Director of Product Management - Program Operations - Remote

UnitedHealth Group•Eden Prairie, MN

2d•$159,300 - $273,200•Remote

About The Position

Optum Insight is improving the flow of health data and information to create a more connected system. We remove friction and drive alignment between care providers and payers, and ultimately consumers. Our deep expertise in the industry and innovative technology empower us to help organizations reduce costs while improving risk management, quality and revenue growth. Ready to help us deliver results that improve lives? Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together. The Director of Product Management - Program Operations will lead product strategy, market positioning, and portfolio execution for the Program Operations business within Optum State Government Solutions. This leader will help transform a $95M business into a more focused, market-connected, financially disciplined, and scalable portfolio serving state Medicaid and Health & Human Services agencies. This role requires more than traditional product management. The Director must understand how state Medicaid and HHS agencies think, buy, operate, and modernize. The leader will use direct market insight, state and federal program knowledge, customer relationships, industry engagement, and product discipline to identify where Program Operations is going, where SGS has the right to win, and which capabilities should be built, bought, partnered, scaled, reshaped, or retired. Working across Product, Growth, Operations, Technology, Finance, implementation, account leadership, and external market stakeholders, this leader will convert state problems and market signals into product strategy, investment priorities, go-to-market plans, differentiated offerings, and measurable business outcomes. The Director will provide strategic product leadership for SGS's Program Operations pillar, focused on state Medicaid and HHS program administration, operational modernization, service access, provider and constituent experience, compliance-driven workflows, and technology-enabled service delivery. The portfolio may include capabilities related to provider and constituent operations, service access and program workflows, case and care management operations, operational quality and compliance, customer-service operations, analytics-enabled oversight, and adjacent state-administered health and human services workflows.

Requirements

10+ years of combined experience in state Medicaid, Health & Human Services, Medicaid operations, Medicaid-focused consulting, state agency leadership, federal healthcare program work, public-sector healthcare technology, or state-facing healthcare solution leadership
7+ years of progressive leadership experience in product, solution, program, portfolio, market, operational, or customer-facing leadership roles within Medicaid, HHS, public-sector healthcare, or related government health programs
Experience with state Medicaid / HHS program administration or operational modernization, including service access, provider or constituent workflows, case or care management operations, compliance-driven workflows, customer-service operations, or related state-administered health and human services functions
Experience engaging with, advising, or supporting state Medicaid / HHS leaders, CMS or federal stakeholders, state agency clients, or other public-sector healthcare decision-makers
Experience supporting or shaping state government or public-sector healthcare procurements, renewals, rebids, amendments, change requests, RFP responses, solution orals, customer advisory conversations, or pre-procurement opportunity development
Experience translating state, customer, regulatory, operational, or market insight into product strategy, solution strategy, roadmap decisions, investment priorities, operational improvements, or measurable business outcomes
Experience leading or materially influencing product, solution, service, program, operational, or business portfolios with responsibility for customer outcomes, program performance, adoption, delivery results, operational performance, or measurable business outcomes
Experience partnering across Product, Growth / Sales, Operations, Technology, Finance, implementation, client / account, and executive stakeholders to align strategy and execution
Solid understanding of Medicaid operations, state agency buying processes, public-sector implementation realities, and secure, compliant, government-facing technology or service delivery
Proven executive communication, stakeholder management, strategic planning, and decision-framing skills

Nice To Haves

Experience distinguishing scalable product opportunities from account-specific delivery obligations and making disciplined build / buy / partner / retire recommendations
Experience with revenue growth, margin improvement, pricing, business cases, capital investment, cost productivity, commercialization, or financial performance for Medicaid, HHS, public-sector healthcare, or state-facing solution portfolios
Experience with Medicaid Enterprise Systems, MMIS, MITA, CMS certification, modular procurement, MESC, APD / federal funding, or CMS interoperability requirements
Experience with cloud-native SaaS, FedRAMP, NIST, FISMA, HIPAA, data privacy/security, government hosting, interoperability, AI/automation, and secure workflow platforms
Experience modernizing legacy products, operational services, or technology portfolios into scalable offerings
Experience developing margin-ramp, pricing, capital, or investment cases for state government / Medicaid growth opportunities
Direct CMS, state Medicaid agency, state HHS, or Medicaid program leadership experience
Recognized industry presence through conference speaking, association participation, workgroups, advisory forums, publications, customer convenings, or market-facing thought leadership
Existing professional network across state Medicaid / HHS executives, program leaders, CMS or federal stakeholders, Medicaid associations, policy organizations, systems integrators, technology partners, and solution vendors

Responsibilities

Develop and execute the Program Operations product, portfolio, and market strategy aligned to SGS growth, margin, customer, capital, and domain-plan priorities
Define where Program Operations should grow, scale, fix, partner, acquire, package for reuse, maintain, or retire investment
Build a multi-year roadmap tied to state Medicaid demand, known procurements, renewal and rebid priorities, account expansion, customer outcomes, technology feasibility, delivery maturity, and financial performance
Use state Medicaid and HHS market insight to identify emerging needs, pre-procurement opportunities, partnership options, advisory relationships, and areas where SGS should shape demand before formal procurements are released
Partner with Growth, market and account leadership, government affairs where appropriate, and solution-design teams to define the Program Operations go-to-market playbook, target-state priorities, win themes, competitive differentiation, and pursuit support model
Translate CMS, state agency, customer, regulatory, procurement, and operational requirements into product strategy, roadmap decisions, investment choices, and measurable outcomes
Develop business cases, pricing logic, margin-ramp assumptions, capital recommendations, commercialization plans, and build / buy / partner recommendations for new and existing offerings
Rationalize the existing portfolio to reduce complexity, improve investment focus, strengthen reuse, and improve profitability
Partner with Technology and Engineering to deliver secure, scalable, cloud-ready, government-compliant capabilities and identify modernization, technical-debt, AI, automation, and platform-reuse opportunities
Partner with Operations, implementation, and client leadership to ensure offerings are deliverable, adopted, measurable, and connected to customer outcomes
Support customer advisory conversations, industry forums, conference strategy, thought leadership, and market-facing points of view where appropriate to strengthen SGS credibility and market access
Establish product governance, KPIs, and operating cadence across adoption, customer health, delivery performance, revenue, margin, capital benefit realization, product reuse, and operational outcomes
Serve as the Program Operations product leader in SGS domain planning, capital planning, portfolio reviews, executive strategy sessions, and cross-functional operating forums