VP, HR Technology Strategy

UnitedHealth Group is a health care and well-being company that's dedicated to improving the health outcomes of millions around the world. We are comprised of two distinct and complementary businesses, UnitedHealthcare and Optum, working to build a better health system for all. Here, your contributions matter as they will help transform health care for years to come. Make an impact with a team that shares your passion for helping others. Join us in making healthcare work better for everyone through people-led, responsible AI while Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

The Vice President, HR Technology Strategy will lead the strategy, roadmap, and business ownership of the technology ecosystem that enables UnitedHealth Group's People function. This leader will be responsible for translating People Team strategy into a technology-enabled capability roadmap that improves the employee, manager, candidate, and HR practitioner experience at enterprise scale.

This role sits at the intersection of HR strategy, digital product management, AI-enabled workflow design, platform modernization, and enterprise transformation. The VP will partner closely with People Team COEs, People Analytics & Data Strategy, AI Enablement, HR Operations, Payroll, Total Rewards, Talent, Recruiting, Tech, Enterprise AI teams, Legal, Privacy, Security, and business leaders to ensure People technology investments are aligned to business outcomes, operational efficiency, employee trust, and measurable value.

The VP, HR Technology Strategy is not be a traditional HRIS support leader. This role will act as the People Team's senior product and digital capability leader - shaping what technology-enabled experiences we build, why they matter, how they fit into end-to-end People processes, and how they create value for employees, managers, leaders, and the enterprise.

Key Responsibilities

People Technology Strategy & Roadmap

• Define and lead the enterprise People technology strategy and multi-year roadmap across core HR, talent, recruiting, learning, employee support, manager experience, payroll/time alignment, analytics enablement, and AI-enabled workflows

• Translate People Team strategy and business priorities into a sequenced portfolio of technology-enabled capabilities

• Partner with COEs and HR Operations to identify capability gaps, process pain points, experience opportunities, and modernization needs

• Ensure People technology investments are aligned to enterprise priorities, financial discipline, employee experience, operational efficiency, compliance, and measurable business value

• Establish roadmap governance that balances run, grow, and transform priorities

Digital Product Ownership & COE Partnership

• Serve as the senior product leader for People technology capabilities, ensuring clear business ownership, product outcomes, and decision rights

• Build partnerships with COEs, PBPs, HR Operations, Payroll, Benefits, Talent, Recruiting, Learning, and Total Rewards to translate business needs into product strategies and technology roadmaps

• Move People Technology from a request-routing function to a proactive strategic partner that brings platform knowledge, vendor roadmap insight, product recommendations, and technology-enabled business options

• Ensure each major People domain has clear product partnership, roadmap visibility, prioritization discipline, and stakeholder engagement

• Lead product prioritization across competing demands and ensure work is sequenced based on business value, readiness, risk, and delivery feasibility

Platform Strategy & Ecosystem Management

• Provide business leadership for the People technology ecosystem, including Oracle HCM and related platforms across talent, recruiting, learning, employee support, workflow, case management, payroll/time interfaces, and digital experience

• Partner with Tech on platform architecture, integration, technical design, engineering delivery, production support, and security

• Maintain a clear distinction between People Team business/product ownership and Technology engineering/runtime ownership

• Evaluate platform capabilities, vendor roadmaps, release opportunities, and technology options to maximize enterprise value

• Drive simplification, standardization, rationalization, and better integration across the People technology ecosystem

AI, Automation & Workflow Enablement

• Partner with AI Enablement, People Analytics & Data Strategy, COEs, HR Operations, and Tech to embed AI and automation into People workflows

• Help identify where AI, agents, workflow automation, self-service, and digital assistants can improve experience, reduce manual work, improve quality, and shift work to the right service tier

• Ensure AI-enabled People technology use cases are designed with appropriate human-in-the-loop controls, data readiness, governance, adoption, and value measurement

• Support the People Team Reimagination agenda by enabling new ways of working through technology, process redesign, and digital capability building

Delivery Enablement & Governance

• Establish clear intake, prioritization, and governance processes for People technology demand

• Partner with Tech and delivery teams to ensure business requirements, solution design, acceptance criteria, testing, readiness, and adoption needs are clearly defined

• Improve transparency into portfolio status, dependencies, risks, capacity, tradeoffs, and decision points

• Lead release and change governance in partnership with platform, product, COE, HR Operations, and technology teams

• Ensure go-live readiness, adoption planning, stakeholder communication, and post-launch optimization are embedded into delivery practices

Adoption, Change & Value Realization

• Ensure People technology capabilities are adopted, used effectively, and delivering intended outcomes

• Define adoption, experience, efficiency, quality, and value realization metrics for major People technology initiatives

• Partner with HR Operations, COEs, Communications, Change, and AI Enablement to ensure employees, managers, and HR users are ready to use new capabilities

• Build feedback loops to continuously improve People technology products and experiences

• Shift the function from project completion to measurable business outcomes

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead and develop a high-performing People Technology team with solid product, platform, roadmap, stakeholder management, and digital transformation capabilities

• Build capability in product ownership, business architecture, workflow thinking, release readiness, adoption, and value realization

• Foster a team culture of curiosity, partnership, accountability, transparency, and continuous improvement

• Operate effectively in a large, complex, matrixed enterprise with multiple stakeholders, competing priorities, and evolving business needs
  
  

Leadership Profile

The successful candidate will be:

• A strategic product and digital capability leader, not only an HR systems operator

• Comfortable translating People strategy into technology-enabled outcomes

• Solid at partnering across COEs, HR Operations, People Analytics, AI Enablement, Payroll, Total Rewards, Recruiting, Talent, Tech, and business leaders

• Able to bring proactive recommendations based on platform capability, vendor roadmaps, business needs, and enterprise priorities

• Skilled at making tradeoff decisions across cost, complexity, risk, value, readiness, and user experience

• Credible with both HR leaders and technology partners

• Able to simplify complexity, create clarity, and drive disciplined execution

• Focused on adoption, measurable value, and employee / manager experience

• Curious, collaborative, pragmatic, and able to operate effectively in a relationship-oriented, matrixed operating model

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:

• 15+ years of experience in HR/People technology, digital product management, product strategy, and/or enterprise technology transformation

• Demonstrated ability to translate business strategy into technology roadmaps and product capabilities

• Experience leading HR/People technology or enterprise digital platforms at scale

• Experience partnering with HR COEs, HR Operations, Technology, Legal, Privacy, Security, Finance, and other senior business leaders

• Understanding of HR processes and systems across core HR, talent, recruiting, learning, employee support, payroll/time, analytics, or related People domains

• Experience with roadmap governance, demand management, prioritization, business case development, release readiness, and adoption planning

• Proven ability to lead through influence in a complex, matrixed organization

• Executive communication, stakeholder management, and decision-framing skills

• Experience leading teams and developing talent

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with Oracle HCM or comparable enterprise HCM platforms such as Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, or PeopleSoft

• Experience with ServiceNow, Salesforce, Microsoft, learning platforms, recruiting platforms, talent platforms, case management, or employee experience technologies

• Experience supporting large-scale HR transformation, cloud migration, platform modernization, shared services transformation, or AI-enabled workflow redesign

• Experience with AI, automation, digital assistants, agentic workflows, or employee self-service transformation

• Experience in a large, regulated, complex enterprise

• Experience working with enterprise technology organizations where business/product ownership and engineering/runtime ownership are split

• Experience with value realization, adoption metrics, operational health metrics, and product performance measurement

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 $200,400 to $343,500 annually based on full-time employment. We comply with all minimum wage laws as applicable.

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.