Senior Vice President, Underwriting

Job Title

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.

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

Hybrid in MN/DC: This position follows a hybrid schedule with four in-office days per week.

Primary Responsibilities

• Lead pricing and underwriting activities for new business, renewals, and market checks across client segments in support of enterprise growth objectives
• Partner with Growth and Client Management to develop pricing, bid, and retention strategies balancing competitiveness, margin protection, and sustainability
• Establish and evolve pricing models, economic assumptions, trend analytics, and market intelligence frameworks
• Collaborate with executive leaders to design and implement pricing, underwriting, and supply chain economic initiatives

External Sales Leadership & Prospect Development

• Lead relationships with employers & consultants driving market opportunities into OptumRx
• Position OptumRx as the most innovative PBM in the market - demonstrating executive presence and financial sales acumen in all finalist meetings for Fortune 500+ companies
• Act as an executive sponsor for Top 25 OptumRx clients - managing executive engagement and dispute resolution

Contract Adjustments & Market Responsiveness

• Own strategy and execution of contract adjustments driven by regulatory, legislative, and market-based changes
• Develop contract-specific and market-wide adjustment methodologies and analytics
• Partner with Client Management and Legal to support client communications and negotiations related to contract adjustments
• Proactively identify market developments requiring future contract adjustments

Contract Intelligence, Tools & Automation

• Advance pricing, underwriting, and contract adjustment tools with a focus on automation, scalability, and repeatability
• Lead development of AI-enabled contract intelligence to extract, standardize, and assess contract language
• Eliminate manual contract review processes through digitization and advanced analytics
• Ensure governance and consistency across pricing, underwriting, and contract data ecosystems

Leadership & Enterprise Partnership

• Lead and develop teams across pricing, underwriting, analytics, and contract strategy functions
• Build solid partnerships with Growth, Client Management, Legal, Finance, Network, and Technology leaders
• Provide executive-level communication and insights on pricing, contract, and market dynamics
• Set clear priorities and governance across initiatives tied to pricing and contract strategy

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

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience required
• 8+ years of progressive experience in pricing, underwriting, contract strategy, or related financial analytics roles
• Demonstrated experience leading complex analytical, pricing, or financial strategy work in a matrixed environment
• Solid financial, economic, and contract acumen with the ability to translate complex analysis into executive-ready recommendations
• Experience partnering cross-functionally with Growth, Client Management, Legal, Finance, and Technology teams
• Demonstrated ability to lead tool, analytics, or automation initiatives, including adoption of AI-enabled capabilities
• Proven executive communication skills, including the ability to explain complex pricing, contract, and market concepts to senior leaders and clients
• Comfort operating in ambiguous, rapidly evolving regulatory and market environments with sound judgment and accountability

Preferred Qualifications

• MBA or advanced degree
• PBM or health care experience

Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to local labor markets, education, work experience, certifications, etc. In addition to your salary, we offer benefits such as, a comprehensive benefits package, incentive and recognition programs, equity stock purchase and 401k contribution (all benefits are subject to eligibility requirements). The salary for this role will range from $225,000-$375,000 annually based on full-time employment. We comply with all minimum wage laws as applicable.

At UnitedHealth Group, our mission is to help people live healthier lives and make the health system work better for everyone. We believe everyone-of every race, gender, sexuality, age, location and income-deserves the opportunity to live their healthiest life. Today, however, there are still far too many barriers to good health which are disproportionately experienced by people of color, historically marginalized groups and those with lower incomes. We are committed to mitigating our impact on the environment and enabling and delivering equitable care that addresses health disparities and improves health outcomes - an enterprise priority reflected in our mission.

UnitedHealth Group is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer under applicable law and qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, religion, age, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by local, state, or federal laws, rules, or regulations.

UnitedHealth Group is a drug - free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment.