Optum Tech, part of UnitedHealth Group, is hiring a Vice President of Software Engineering accountable for enterprise-scale product engineering, platform modernization, and delivery of revenue-enabling technology capabilities across UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual (E&I). This leader sets the engineering vision, standards, operating model, and performance expectations for large, distributed engineering organizations delivering mission-critical platforms.
What You'll Do
- Define and execute engineering strategy for business-critical platforms.
- Lead multiple engineering organizations (hundreds of engineers across geographies/time zones) with accountability for delivery, quality, reliability, and outcomes.
- Establish a scalable operating model with clear ownership, transparency, and performance management.
- Influence enterprise-wide engineering standards and practices.
- Lead AI Adoption and Transformation as an AI-First Leader who models AI Usage, embeds it into management and delivery systems, removes barriers, aligns AI to business outcomes and leads responsibly.
- Partner with Product, Business, and Finance to ensure technology directly enables revenue generation, retention, and growth.
- Own platforms/services supporting employer and broker onboarding, enrollment, renewals, consumer digital experiences/servicing, eligibility, billing, and downstream integrations.
- Translate product roadmaps into resilient, scalable architectures that support growth without proportional cost increases.
- Quantify business value from technology investments (revenue enablement, efficiency, cost optimization).
- Provide leadership for high-volume transaction platforms and peak business cycles.
- Ensure 24x7 reliability, resiliency, and regulatory compliance.
- Balance 'run-the-business' stability with 'change-the-business' modernization.
- Establish and manage KPIs for availability, delivery predictability, quality, and customer experience.
- Lead migration from legacy systems to cloud-native, API-first, event-driven architectures.
- Drive DevSecOps adoption, automation, and engineering productivity improvements.
- Partner with architecture and security to ensure secure, compliant, scalable solutions.
- Champion pragmatic innovation that improves outcomes for customers, partners, and teams.
- Own and manage large engineering budgets with disciplined prioritization and cost efficiency.
- Implement governance to manage technology, operational, and regulatory risk.
- Drive transparency through metrics and reporting.
- Ensure compliance with enterprise policies, healthcare regulations, and security standards.
- Build and sustain a solid leadership bench (VP/AVP/Director) with succession planning.
- Set expectations for engineering excellence and leadership maturity.
- Attract, retain, and develop top talent.
- Foster a culture of ownership, collaboration, continuous improvement, and inclusion.
What We're Looking For
- 20+ years of progressive technology leadership experience, including senior leadership of large, complex engineering organizations.
- Demonstrated track record leading enterprise-scale platforms with direct business and revenue impact.
- Deep expertise in modern software engineering practices, cloud technologies, and large-scale modernization.
- Proven ability to partner effectively with Product, Business, Finance, and Executive stakeholders to deliver measurable outcomes.
- Demonstrated people leadership experience building and leading senior leadership teams; ability to set standards, drive accountability, and develop talent.
Nice to Have
- Undergraduate degree or equivalent experience.
- Experience operating in regulated environments (healthcare, financial services, or similar), including compliance, security, and audit readiness.
- Experience leading global/distributed engineering organizations across multiple time zones and delivery models.
- Experience modernizing legacy platforms to cloud-native architectures (API-first, event-driven) supporting high-volume transactions and peak cycles.
- Demonstrated success implementing DevSecOps, SRE/operational excellence practices, and engineering productivity programs at scale.
- Solid financial acumen managing large budgets, investment governance, and cost optimization tied to business value.
Team & Environment
You will lead multiple engineering organizations consisting of hundreds of engineers across geographies and time zones.
At Optum Tech, our culture is caring, connecting, and growing together, guided by inclusion, talented peers, comprehensive benefits, and career development opportunities. We model UnitedHealth Group values of Integrity, Quality, Inclusion, Compassion, Relationships, Innovation, and Performance. Our mission is to help people live healthier lives and make the health system work better for everyone. We are committed to mitigating our impact on the environment and enabling and delivering equitable care that addresses health disparities and improves health outcomes.
