Associate Director, Quantitative Strategy and Decision Science
About The Position
Optum's Enterprise Clinical Services Strategy & Planning team is seeking an Associate Director of Quantitative Strategy and Decision Science to lead complex analytical work informing strategic priorities, program design, resource allocation, and operational improvement. This senior individual-contributor role combines rigorous research methods, advanced statistics, and business strategy to turn complex healthcare and operational data into clear decisions and practical solutions. The role serves as a recognized expert and key resource on high-impact questions requiring complex conceptual analysis, innovative methodological approaches, and clear communication with leaders and non-technical stakeholders. The Associate Director anticipates stakeholder needs, shapes analytical approaches, leads projects and workstreams, reviews others' work, and mentors colleagues. It is suited to an experienced quantitative researcher who can integrate survey and administrative data, establish reproducible analytical practices, and translate nuanced findings into actionable recommendations. The position offers remote work from anywhere in the U.S. Employees hired in the Minneapolis or Washington, D.C. area must work in the office at least four days per week. Remote employees must adhere to UnitedHealth Group’s Telecommuter Policy.
Requirements
- Undergraduate degree or equivalent experience.
- 10+ years of experience in quantitative research, program evaluation, policy analysis, decision science, advanced analytics, or a related discipline.
- Experience leading complex analytical projects from problem definition through data development, analysis, interpretation, and communication.
- Advanced statistical programming proficiency in R or Python and experience with SQL, Git, or comparable tools supporting reproducible analysis.
- Experience applying multiple advanced methods, such as Bayesian inference, machine learning, quasi-experimental methods, survey design and analysis, longitudinal or multilevel modeling, latent variable modeling, network analysis, or time-series analysis.
- Experience integrating, harmonizing, and documenting large or complex administrative and survey datasets.
- Experience translating technical findings into actionable insights for executive, policy, operational, or other non-technical audiences.
- Experience reviewing analytical work and mentoring or supervising researchers, analysts, or technical team members.
- Demonstrated ability to anticipate stakeholder needs, solve complex problems, develop innovative approaches, and work independently on critical issues.
Nice To Haves
- Advanced degree in statistics, economics, sociology, public health, public policy, data science, operations research, or another quantitative discipline.
- Experience conducting research or evaluation related to public health, healthcare delivery, population health, behavioral health, social determinants of health, aging, caregiving, or health policy.
- Experience working with restricted-use healthcare or population data in secure physical or remote environments.
- Experience designing population-based surveys, longitudinal panel studies, measurement frameworks, or indicators used for program planning and resource allocation.
- Experience serving as a principal investigator, technical lead, or analytic workstream leader with responsibility for budgets, timelines, deliverables, and stakeholder communication.
- Experience developing analytical infrastructure, ETL pipelines, version-control practices, and documentation standards for collaborative research teams.
- Experience delivering rapid-turnaround analyses for senior government, healthcare, or organizational decision-makers.
- Experience with cloud-based analytical platforms, large-scale data environments, or modern AI-assisted development workflows.
Responsibilities
- Lead complex quantitative and mixed-method analyses supporting enterprise strategy, program design, service improvement, investment decisions, and resource allocation.
- Frame ambiguous business and policy questions, define decision criteria, identify data sources, and develop rigorous analytical plans.
- Apply advanced statistical, computational, and research methods to identify patterns, estimate effects, quantify uncertainty, and evaluate strategic alternatives.
- Integrate and harmonize administrative, operational, clinical, survey, and external data into documented analytical assets for repeatable decision support.
- Translate technical findings into concise recommendations, executive narratives, visualizations, and presentations for non-technical decision-makers.
- Design evaluations, surveys, indicators, and measurement frameworks to help leaders understand customer needs, organizational performance, program outcomes, and emerging risks.
- Develop innovative analytical approaches for complex, incomplete, longitudinal, or high-dimensional data when standard methods are insufficient.
- Evaluate analytical and AI-enabled methods for practical use, balancing rigor, interpretability, reproducibility, and operational value.
- Establish quality standards, reusable methods, documentation, and reproducible workflows that strengthen the team's analytical capabilities.
- Serve as a key resource on complex or critical strategic issues and proactively develop solutions to address stakeholder needs.
- Lead functional workstreams or cross-functional projects, including scope, approach, work planning, milestones, dependencies, risks, and resource requirements.
- Review analytical plans, code, methods, findings, and deliverables produced by others and recommend improvements.
- Mentor analysts and data scientists in research design, quantitative methods, reproducible practices, critical interpretation, and communication.
- Partner with business, clinical, operational, technology, and analytics leaders to turn insight into implementation and measurable improvement.
- Explain complex analytical issues clearly, including assumptions, limitations, uncertainty, risks, and implications for action.
Benefits
- Comprehensive benefits package.
- Incentive and recognition programs.
- Equity stock purchase.
- 401(k) contribution.
- Career development opportunities.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
