Network Governance Manager - Remote| Eden Prairie, MN | Remote

Network Governance Manager
- Remote

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 Network Governance Manager
- Remote is responsible for establishing, owning, and scaling the governance framework that enables the S3 Network to operate safely and sustainably as it grows to 100,000+ merchants, including a large population of independent and long tail merchants.

This role serves as the primary First Line of Defense (1

LOD) owner for network wide controls, standards, and processes across merchant onboarding, third party enablement, funds settlement, fraud prevention, and compliance adherence. The position operates at the intersection of Merchant Operations, Compliance, Legal, Fraud, Product, Data, and third party partners to translate regulatory requirements into scalable, executable operating models.

AI and automation are core enablers of this role: the Network Governance Manager will identify, prioritize, and institutionalize AI assisted monitoring and workflow automation to reduce manual effort, improve consistency, and strengthen auditability at scale-while ensuring appropriate human oversight and governance.

You'll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely
* from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges.

Network Governance & Control Ownership

• Own the network governance framework, including policies, standards, documentation, and operating procedures
• Serve as 1
  
  LOD owner for network compliance controls across AML/KYC/sanctions, fraud prevention, merchant onboarding & oversight, and funds settlement
• Ensure governance models scale effectively with increased merchant volume and long tail onboarding

AI Agent Strategy & Enablement (Primary Accountability)

• Serve as the Network's AI Agent Champion, accountable for identifying, prioritizing, and sponsoring AI agent use cases across Network Operations and Governance
• Define how AI agents are used to automate manual, governance heavy workflows (e.g., monitoring, exception routing, evidence collection, SLA tracking)
• Ensure AI agents are deployed with clear purpose, ownership, success metrics, and documented workflows
• Promote adoption of AI agents across the team through enablement, change management, and best practice sharing

Key principle: AI agents supplement human decision making; they do not replace accountability.

AI Enabled Monitoring & Intelligent Control Automation

• Define and implement AI assisted monitoring for network risk signals (e.g., anomalies in onboarding, screening exceptions, suspicious activity patterns, unsettled funds trends), with clear thresholds and human in the loop escalation
• Sponsor and prioritize automation for governance-heavy workflows (e.g., evidence collection, exception routing, SLA tracking, remediation follow ups), reducing manual effort per merchant as scale increases
• Partner with Product/Data/Engineering to ensure AI outputs are explainable, auditable, and operationally usable, and that automation includes fallback procedures and documented controls

Compliance & Risk Management

• Partner closely with Compliance (2
  
  LOD) to address audit findings, risk inventories, and remediation actions
• Implement required compliance policies, standards and processes
• Coordinate network responses to compliance issues, including defined owners, timelines, and attestations
• Proactively identify emerging risks tied to growth, automation, or third party enablement models
• Operationalize compliance and regulatory requirements into measurable controls
• Provide regular metrics and reporting to Compliance (2
  
  LOD) demonstrating adherence to established compliance requirements, control effectiveness, and third-party oversight standards

Merchant & Third Party Oversight

• Define and enforce governance standards for merchant onboarding, activation, monitoring, and offboarding
• Establish clear expectations, control requirements, and 1
  
  LOD-owned monitoring responsibilities for third-party partners supporting network growth, including defined oversight of partner performance against Optum Financial Services (OFS) standards
• Support development and adoption of standardized screening, alert clearing, and monitoring tools

Funds Settlement & Financial Controls

• Oversee governance for unsettled funds processes, including escalation paths, SLAs, and remediation workflows
• Partner with Finance and Operations to reduce backlog, prevent recurrence, and improve control effectiveness
• Ensure alignment with regulatory expectations related to money…