Sr. Director, Payments Platform - Optum Financial - Remote

** Requisition number:
** 2370057

** Job category:
** Product

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.*
* The Commercial Payments division within Optum Financial operates as a payment service provider (PSP) that enables healthcare, property & casualty, and warranty payers to efficiently distribute claim payments to providers through a centralized, multi-rail platform. By accepting payment instructions via file or API, the division orchestrates end-to-end payment delivery across multiple modalities-including ACH, ACH+, virtual credit cards, and checks-aligned to provider payment preferences.

It provides integrated capabilities such as payment execution, reconciliation reporting, provider portals, and exception handling, ensuring a consistent and scalable payment experience. Increasingly, the division is evolving beyond a facilitation model to offer flexible service configurations, including full-service options with fund custody and compliance management, positioning Optum Financial to address diverse payer needs and capture broader market opportunities.

Optum Financial is seeking a strategic and technically fluent Senior Director, Payments Platform to lead the vision, development, and modernization of Payments 2.0 and CCS 2.0. This leader will define and deliver a scalable, AI-native, API-first platform that powers end-to-end healthcare payment and communications experiences across payers, providers, internal operations, and strategic partners. As Commercial Payments transitions from legacy point solutions to a unified platform model, this role will be instrumental in advancing the Optum Payments Network strategy.

The ideal candidate brings deep payments and fintech platform expertise, solid product management discipline, and proven 0-to-1 platform leadership. They will lead cross-functional teams across Product, Engineering, Architecture, AI, Operations, Security, Compliance, and Commercial functions to build scalable, secure, and commercially viable platform capabilities spanning payment orchestration, onboarding, fulfillment, communications, APIs, transaction visibility, and enterprise-scale operations.

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.

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* Primary Responsibilities:

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* Platform Strategy, Innovation & Modernization

+ Define and execute the vision, strategy, and roadmap for Payments 2.0 and CCS 2.0, leading 0-to-1 platform innovation and modernization

+ Drive the transition from legacy systems to scalable, configurable, AI-native, API-first platforms that support long-term business growth

+ Balance near-term delivery priorities with platform scalability, extensibility, customer adoption, and strategic objectives

Platform Capabilities & Product Leadership

+ Lead platform capabilities across payments, communications, onboarding, fulfillment, reconciliation, reporting, and partner integrations

+ Define reusable platform services, APIs, shared capabilities, and governance models that support multiple product domains

+ Partner with Product, Engineering, Architecture, and AI teams to deliver modern, configurable solutions that improve customer and operational outcomes

Enterprise Scale, Reliability & Compliance

+ Ensure platform architecture supports high-volume transaction processing, operational resilience, security, compliance, and observability

+ Establish standards for platform health, performance, monitoring, disaster recovery, production readiness, and operational support

+ Drive enterprise controls for payment integrity, data privacy, fraud prevention, auditability, and regulatory compliance

Cross-Functional Delivery & Adoption

+ Lead execution across Product, Engineering, Operations, Security, Compliance, AI, Data, Sales, Marketing, and Client teams

+ Translate business strategy into roadmaps, delivery plans, migration strategies, and measurable business outcomes

+ Drive platform adoption and modernization efforts that improve implementation speed, operational efficiency, scalability, and customer experience

Governance, Metrics & Executive Leadership

+ Establish platform governance, operating cadences, KPIs, executive dashboards, and strategic reporting

+ Partner with executive leaders to prioritize investments, manage risks, and make tradeoff decisions across cost, speed, scope,…