Sr Director of Conversation Design & AI Frameworks - 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.

Optum Consumer Experience and Digital Product team focuses on advancing a digital-first Optum, championing Optum's priority to be the ultimate health destination for consumers. We deliver consumer-centric experiences and optimal digital products that drive business growth by connecting enterprise solutions, improving digital self-service, and creating a comprehensive view of the consumer and their needs. We leverage technology, consumer-centered design, data and analytics to improve the consumer experience with the health care system, making it easier to access, and afford, high-quality care.

Our UnitedHealth Group mission - helping people live healthier lived and helping make the health care system work better for everyone - serves as our why; our values unite us around how we will achieve it. When we follow our mission and live our values, we deliver quality solutions that will help change the health care system for the better.

Reporting to Optum's VP of Product Experiences & Design, the Senior Director of Conversation Design & AI frameworks will serve as a key enterprise leader driving the vision, strategy, and execution of multimodal conversational experiences across Optum's digital ecosystem. You will lead a high-performing team of Conversation Designers and collaborate with Product, Engineering, Data Science, Research, and Design to define and scale the organization's strategic frameworks for conversational AI capabilities needed for a natural interaction with customers about their healthcare needs that is delightful, useful, personal, proactive, and trustworthy. This role is pivotal in shaping how Optum leverages conversational AI to transform customer engagement-making healthcare more accessible, intuitive, and human-centered.

Putting the customer first, you will use a solid understanding of conversation design best practices across voice-based and text-based modalities in traditional chatbots and IVRs, as well as knowledge in training multimodal LLMs with prompt engineering to deliver innovative and intelligent conversational experiences for Optum customers across their needs in finding, receiving, understanding and paying for their healthcare. Working across disciplines and using a mix of research, a technical understanding of various AI methodologies, and a holistic understanding of customer experience design, you will define strategic frameworks, requirements and measurable standards for conversational AI capabilities. As an expert and past practitioner, you will also coach and upskill conversation designers and other disciplines across the organization on the art and science of conversation design.

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

Primary Responsibilities:

• Strategy & Vision: Develop customer-centric strategies for conversation design and conversational AI frameworks to direct strategic roadmap decisions and technology investments across Product, Design, Data Science and Engineering
• Enterprise Standards for Multimodal Conversation Design: Raise the bar and scale high-quality conversation design by directing and crafting the creation of Optum's first multimodal conversation design tenets, personality traits, and patterns. Through your team, implement patterns across customer journeys and the Optum portfolio of products, across existing and new technology capabilities
• Innovation & Execution: Partner with Data Science and Engineering to define and implement scalable framework to measure the quality of conversation experiences. Use metrics to continuously refine how customers engage with Optum through conversation
• Organizational Enablement & Talent Development: Lead and coach a team of high-performing conversation designers, and implement effective planning, critique and capacity-management mechanisms
• Upskilling the organization: Create and deliver overviews and training for conversation designers and other disciplines to upskill the organization's knowledge of the art and science of conversation design

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:

• 10+ years of conversation design experience as both a hands-on practitioner and team leader with a portfolio of consumer-centric products and services
• Extensive design experience and technical knowledge of how to craft and refine conversation experiences with chatbots, IVRs and generative conversational LLMs, as well as familiarity with prompt engineering best practices
• Experience using conversation design tools and prototyping methodologies
• Demonstrated success as a people-focused team leader with experience attracting, developing and retaining conversation design talent. Proven track record of coaching and upskilling teams
• Solid foundational understanding of UX design and how that works alongside Conversation Design to craft multimodal experiences

*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 $156,400 to $268,000 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.