Principal Data Analyst - West Region - 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.

The Principal Data Analyst Optum West Region is responsible for collaborating with various stakeholders and departments (e.g., medical management, delegation oversight, claims, HCE, Finance, Legal, Compliance, business and IT leaders across local, regional, national, and UHG teams) to define business needs and associated detailed business requirements, identify required data elements and data sources, establish performance metrics, perform data analytics, query data warehouses, establish materials to communicate the findings and recommendations to influence and optimize outcomes, and create dashboards and reporting. Leader in this role is accountable for researching multiple sources to fully understand the ongoing status of pharmaceutical and medical codes (e.g., CPT, HCPCS), status of the codes in our systems (e.g., medical management, claims), partner with clinical leaders for prior authorization and level of review requirements and decision, coordinate changes across all systems, perform validation, and communicate changes to all stakeholders. Role is also accountable for end-to-end needs for medical management systems configurations.

The Principal Data Analyst is responsible for the management and manipulation of primarily structured data, with a focus on building business intelligence tools, conducting analysis to distinguish patterns and recognize trends, creating visualizations, and ensuring data quality. Accountability includes developing data solutions to support and perform analysis, interpreting results, developing actionable insights, presenting recommendations, securing decisions, and facilitating and following through on the end-to-end implementation of the approved solutions.

This role requires a consulting mindset, strong analytical and communication skills, and the ability to navigate complex data to provide actionable insights. The ideal candidate will have a deep understanding of how to pull data from multiple sources, be adept at critical reasoning, define the story based on what the data represents, and possess the ability to build strong rapports to influence and persuade across a matrixed organization. Individual in this role must be able to distill large amounts of information into meaningful conclusions and ask next-level business questions to drive strategic decision-making.

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

Primary Responsibilities:

• Conduct ongoing research across multiple sources to fully understand the current and ongoing status of pharmaceutical and medical codes (e.g., CPT, HCPCS), assess status of the codes in our systems (e.g., medical management, claims), partner with clinical leaders to define prior authorization and level of review requirements, secure decisions, coordinate the implementation of required changes across all systems, perform production validation, and communicate changes with all impacted teams.
• Manage and ensure prior authorization lists remain comprehensive and accurate across all lines of business (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid, Commercial) and for all in scope Optum Care Delivery Organizations. Perform ongoing reviews of health plan prior authorization lists and ensure our prior authorization list by line of business is compliant with the health plan requirements
• On a scheduled basis and adhoc as needed, pull data by pharmacy and medical code (CPT, HCPCS), document findings and trends, establish recommendations, review with executives and senior leaders, secure decisions, partner with all impacted teams to implement the required changes, and provide communications with all impacted teams
• Define required data to support business needs, identify source of truth data warehouses and data fields, develop queries, pull data, analyze data, and establish executive report outs on the findings with a recommendation and solution timeline
• Accountable for design and delivery of dashboards, reports, and insights that analyze business functions and KPIs
• Analyze historical data and compare against current data to identify trends and patterns, define areas of opportunities, recommend actions to drive desired outcomes, meet with executive leaders to present business cases and seek approval, establish execution plan, manage plan through implementation and production validation, and provide tailored and succinct communications to all impacted teams and stakeholders
• Stay current with the latest and best-in-class data analytics techniques and tools and recommend new approaches as needed
• Manage multiple analytical engagements across different audiences, meeting tight timelines as we put speed and scale at the forefront, never compromising quality
• Possess both sharpened technical and interpersonal skills with emphasis on; quick learner, curiosity, critical thinking, problem-solving abilities, change management, and the ability to negotiate and influence executives and large audiences
• Establish direction, break down barriers, and effectively lead teams accountable for systems changes, operations, and rapidly and holistically resolve issues and defects
• Foster a collaborative and diverse environment and build high-performing teams with a keen focus on quality and flawless execution
• Partner with leaders to develop, refine, and flawlessly execute strategic, operational, and affordability initiatives that support the organization's goals and objectives for optimal healthcare outcomes, quality improvement, and profitability
• Foster a culture that encompasses our core values of integrity, compassion, inclusion, relationships, innovation, performance, and quality
• Coordinate and facilitate engagement of cross-functional stakeholders (e.g., business, operations, claims, systems, finance, accounting, compliance, legal, regulatory, people business partner)
• Document business requirements and secure signoff, complete system configurations, engage with functional SMEs to conduct testing, deploy configurations to production, perform production validation, and communicate with all impacted teams
• Provide accurate and timely level of effort estimates for data analytics, dashboards, reporting, and configurations

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:

• 3+ years of experience with accountabilities across all lines of business, such as Medicare/Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, Commercial, and Dual Eligible
• Advanced skills with Microsoft Access and the Microsoft Suite (e.g., Excel, PowerPoint, Visio, Word, Outlook)
• Solid understanding of reporting tools and data querying experience
• Advanced data, data analytics, data-driven decision making, and reporting
• Solid healthcare, regulatory, technology, and business acumen
• Self-driven and able to work independently with minimal support, mentoring, and guidance

Preferred Qualifications:

• Solid operational and systems mindset, ability to use data to draw insights, and independent data-driven decision making
• Exceptional verbal and written communications
• Solid relationship development and team management skills
• Solid collaboration skills to ensure effective alignment among diverse teams
• Ability to excel in a matrixed environment
• Solid change management

Travel:
10% travel within the Optum West Region

*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 $110,200 to $188,800 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.