Director, Operational Excellence - UHC Data and Analytics - Remote

UnitedHealth Group•Minnetonka, MN

4d•$134,600 - $230,800•Remote

About The Position

The Director of Operational Excellence will work closely with the UHC Data & Analytics Office leadership team to build and lead the office’s operational backbone. The role is responsible for financial planning and forecasting, budget and workforce management, vendor and contract governance, and reporting that gives leadership visibility into organizational performance. It partners with Finance, HR, IT, and business stakeholders to turn the office’s strategy and operating principles into consistent, well-governed execution. The role also applies AI-enabled analysis and data-flow expertise to improve planning, reporting, and decision-making. The position is remote from anywhere in the U.S., except employees hired in the Minneapolis or Washington, D.C. area must work in the office at least four days per week. Remote employees must comply with UnitedHealth Group’s Telecommuter Policy. The role will establish and lead a small operational excellence team.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Business, Finance, or a related field.
10+ years of progressive experience in financial planning and analysis, portfolio operations, or operational leadership, ideally supporting a large data, analytics, or technology organization.
Experience managing budgets and large blended workforces, including FTEs, offshore resources, and contractors.
Track record of building financial scorecards, dashboards, and reporting processes that improve executive visibility and decision-making speed.
Success establishing vendor governance processes, including QBRs and MSA/rate-card analysis, that deliver measurable cost savings.
Cross-functional leadership experience partnering across Finance, IT, HR, and business stakeholders to drive organizational change.
Expertise in budgeting, forecasting, restatement cycles, portfolio and resource management, capitalizable labor tracking, cost allocation, and financial governance and controls.
Experience with vendor onboarding, performance management, and compliance tracking; QBR design and facilitation; and MSA and rate-card analysis.
Knowledge of operating-model design for capability-driven organizations, process improvement, data-flow optimization, reporting automation, change management, and governance standardization.
Experience developing executive dashboards that combine financial, HR, and project data; using AI-enabled analysis; and conducting resource planning, utilization tracking, and workforce analytics.
Familiarity with ERP and financial systems such as SAP (ERP/Ariba/Fieldglass), Workday, and Oracle BI; data analytics and visualization tools such as Power BI and Microsoft Cowork; and Microsoft Project, Visio, and Microsoft Office Suite.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree, such as in Business Analytics or an MBA.
Experience in healthcare, insurance, or complex regulated environments; federal or consulting backgrounds with strong financial systems depth are also relevant.

Responsibilities

Lead financial planning and analysis for the UHC Data & Analytics Office, including annual budgeting, quarterly forecasting, and tracking budget shifts and internal transfers.
Own portfolio and workforce operations by reconciling hiring demand with budget, tracking FTE and contractor capacity, and providing visibility into staffing, utilization, and capitalizable labor.
Build and maintain executive-ready financial scorecards integrating financial, HR, and project-system data to improve transparency, decision-making, and risk identification.
Establish and run vendor governance and performance and compliance tracking to align vendor spending with delivered value.
Influence operating-model and process transformation by standardizing governance, tooling, and ways of working as the office moves toward a capability-driven structure.
Build partnerships across D&A leadership, Finance, IT, HR, and business stakeholders, and provide concise, data-backed recommendations and executive summaries.
Identify cost savings and process efficiencies through financial analysis, vendor negotiation, and data-flow and systems reconciliation.
Establish and lead a small operational excellence team, serving as a connective layer between the Data & Analytics Office and enterprise Finance, HR, and Procurement.