Director of Technical Product & Portfolio Management - Remote

Optum Tech is a global leader in health care innovation. Our teams develop cutting-edge solutions that help people live healthier lives and help make the health system work better for everyone. From advanced data analytics and AI to cybersecurity, we use innovative approaches to solve some of health care's most complex challenges. Your contributions here have the potential to change lives. Ready to build the next breakthrough? Join us in making healthcare work better for everyone through people-led, responsible AI while Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

The Director of Technical Product & Portfolio Management leads portfolio governance, initiative planning and prioritization, program communication, and delivery across the Optum Rx AI-Native Pharmacy technology portfolio. Partnering directly with business, operations, finance, and technology leaders across Optum Rx, the Director defines integrated capability roadmaps and a unified portfolio roadmap, manages capital investments, accelerates responsible AI adoption, and delivers measurable business outcomes. The Director uses market insights and solid stakeholder relationships to understand customer needs and emerging technology trends, identifying new opportunities or adjusting current products. Drawing on deep product knowledge and technical expertise, the Director coordinates portfolio delivery with business capability, engineering, and business operations leaders and other cross-functional teams. A background in computer science, engineering, or a related field is typical for this role, though equivalent experience is also considered.

You'll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely * from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges. For all hires in the Minneapolis or Washington, D.C. area, you will be required to work in the office a minimum of four days per week.

Primary Responsibilities: 

• Define and execute the integrated Optum Rx AI-Native Pharmacy product strategy, product vision, and capability roadmaps across Pharmacy lines of business in partnership with business capability owners, engineering, and operations stakeholders, embedding an AI-first mindset in roadmap decisions
• Lead the end-to-end product lifecycle, from intake and discovery through delivery, adoption, operational performance, and retirement
• Partner with business, operations, engineering, architecture, and data teams to translate strategic priorities into scalable AI-driven product capabilities
• Accelerate responsible AI adoption across Pharmacy lines of business, including AI-assisted workflows, decision support, documentation, and operational automation
• Own the integrated AI-Native Pharmacy investment portfolio, aligning spend, capacity, and sequencing to enterprise strategy, priorities, and business outcomes
• Collaborate with business capability owners to lead product intake, prioritization, funding recommendations, and transparent trade-off decisions across competing initiatives and lines of business
• Develop annual and multi-year capital plans, business cases, capital committee submissions, and investment roadmaps in partnership with Finance and business capability leaders
• Establish a unified portfolio roadmap that brings the capability roadmaps together and integrates milestones, dependencies, risks, funding, capacity, technical debt, and expected benefits
• Oversee budget, forecast, burn rate, budget-to-actual variance, and funding reallocation to the highest-value opportunities
• Partner with business capability owners to operate portfolio governance cadences through executive dashboards, monthly and quarterly reviews, key performance indicator (KPI) and management by objectives (MBO) reporting, and concise risk narratives
• Drive portfolio simplification through modernization, consolidation of duplicative capabilities, and retirement of low-value or legacy assets
• Develop a deep understanding of pharmacy capabilities, user personas, and the business processes in which those capabilities are used, and support product demos to stakeholders, end users, and the leadership team
• Collaborate with business capability owners to build and maintain a healthy product and team backlog in which each item is justified by quantifiable benefits, high-value requirements, a compelling business case, clear product positioning, priority, and strategic impact
• Identify and drive approaches and initiatives that improve customer metrics and increase adoption across portfolios
• Enable successful development, delivery, and adoption of technology solutions by leading requirements gathering, roadmap and progress updates, delivery management, and risk mitigation with stakeholders
• Build trusted relationships with stakeholders and senior leaders across business capability, engineering, and Pharmacy lines of business through clear, consistent communication
• Build, coach, and develop a high-performing organization of technical product, portfolio, and program / project management professionals with clear accountability and measurable outcomes
• Manage ongoing portfolio delivery performance, including financial health, roadmap progress, and retirement decisions as appropriate, and partner with engineering teams to define solutions that deliver on roadmap commitments
• Partner across the portfolio to minimize overlapping work and drive reuse of existing capabilities
• Leverage enterprise-approved AI tools to enhance productivity and innovation by streamlining workflows and automating repetitive tasks. 
• Evaluate emerging trends to drive continuous improvement and strategic innovation

You'll be rewarded and recognized for your performance in an environment that will challenge you and give you clear direction on what it takes to succeed in your role as well as provide development for other roles you may be interested in.

Required Qualifications: 

• 10+ years of technical product, program, or portfolio management experience leading large-scale enterprise technology platforms and software solutions
• 5+ years of experience translating business use cases into technical solutions, with solid technical aptitude
• 2+ years of hands-on experience with AI integration, generative AI, responsible AI practices, and AI experimentation
• Demonstrated experience owning a technology investment portfolio, including capital planning, governance, prioritization, roadmap management, and benefits realization
• Experience defining enterprise product strategy and delivering complex, cloud-enabled software solutions
• Experience evaluating, integrating, or deploying modern AI capabilities in enterprise workflows
• Proven ability to partner with Finance on business cases, capital allocation, forecasting, and financial validation of outcomes
• Proven executive-level collaboration across business, operations, finance, and technology stakeholders

Preferred Qualifications:  

• Undergraduate degree in computer science, engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience
• Healthcare technology experience, preferably supporting Pharmacy Benefit Management or Pharmacy Care Services operations
• Experience operating portfolio governance frameworks, intake and stage-gate processes, capital committee cadences, and executive portfolio reporting
• Experience building unified, multi-line-of-business roadmaps and aligning internal and external partners around a shared investment plan
• Experience with cloud-native platforms, APIs, microservices, workflow orchestration, data platforms, analytics, and AI enablement
• Proven track record of delivering measurable operational efficiency, cost reduction, quality improvement, customer value, or healthcare outcomes

*All employees working remotely will be required to adhere to UnitedHealth Group's Telecommuter Policy.

Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to local labor markets, education, work experience, certifications, etc. In addition to your salary, we offer benefits such as, a comprehensive benefits package, incentive and recognition programs, equity stock purchase and 401k contribution (all benefits are subject to eligibility requirements). No matter where or when you begin a career with us, you'll find a far-reaching choice of benefits and incentives. The salary for this role will range from $134,600 - $230,800 annually based on full-time employment. We comply with all minimum wage laws as applicable.

Application Deadline: This will be posted for a minimum of 2 business days or until a sufficient candidate pool has been collected. Job posting may come down early due to volume of applicants.

At UnitedHealth Group, our mission is to help people live healthier lives and help make the health system work better for everyone. Together, we are shaping the future of healthcare by harnessing technology and innovation to make care simpler to navigate, more affordable and more connected for the people we serve. We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone feels welcomed, valued, heard and respected, empowering people to bring their authentic selves to work and strengthening our collective impact through diverse talents, backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.

UnitedHealth Group and its affiliated brands are an Equal Employment Opportunity employer under applicable law and qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, religion, age, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by local, state, or federal laws, rules, or regulations.

UnitedHealth Group and its affiliated brands are a drug-free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment.