Senior Vice President, OptumRx Strategy - Market Intelligence & Strategic Planning

UnitedHealth Group•Eden Prairie, MN

8d•$225,000 - $375,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Vice President, Optum Rx Strategy is the enterprise strategy leader responsible for shaping Optum Rx’s long-term direction by grounding leadership decisions in deep external market understanding—including competitive dynamics, regulatory forces, customer needs, and emerging industry trends. This role builds and mobilizes a strategy agenda that clarifies where Optum Rx should invest, compete, differentiate, and exit, and ensures those choices translate into enterprise planning and downstream execution. The Strategy function is not product-specific, but it directly influences product direction by identifying unmet needs, whitespace opportunities, and external pressures that shape roadmaps and investment priorities.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree
15+ years of progressive experience in strategy, market intelligence, business planning, consulting, or related leadership roles (healthcare/pharmacy preferred)
Demonstrated ability to build and apply external market insights (competitive positioning, market trends, customer needs, regulatory environment) to drive enterprise decisions
Solid executive communication skills (written/verbal), including facilitation and senior stakeholder influence
Superior analytical and strategic problem-solving capability, including experience translating complex inputs into clear executive guidance
Comfort operating in highly matrixed environments; proven ability to lead without authority and drive cross-functional alignment
Deep familiarity with PBM / pharmacy services market dynamics and healthcare value chain economics

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree (MBA, MHA, or similar)
Experience supporting partnership and M&A strategy, including market diligence framing and executive decision materials
Healthcare/Pharmacy industry experience

Responsibilities

Establish a market intelligence capability that continuously monitors competitors, client expectations, payer/employer dynamics, pharmacy services trends, and regulatory signals to inform strategic choices and risk posture
Deliver clear, executive-ready perspectives on what is changing externally, what it means for Optum Rx, and where leadership should act (invest / accelerate / partner / divest / stop)
Own Optum Rx’s enterprise-level competitive positioning narratives and strategic implications for portfolio direction
Lead development of Optum Rx enterprise strategy and translate it into planning cycles including Long Range Planning (LRP) and Annual Business Planning (ABP), ensuring tight linkage between external realities and internal commitments
Define strategic investment themes and choices that guide prioritization discussions across the enterprise
Identify and prioritize whitespace opportunities, adjacencies, and new growth vectors that may translate into future product concepts or capability needs
Shape early business cases and strategic framing for high-value opportunities, partnering with Finance and enterprise stakeholders as needed
Support evaluation of strategic partnerships and M&A opportunities by coordinating strategic rationale, market context, and executive decision framing
Partner with Product leaders to inform ideation, prioritization, and roadmap direction based on market intelligence and leadership priorities
Ensure strategy is consistently reflected in downstream investment and governance mechanisms through coordination with Product, Capabilities, Finance, Program Management, and COE/Enablement partners
Serve as an enterprise integrator and neutral strategic “quarterback” for cross-Optum Rx priorities that span multiple lines of business, ensuring decision clarity, alignment, and momentum
Influence senior leadership and cross-functional partners with evidence and data
Drive ideas through execution by resourcing project appropriately and influencing both directly and indirectly
Provide executive advisory support through concise synthesis, decision memos, and strategic options framing tied to market and competitive reality