technology organization
• Experience managing budgets and large blended workforces (FTEs, offshore resources, and contractors)
• Experience in healthcare, insurance, or complex regulated environments is solidly preferred; federal or consulting backgrounds with solid financial systems depth are also relevant
• Proven track record building financial scorecards, dashboards, and reporting processes that improve executive visibility and decision-making speed
• Demonstrated success establishing vendor governance processes (QBRs, MSA/rate card analysis) that deliver measurable cost savings
• Proven solid cross-functional leadership skills, with experience partnering across Finance, IT, HR, and business stakeholders to drive organizational change

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree (e.g., Business Analytics, MBA)
• Technical Expertise:
  • Financial Planning & Operational Strategy
    • Budgeting, forecasting, and restatement cycles
    • Portfolio and resource management across FTEs, offshore staff, and contractors
    • Capitalizable labor tracking and cost allocation
    • Financial governance and controls across complex, multi-team organizations
  • Vendor & Contract Management
    • Quarterly Business Review (QBR) design and facilitation
    • Master Services Agreement (MSA) and rate card analysis
    • Vendor onboarding, performance management, and compliance tracking
  • Operating Model & Process Transformation
    • Operating model design for capability-driven organizations
    • Process improvement, data flow optimization, and automation of repetitive reporting
    • Change management and governance standardization across teams
  • Data-Driven Reporting & AI-Enabled Analytics
    • Executive dashboard development combining financial, HR, and project data
    • AI-enabled analysis to accelerate insight generation and issue identification
    • Resource planning, utilization tracking, and workforce analytics
  • Systems & Tools
    • ERP & Financial Systems: SAP (ERP/Ariba/Fieldglass), Workday, Oracle BI and similar
    • Data Analytics & Visualization: Power BI, Microsoft Cowork and similar
    • Project Management & Productivity: Microsoft Project, Visio, MS Suite

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary range: $134,600 - $230,800 annually based on full-time employment
• Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to local labor markets, education, work experience, certifications, etc.
• Benefits may include a comprehensive benefits package, incentive and recognition programs, equity stock purchase, and 401k contribution (all benefits are subject to eligibility requirements)

Location

• Remote within the U.S.
• For hires in the Minneapolis or Washington, D.C. area: work in the office a minimum of four days per week.

Application Deadline

• Posted for a minimum of 2 business days or until a sufficient candidate pool has been collected. The posting may come down early due to volume of applicants.

Additional Information

• All employees working remotely will be required to adhere to UnitedHealth Group's Telecommuter Policy.
• The organization is a drug-free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment.