Sr. Manager Strategy and Innovation (Medicare Ancillary) - MN Market2376046 | Minnetonka, Minnesota | Remote

Senior Manager, Medicare Ancillary Innovation Strategy

At United Healthcare, we're simplifying the health care experience, creating healthier communities and removing barriers to quality care. The work you do here impacts the lives of millions of people for the better. Come build the health care system of tomorrow, making it more responsive, affordable and optimized. Ready to make a difference? Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

We are seeking a Senior Manager to drive the Medicare Ancillary innovation strategy and multi-year roadmap across Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement, and ancillary benefits such as fitness, dental, vision, OTC, and supplemental benefits. This role translates market insights, member needs, competitive dynamics, utilization patterns, and financial inputs into portfolio-level recommendations that shape growth, retention, affordability, member experience, competitive differentiation, and enterprise readiness.

Primary Responsibilities:

Product Innovation Strategy & Portfolio Ownership (50-75%)

• Drive the Medicare Ancillary innovation pipeline across Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement, aligning opportunities to support enterprise growth, affordability, and member experience goals
• Lead prioritization of high-value product opportunities by synthesizing market research, competitive intelligence, utilization data, member insights, operational feasibility, and financial impact into clear recommendations
• Define portfolio recommendations, product concept briefs, and business cases that clarify the problem to solve, target population, value proposition, operating model, investment needs, readiness requirements, and success measures
• Drive executive decision-making through strategic recommendations, tradeoff analyses, investment narratives, and roadmaps that clarify milestones, decisions, owners, dependencies, risks, and enterprise readiness
• Represent the Ancillary innovation portfolio in governance forums, portfolio reviews, and senior leadership discussions, surfacing tradeoffs, blockers, and decisions required to accelerate impact
• Advise senior product leaders on innovation priorities, investment choices, strategic risks, readiness gaps, and actions to improve portfolio performance

Ancillary Operating Model, Governance & Enterprise Alignment (25-50%)

• Establish the Ancillary portfolio operating model and leadership rhythm, including priority setting, governance, risk management, decision escalation, performance monitoring, and executive follow-through
• Shape planning cycles, leadership meetings, business reviews, and working sessions by framing strategic choices, required decisions, tradeoffs, risks, and recommended paths forward
• Translate Medicare Ancillary strategy into priorities, work streams, success measures, and implementation plans aligned to broader product organization priorities and goals
• Lead cross-functional alignment across matrixed partners by clarifying objectives, accountable owners, decision rights, timelines, dependencies, unresolved issues, and readiness implications
• Synthesize market, competitor, regulatory, financial, and operational intelligence to inform product priorities, executive decisions, and future innovation opportunities
• Navigate competing priorities and incomplete information across business areas, balancing member value, financial impact, feasibility, compliance, sales needs, and implementation risk
• Create structure for ambiguous innovation opportunities and convert them into sequenced decisions, funded initiatives, measurable outcomes, and scalable operating practices

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:

• 6+ years of experience in healthcare strategy, Medicare, product management, innovation, or consulting
• Experience owning strategy development, portfolio prioritization, business cases, product concepts, market assessments, implementation roadmaps, or cross-functional transformation initiatives

Preferred Qualifications:

• Working knowledge of Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement, supplemental benefits, ancillary products, or related health plan capabilities
• Solid strategic and analytical skills, including ability to interpret complex inputs, assess enterprise implications, frame tradeoffs, quantify value, and translate findings into executive-ready recommendations
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with ability to create concise, structured, decision-oriented executive materials
• Demonstrated ability to lead complex work streams, influence senior stakeholders, drive accountability without direct authority, and move high-impact work forward in a matrixed enterprise
• High ownership mindset with comfort operating in ambiguity, creating structure for complex problems, and balancing enterprise strategy with disciplined…