The Manager, Advisory Services is the overall day-to-day engagement manager for strategy consulting engagements serving payer clients. The Manager is responsible for determining overall approach and structure of a given engagement and associated key deliverables. The Manager must possess relevant strategy, management consulting, and healthcare industry and payer knowledge to serve as the driving force behind team problem solving, helping payer clients identify strategic priorities, improve financial and market performance, rationalize services, improve customer experiences, and address their specific business challenges. The Manager develops and assigns workstreams to team members and him/herself that meet the needs and timelines of the client. This role will also assist junior team members in building and developing their core consulting skills.
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:- Serve as overall day-to-day engagement manager across various engagement types (predominantly strategy and transformation consulting engagements for payer clients)
- Demonstrate ability to accurately diagnose client-facing issues and determine the appropriate analyses and evaluations to develop solutions
- Determining overall analytical approach and structure for client engagements and workstreams
- Build consensus among client stakeholders about the accuracy of the solutions and aid them in successful implementation
- Spend time coaching team members to develop approaches for their individual responsibilities, reviewing and validating their work for accuracy and effectiveness
- Serve as the main point of contact for payer clients and client stakeholders
- Establish optimal communication cadence with clients and demonstrate executive presence
- Prioritize and delegate work to team members and self that meet needs and timelines of client
- Closely monitors actual vs. expected team utilization
- Effectively and appropriately apply both deductive and inductive thinking
- Provide subject matter expertise to other Optum Advisory Services business units related to strategic planning and specific payer client issuesCommunicate effectively and accurately in writing and verbally
- Demonstrate solid relationship management skills and ability to handle challenging interpersonal situations
- Contribute to practice-level initiatives including business development and thought leadership beyond client project work
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:- 2+ years of external client/customer-facing experience in strategy and management consulting (McKinsey-BCG-Bain/Big 4/Boutique) or equivalent professional services environment
- 2+ years of experience in health care (payer or life sciences)
- 2+ years of experience utilizing formal industry strategy consulting frameworks within a payer or life sciences environment
- 2+ years of experience with project management, developing and presenting deliverables to C-suite executives
- 1+ years of experience mentoring and upskilling junior staff
- Proficiency in MS Office Suite - Word, PowerPoint, Excel
- Proven analytical reasoning and solutions-focus problem solving
- Proven ability to drill down to the root cause of issues and develop actionable solutions
- Demonstrated solid written and verbal communication skills
- Demonstrated ability to work independently with minimal supervision and collaborate effectively in team settings
- Ability to travel domestically, up to 50% when required
Preferred Qualifications:- Experience leveraging AI tools (e.g., Microsoft Copilot, generative AI platforms, AI-driven analytics) as part of day-to-day delivery and team workflow; model AI-first behaviors for the broader practice
- Experience supporting end-to-end sales and business development life cycle in a consulting environment (e.g., lead generation, proposal development, RFP response)
- Background in healthcare consulting
- Creative in problem solving approach
*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 $112,700 - $193,200 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.
