Associate Director, Portfolio and Growth Strategy

Optum is a global organization that delivers care, aided by technology to help millions of people live healthier lives. The work you do with our team will directly improve health outcomes by connecting people with the care, pharmacy benefits, data and resources they need to feel their best. Here, you will find a culture guided by inclusion, talented peers, comprehensive benefits and career development opportunities.

Come make an impact on the communities we serve as you help us advance health optimization on a global scale. Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

Provides strategic planning, analysis, and execution support across Optum Whole Health Solutions, including Optum Health Solutions and Optum Behavioral Health. The primary goal is to strengthen proactive strategy development by identifying emerging opportunities, risks, portfolio gaps, and strategic priorities before they become immediate business needs. Leads complex, cross-functional initiatives requiring additional structure, analytical rigor, stakeholder alignment, or momentum. Evaluates portfolio performance, customer needs, payer and regulatory developments, competitive activity, technology trends, and emerging market opportunities to inform business strategy and long-range planning.

Develops market assessments, business cases, and build-buy-partner recommendations to help determine where Whole Health Solutions should invest, grow, maintain, partner, outsource, de-emphasize, divest, or exit.

• Independently leads proactive portfolio analysis, market intelligence, and long-range planning, while also supporting immediate strategy projects and cross-functional work streams
• Adds structure to ambiguous business questions, supplements institutional knowledge with strong market research, and converts findings into clear recommendations, tradeoffs, risks, and implementation plans
• Works across businesses and functions to resolve barriers, accelerate progress, and support decisions through strong analysis, judgment, communication, and stakeholder influence
• Effectively uses AI to improve the speed and depth of research and analysis while applying human judgment, validating outputs, and accounting for business realities and constraints
• Operates with substantial independence and limited day-to-day direction

• Proactively identifies emerging market opportunities, portfolio gaps, external risks, and strategic questions requiring leadership attention
• Owns complex strategy work streams from problem definition through analysis, recommendation, stakeholder alignment, and implementation planning
• Leads or supports high-priority initiatives affecting multiple products, capabilities, functions, or businesses across Whole Health Solutions
• Conducts quantitative and qualitative analyses of markets, customers, competitors, portfolio performance, business models, capabilities, and strategic alternatives
• Develops business cases and recommendations related to growth, investment, partnerships, acquisitions, outsourcing, portfolio optimization, and other strategic choices
• Evaluates payer, CMS, reimbursement, regulatory, technology, AI, customer, and competitive developments and translates them into specific business implications
• Influences senior and enterprise stakeholders without relying on formal authority
• Exercises independent judgment while escalating material risks, dependencies, and decisions to appropriate leaders

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.

• 4+ years of experience in management consulting, investment banking, corporate development, strategic finance, private equity, enterprise strategy
• Healthcare experience
• Experience leading complex, cross-functional strategy work from problem definition and analysis through senior-level recommendation
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, manage multiple priorities, and drive work from initial framing through completion in a matrixed organization
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft PowerPoint and Excel
• Ability to travel up to 10%

• Located in MN

* All employees working remote will be required to adhere to United Health Group's Telecommuter Policy.

Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to local labor markets, education, work…