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 Senior Medical Director for Care Variation will serve as a clinical leader responsible for driving consistency, quality, and performance across our specialty care network. This role leads a multidisciplinary team focused on minimizing unwarranted practice variation and ensuring that both employed and contracted specialists deliver care aligned with the highest clinical standards.

This leader will shape and execute strategies that elevate specialty care delivery, support clinical decision-making tools, and define benchmarks for optimal care. The role requires a visionary with strong clinical acumen, data fluency, and the ability to influence across a matrixed organization

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

Primary Responsibilities:

• Specialty Preferencing Strategy: Lead the development and refinement of specialty preferencing protocols to guide optimal referral patterns and care pathways
• Clinical Oversight of Order Utility (Optum Specialty Tool): Provide clinical leadership for OU, our specialty preferencing system, ensuring alignment with evidence-based practices
• Specialty Quality Improvement: Design and implement education and performance improvement programs to elevate the quality of care delivered by contracted specialty providers
• Network Strategy: Collaborate on specialty network selection and optimization to ensure access to high-performing providers
• Optimal Care Program Ownership: Define and maintain benchmarks for specialty performance measures. Develop and disseminate educational tools and support the creation and distribution of provider scorecards

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:

• MD or DO with active, unrestricted medical license
• Board certification in an ABMS or AOBMS specialty
• 3+ years of leadership experience managing clinical teams
• 3+ years of experience in population health or value-based care initiatives
• Demonstrated ability to analyze and synthesize complex clinical and operational data
• Proven leadership and collaboration skills in a matrixed environment

Preferred Qualifications:

• Advanced degree; MBA or MPH
• Experience working in large size health care organizations that are geographically widely distributed and heavily virtual (“remote workers”)
• Experience with integration of clinical and financial data and communication of performance data to physicians and other health care providers
• Significant record of performance, by meeting and exceeding operational goals in health care quality and cost management
• Excellent program and project management skills
• Demonstrated ability in developing concepts for program improvement and program development
• Proficient with MS Office (MS Word, Excel, and Power Point)

*All employees working remotely will be required to adhere to UnitedHealth Group’s Telecommuter Policy.

Compensation for this specialty generally ranges from $278,000 – $417,500. Total cash compensation includes base pay and bonus and is based on several factors including but not limited to local labor markets, education, work experience and may increase over time based on productivity and performance in the role. We comply with all minimum wage laws as applicable. 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.

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.

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.