Senior Director, Finance AI SME, FP&A and Forecasting Transformation - Eden Prairie, MN , Remote

United Health 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, United Healthcare 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 Senior Director, Finance AI SME, FP&A and Forecasting Transformation will serve as a senior finance subject matter expert embedded within Finance AI transformation pods. This leader will partner closely with Finance, Data, Technology, Risk and Controls, and business stakeholders to blueprint current‑state and future‑state finance processes, translate business requirements into agent‑ready workflows, and help develop proof‑of‑concept AI systems that can be validated, governed, and scaled.

This role is designed for a senior finance leader with deep FP&A and forecasting experience who can bridge the gap between business finance and technical delivery teams. The individual will bring practical expertise in enterprise forecasting, variance analysis, financial planning, driver‑based modeling, performance reporting, and executive decision support. The role requires the ability to understand how finance work is performed today, identify where AI and automation can materially improve speed, quality, controls, and insight, and help convert future‑state designs into tangible AI‑enabled solutions.

The Senior Director will operate in a cross‑functional pod model, working side by side with data engineers, solution architects, forward deployed engineers, AI/ML resources, risk and controls partners, and business finance leaders. The person will not simply advise from the sidelines. They will be expected to lead hands‑on blueprinting sessions, define use‑case requirements, pressure‑test data and control assumptions, validate prototype outputs, and ensure that AI systems are solving real finance problems in a way that is accurate, explainable, auditable, and adoptable.

The purpose of this role is to provide senior‑level FP&A and forecasting expertise to Finance AI pods that are redesigning core finance processes and developing proof‑of‑concept AI systems. The Senior Director will help move Finance from periodic, manual, and fragmented forecasting and analysis processes toward more continuous, driver‑based, data‑enabled, and AI‑supported decision intelligence.

The role will focus on three integrated mandates:

• Blueprint the current state. Understand and document existing FP&A and forecasting activities, including process flows, data inputs, handoffs, manual workarounds, estimation methods, controls, outputs, and decision points
• Design the future state. Partner with business and technology stakeholders to define how forecasting, variance analysis, scenario modeling, performance reporting, and decision support should operate when AI, data, controls, and human judgment are designed together from the beginning
• Develop and validate AI proof‑of‑concept systems. Translate finance requirements into clear prototype designs, partner with data and technology teams during development, validate outputs against business expectations, and help determine whether POCs should be killed, refined, scaled, or transitioned to the AI Factory for productization

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…