Clinical Program Director of Brain and Behavior - Remote

UnitedHealth Group•Minnetonka, MN

1d•Remote

About The Position

The Clinical Program Director of Brain and Behavior is responsible for ideating, designing, and developing innovative specialty clinical programs focused on Neurological and Behavioral Health Conditions. This role aims to improve affordability, health outcomes, and member and provider experience. The Director manages a small team of program managers and works with healthcare analytics, clinical implementation technology, and medical management teams to develop and monitor Brain and Behavior focused Clinical Programs at United Healthcare. The Director reports to the National Medical Director of Behavioral Health at UnitedHealthcare Clinical Services. The ideal candidate combines clinical expertise, strategic thinking, a flexible mindset, and program development skills to create impactful solutions for members and providers. You’ll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges.

Requirements

Advanced Degree including Master’s degree or PhD in healthcare administration, public health, social services, nursing or a related clinical specialty, or MBA plus clinical background in neurological diseases.
5+ years in a leadership or management role in healthcare
5+ years of healthcare experience with operational accountability
Demonstrated ability to design, scale, or operationalize enterprise-level clinical programs or value-based care models across multiple markets or lines of business
Deep clinical understanding of brain and neurodegenerative conditions
Familiarity with evidence-based clinical guidelines and policies
Proven ability to apply clinical insights to program design and outcome measurement
Familiarity with health plan regulatory and accreditation requirements
Skilled in analyzing claims, clinical, and quality data to drive new clinical insights and identify opportunities for program development and inform program design
Proven ability to work with healthcare analytics teams to model performance expectations and measure clinical and financial impact
Demonstrated experience setting clear goals, providing regular feedback, and conducting performance evaluations to support career growth and talent retention
Skilled in guiding teams through ambiguity, change, and complex problem‑solving while maintaining clarity, engagement, and accountability
Proven ability to lead, coach, and develop small teams of program managers or clinical professionals, fostering a supportive, high‑performance culture
Proven solid commitment to collaboration - encouraging cross‑functional communication, resolving conflicts constructively, and building trust within and across teams
Proven self-starter, initiates work independently
Proven ability to communicate effectively and efficiently (both verbal and written) at multiple levels of large, complex organizations
Solid negotiation skills: Proven ability to gain acceptance from others of a plan or idea and achieve a mutually beneficial outcome
Proficiency with MS-Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

Nice To Haves

Experience applying AI-enabled analytics, machine learning tools, or large language model (LLM) capabilities in healthcare program design, clinical operations, or outcome measurement

Responsibilities

Use clinical, claims and quality data and knowledge of emerging trends in the specialty care industry to identify key opportunities to design large-scale, enterprise-level clinical management programs that drive meaningful affordability, quality, and experience outcomes across diverse populations and lines of business
Leverage advanced analytics, including artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) when appropriate to enhance program design efficiency, automate insights, and identify innovative clinical pathways that support proactive and personalized care
Use clinical, claims, and quality data to identify high-impact cost drivers, utilization trends, and care variation at scale
Conceptualize new clinical programs that incorporate technology-enabled care models, digital engagement strategies, and modern decision-support tools for pre and post service medical management and value-based care
Build feasibility business cases and financial models to assess operational readiness and impact when implemented at scale
Incorporate evidence‑based medical policies, clinical guidelines, and a broad spectrum of actionable insights - including claims data, clinical outcomes data, utilization trends, quality metrics, member‑reported outcomes, digital engagement signals, market intelligence, provider performance patterns, and operational throughput data - gathered across markets, providers, and enterprise data sources
Foster stakeholder alignment and cross-functional collaboration to ensure programs are designed to support national scalability, operational sustainability, and continual innovation
Analyze claims utilization and variation, clinical, and quality data to identify opportunities for clinical program development and improvement
Use clinical insights and knowledge to inform program design and measure impact
Work with program managers and analytics teams to accurately model performance expectations to correlate the expected affordability to the operational reality of the program
Analyze appeal trends, overturn rates, peer-to-peer outcomes, and clinical documentation to develop targeted interventions, provider feedback loops, and continuous improvement plans
Collaborate with analytics teams to develop Key Performance Indicators and to build dashboards tracking program performance
Seek input from network teams, market teams and external vendors to develop program models
Build and maintain solid relationships with executive leadership across internal teams to ensure effective support and feedback loops and that deliverables are met
Develop and maintain solid relationships with provider groups/facilities for collaboration on clinical pilots and programs
Collaborate with Regulatory and Compliance Teams to ensure program compliance with state and federal regulatory requirements
Speak clearly on complex problems across a wide range of audiences
Prepare decks and executive summaries for regular updates regarding the clinical program development and performance for Joint Operating Committees, Team Leadership and Executive Sessions
Use problem solving skills and make decisions to support program design and feasibility prior to transition to the Clinical Services Implementation team
Actively participate in clinical, business and operational meetings; ensure business partners, stakeholders and senior management are provided relevant and timely information on the clinical program design and scope for the approval process
Provide support to the Clinical Services Implementation team and project managers responsible for moving the program initiative through the clinical implementation lifecycle end-to-end
Actively participate in multidisciplinary teams to achieve program deliverables; Foster and promote collaborative relationships with matrix partners/stakeholders; Establish trust and credibility at all levels of the organization
Work independently and as a team member
Monitor clinical program performance and Key Performance Indicators and iterate based on feedback and data
Ensure program compliance with state and federal regulatory requirements; collaborate with Regulatory and Compliance Teams to develop and implement new regulatory and compliance requirements
Solve unique and complex problems with broad impact on the business; translate highly complex concepts in ways that can be understood by a variety of audiences, including senior management