Director of Communications -Eden Prairie, MN Preferred/Remote Considered

UnitedHealth Group•Eden Prairie, MN

5d•$159,300 - $273,200•Remote

About The Position

The Senior Director, Executive Communications & Thought Leadership will serve as a lead communications advisor to the Optum Health CEO and select members of the Optum Health C-suite. The role develops and leads an integrated executive communications and thought leadership strategy to elevate the Optum Health brand, strengthen leadership visibility and credibility, and reinforce the organization’s integrated value-based care narrative. The Senior Director translates business strategy, clinical expertise, market insights, and impact into clear, compelling narratives for internal and external audiences; defines priority issues and executive platforms; and identifies strategically valuable moments and channels. This is both a senior communications strategy and hands-on executive writing role. The successful candidate builds trusted relationships with senior leaders, learns and authentically reflects their voices, and creates high-quality communications across formats. The role owns strategy and leads execution with communications partners, while establishing governance, discipline, and prioritization for executive communications. It calls for direct counsel, sound judgment, and the ability to redirect requests that do not align with agreed priorities. The role may be performed remotely from anywhere in the United States. Employees hired in the Minneapolis or Washington, D.C. area must work in the office at least four days per week. Travel is approximately 25% to support executive engagements, leadership meetings, events, and other business needs.

Requirements

Significant progressive experience in executive communications, corporate communications, thought leadership, public affairs, reputation management, or a related field.
Demonstrated experience advising a CEO, C-suite executive, or comparably senior leader.
Proven ability to develop and execute executive communications and thought leadership strategies tied to business and reputation priorities.
Exceptional executive writing and editing skills across speeches, presentations, long-form, digital, social, video, and briefing formats.
Demonstrated ability to learn, develop, and consistently capture an executive’s authentic voice.
Experience working successfully in a highly matrixed organization.
Ability to translate complex business, clinical, technical, policy, or financial information into clear and compelling narratives.
Solid business acumen and ability to lead through influence in a complex, highly matrixed organization.
Ability to manage high-profile priorities, tight deadlines, sensitive information, and ambiguity with discretion and composure.
Willingness and ability to travel approximately 25%.

Nice To Haves

Healthcare industry experience, particularly in healthcare services, care delivery, health benefits, technology, or a diversified health organization.
Understanding of patient, consumer, clinician, employer, health plan, health system, policymaker, and industry stakeholder perspectives.
Experience developing evidence-based thought leadership using clinical outcomes, research, data, market insights, or proprietary expertise.
Experience supporting multiple C-suite leaders while maintaining differentiated platforms and a cohesive organizational narrative.
Experience building governance, operating models, editorial standards, and measurement frameworks.

Responsibilities

Serve as a trusted communications advisor to the Optum Health CEO and select C-suite leaders on positioning, messaging, executive presence, tone, and engagement.
Develop and lead an integrated executive communications strategy aligned with Optum Health business priorities, the broader Optum narrative, and enterprise reputation objectives.
Learn and reflect the CEO’s leadership style, perspective, and voice in authentic, distinctive, and credible communications.
Develop differentiated communications platforms for select C-suite leaders, defining their priority topics, audiences, roles, voices, and engagement approaches.
Translate complex business, clinical, operational, market, and policy priorities into clear executive narratives.
Anticipate communications needs, stakeholder questions, and potential scrutiny; provide proactive counsel and real-time support in high-stakes situations.
Evaluate communications requests and opportunities, redirecting work that does not align with organizational priorities.
Develop and own Optum Health’s thought leadership strategy and identify issues on which the organization and its leaders can credibly lead.
Establish a focused portfolio of thought leadership platforms aligned with business strategy, stakeholder needs, market dynamics, and reputation opportunities.
Define audiences, desired outcomes, narratives, proof points, executive voices, channels, and activation strategies for thought leadership platforms.
Develop an annual roadmap spanning executive engagement, speeches, earned media, bylined content, social media, proprietary insights, industry events, convenings, and partnerships.
Monitor healthcare, policy, competitive, cultural, and media landscapes for emerging issues, opportunities, and reputational risks.
Elevate clinical, operational, business, and other subject-matter experts when their expertise strengthens credibility and reach; recommend when Optum Health should lead, contribute, partner, or stay outside public conversations.
Develop and steward a differentiated Optum Health narrative and message architecture connecting purpose, strategy, capabilities, expertise, outcomes, and impact.
Create and maintain executive messaging platforms, core narratives, approved proof points, audience-specific messages, and issue positioning with communications partners.
Partner with business, clinical, strategy, policy, research, analytics, finance, legal, compliance, and other experts to identify and validate evidence, outcomes, case studies, and stories.
Maintain consistency across audiences and channels while preserving each leader’s authentic voice, applying rigorous editorial judgment to ensure content is clear, accurate, credible, relevant, and substantive.
Develop external visibility strategies for the CEO and select C-suite leaders, and establish criteria for evaluating speaking, media, social, convening, partnership, podcast, award, and other opportunities.
Identify high-value forums, audiences, relationships, and moments; recommend where leaders should invest their time and voice and determine the most credible representative for each priority narrative or issue.
Develop integrated activation plans with partners to extend the value of major engagements before, during, and after each moment.
Prepare, brief, rehearse, and coach executives for speeches, media interviews, industry events, employee engagements, customer meetings, and other high-profile opportunities.
Write and oversee speeches, keynote remarks, talking points, opinion pieces, presentations, social content, video scripts, briefing documents, and employee communications.
Provide strategic and editorial direction to media, storytelling, creative, and content partners while retaining accountability for final executive content.
Lead communications strategy and content development for select internal engagements where executive participation is critical to advancing strategy, strengthening trust, or aligning employees.
Develop executive communications for town halls, leadership meetings, business updates, strategic announcements, and periods of significant change.
Connect internal and external narratives so employees understand Optum Health’s direction, priorities, impact, and role within Optum.
Focus internal engagement capacity selectively on moments with the greatest leadership and organizational significance.
Own Optum Health executive communications and thought leadership strategy within the broader enterprise communications framework; work directly with the CEO and select C-suite leaders.
Lead through influence across a highly matrixed organization, mobilizing communications capabilities and partnering across communications functions and business-related disciplines.
Travel approximately 25% to support executive engagements, leadership meetings, events, and other business needs.