Associate Director, Conversational AI Design - Remote

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.

As an Associate Director of Conversational AI Design, you will lead a talented team of designers shaping the future of human-AI interaction. In this role, you'll own a diverse portfolio and partner closely with product and engineering teams to push the boundaries of AI experiences that deliver meaningful value. You'll be responsible for the delivery and design excellence across conversational experiences by coaching your team on evolving AI processes, standards and business goals.

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:

• Strategic Leadership
  • Collaborate with senior stakeholders and cross-functional leaders to advocate for AI design excellence and align on priorities
  • Establish processes to measure conversation effectiveness, identify opportunities for improvement and quantify business impact
  • Deliver effective, short-term solutions with strategic foresight to push for long-term, industry-leading experiences
• People Leadership
  • Manage and mentor a high-performing team of AI designers, fostering a culture of career growth and delivery excellence
  • Implement structured mentoring and capacity planning to strengthen organization design impact
  • Guide the team through ambiguity, ensuring clarity, alignment and effective execution across initiatives
  • Attracts and mentors junior employees to contribute to retention and development
• Delivery & AI Innovation
  • Establish and maintain conversational AI design standards to ensure consistency and quality
  • Influence and define AI tooling solutions, scalable design processes and prompt engineering best practices to improve quality and efficiency

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:

• 6+ years of hands-on experience designing highly complex chat and voice conversational experiences
• 1+ years of building, maintaining and strengthening direct report teams with reliable and consistent high performance
• Experience leading a design portfolio, including managing the delivery roadmap and long-term vision
• Digital portfolio or work samples of relevant AI/conversational projects (to be submitted with application and presented in the hiring process)
• Proven ability to influence leadership and stakeholders through communication and content
• Proven to be highly skilled at driving team clarity in ambiguous, fast-paced environments to ensure consistency across voice, tone and brand standards
• Demonstrated ability leading AI-driven experiences including knowledge of LLMs, bot platforms and prompt engineering best practices
• Comfort and ability to travel occasionally to UHC worksites

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience leading teams through transformation, such as adoption of new AI tools, processes or AI augmented workflows
• Experience defining and maintaining enterprise-level scalable frameworks and conversational design patterns
• Experience utilizing AI frameworks to evaluate conversation performance for continuous improvement
• Experience working in a clinical, healthcare or health insurance setting
• Knowledge of ethical AI standards including bias, fairness and transparency

*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 to $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.

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.