Associate Director, Care Advocacy Behavioral Health Solutions

Improve the lives of others while Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

Job Description - Associate Director, Care Advocacy Behavioral Health Solutions (2400476)

Associate Director, Care Advocacy Behavioral Health Solutions - 2400476

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 Associate Director, Care Advocacy provides strategic and operational leadership for behavioral health care advocacy, navigation, and member support programs, with direct leadership responsibility for Elite and Premier. This leader is accountable for the performance, quality, service delivery, workforce management, and operational outcomes of Care Advocacy teams serving commercial, government, and specialty behavioral health populations.

The role collaborates closely with clinical, operations, product, network, technology, compliance, quality, client management, and finance partners to advance operational excellence, regulatory compliance, member engagement, and behavioral health outcomes. The Associate Director leads managers and professional staff and translates organizational strategy into disciplined execution that supports growth, transformation, affordability, quality, and an exceptional member experience.

You’ll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely
* from anywhere within the U.S. but will require minimal travel

Primary Responsibilities:

• Operational Leadership
  • Provide strategic and operational leadership for Care Advocacy, Navigation, EAP, and/or Behavioral Health teams
  • Drive performance against service level, accessibility, productivity, quality, and member satisfaction objectives
  • Ensure operational readiness for new clients, products, programs, and implementations
  • Maintain accountability for day-to-day operations, escalations, and timely issue resolution
  • Champion continuous improvement initiatives that strengthen efficiency, effectiveness, and member outcomes
• Lead and develop managers, supervisors, and senior professional staff
• Build leadership capability and maintain robust succession plans
• Advance employee engagement, retention, and professional development
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation, and inclusion
• Guide workforce planning and staffing strategies to align capacity with business demand
• Translate enterprise and business‑segment priorities into actionable operational plans
• Partner with senior leadership to advance behavioral health transformation initiatives
• Support strategic growth opportunities and the implementation of new service models
• Identify and evaluate opportunities to improve member access, engagement, and clinical outcomes
• Strengthen integration across clinical and non‑clinical member support services
• Client and Stakeholder Engagement
  • Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to deliver on client commitments and business objectives
  • Represent operations in client meetings, operational reviews, audits, and performance discussions
  • Deliver executive‑level reporting, insights, and recommendations
  • Cultivate strong cross‑functional partnerships to accelerate decision‑making and results
• Performance and Analytics
  • Leverage operational dashboards, analytics, and reporting to identify trends, risks, and improvement opportunities
  • Monitor and improve key…