The Advisory Services Director (EDS) - Remote is a senior consulting leader within the Optum Advisory - Enterprise Delivery Services consulting practice. Enterprise Delivery Services (EDS) is a rapidly growing business that serves clients across the health care ecosystem. We provide on-demand access to consulting talent with unparalleled experience and combine it with premium customer care and flexible contracting, allowing clients to focus on their core capabilities and create an agile workforce that scales with the demands of their business. EDS consultants combine deep healthcare expertise with AI-enabled delivery approaches, leveraging data-driven tools to accelerate insights, improve decision-making, and drive measurable outcomes across complex enterprise initiatives. Engagements are delivered through a range of structured consulting delivery models that are tailored to client needs, scope, and organizational maturity.
Our consultants are engaged to support both internal teams within UnitedHealth Group and external commercial clients in one or more of the following areas:
- Healthcare Consulting
- Project and Program Management
- Business Analysis
- Product Management
- Process Transformation
- Change Management
- Quality Assurance
- Data Analysis and Reporting
- AI-driven innovation and solution enablement
- Training, Learning and Development
Limited travel may be required for this role (less than 25% on average over a year's time, but may involve Monday through Thursday travel for multiple concurrent weeks to satisfy specific client project requirements). Consultants who are not local to an Optum office facility work from a home office when not at the client site.
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 in the office a minimum of four days per week.
Primary Responsibilities: - Lead complex, enterprise-scale client transformation programs, orchestrating cross-functional workstreams and integrating strategy through execution to deliver measurable business outcomes
- Lead enterprise change management efforts on complex programs, designing and executing stakeholder engagement, communication, adoption, and organizational readiness strategies grounded in established methodologies (e.g., ProSci)
- Direct operating-model design and redesign efforts, including capability mapping, organizational design, governance, process and technology alignment, and workforce and role definition, to enable sustained performance improvements
- Lead AI transformation programs, shaping the vision, roadmap, and delivery approach for AI-enabled business transformation, including use case prioritization, capability build-out, adoption planning, and value capture
- Define and champion the practice's AI-enabled delivery strategy, establishing standards, reusable assets, and governance for responsible AI use across engagements
- Advise clients on practical applications of AI to enhance business processes, digital products, and operational performance
- Lead the end-to-end quantification of financial benefit across a portfolio of client initiatives, building the value models, establishing defensible baselines, and translating operational drivers into risk-adjusted dollar ranges that withstand CFO and executive-level scrutiny.
- Serve as the client-facing owner of the value-realization workstream, directing junior analysts, aligning with client finance and operations stakeholders, and presenting findings, assumptions, and benefit bridges to senior leadership to drive prioritization and buy-in.
- Define, establish, and deploy Project Management Office (PMO) frameworks, standards, and best practices, leveraging advanced project management tools and artifacts (e.g., Charter/Scope, Integrated Project Plans, Issue logs, Requirements Matrices, Lessons Learned, and portfolio tracking)
- Monitor, manage, and document project milestones, deliverables, and outcomes throughout the project lifecycle, proactively identifying emerging issues and driving appropriate actions to maintain project alignment and momentum.
- Develop, communicate, and execute comprehensive project risk and issue management plans, including mitigation and escalation strategies to minimize impact and ensure successful delivery
- Determine funding needs, staffing requirements, allotment of resources to various phases of projects and lead others in the organization to make meaningful process improvements
- Effectively build and maintain relationships with internal and external clients
- Provide clear communications (oral and written) and share knowledge at all levels of the organization
- Provide coaching and mentoring of project team with the goal of developing and retaining talent within the organization
- Own engagement and portfolio financial performance, ensuring revenue, margin, and client value targets are met or exceeded
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: - 8+ years of enterprise program management and/or consulting leadership in healthcare, including leading large-scale, client-facing consulting engagements or internal healthcare programs
- 6+ years of progressive management consulting experience with demonstrated ownership of value quantification, business case, or benefits realization engagements
- 5+ years leading enterprise transformation programs, including operating-model design, organizational change, and deep change management grounded in established methodologies (e.g., ProSci)
- 2+ years of new business development experience for professional services, including proposal development, scoping, and pricing of consulting engagements
- Advanced proficiency in financial modeling, ROI/NPV, and scenario/sensitivity analysis in Excel (structuring Volume D7 Unit Economics D7 Improvement value drivers with risk-adjustment and phasing logic), with a proven ability to translate complex analysis into executive-ready deliverables (value bridges, benefit waterfalls) for C-suite and client leadership
- Hands-on experience with AI-enabled tools (e.g., generative AI, automation, advanced analytics) and demonstrated experience defining AI-enabled delivery standards, governance, or reusable assets at a practice or portfolio
Preferred Qualifications: - ProSci certification or equivalent formal change management credential
- PMP, Agile/Scrum, or Lean Six Sigma certification
- Experience advising clients across the software development lifecycle (SDLC) on technology-enabled business and process transformation
- Deep sector experience across payer, provider, PBM, or government healthcare programs
- Experience in digital health, consumer digital products, or AI/data-driven service offerings
*All employees working remotely will be required to adhere to UnitedHealth Group's Telecommuter Policy
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). No matter where or when you begin a career with us, you'll find a far-reaching choice of benefits and incentives. The salary for this role will range from $134,600 to $230,800 annually based on full-time employment. We comply with all minimum wage laws as applicable.
Application Deadline: This will be posted for a minimum of 2 business days or until a sufficient candidate pool has been collected. Job posting may come down early due to volume of applicants.
