Operations Director, Behavioral Health - Latham, NY

For those who want to invent the future of health care, here's your opportunity. We're going beyond counseling services and verified referrals to behavioral health programs integrated across the entire continuum of care. Join us and help people live healthier lives while doing your life's best work.(sm)

Optum Behavioral working in conjunction with C&S is forming a dedicated Operations team in response to the award of recent new business from the State of NY. This business will focus on Medicaid services to the mainstream eligible recipients and HARP- Health and Recovery Plan; this will encompass approximately 135K lives.

This senior operations role in Behavioral Health will be responsible for member services, training, claims, reporting and compliance functions as well as managing relationships and performance with key corporate operational functions; they may have direct reports.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Maintains adherence to contracted performance standards for areas of responsibility


• Ensures timely delivery on contracted customer commitments within functional areas


• Primary interface responsible for working collaboratively with corporate enterprise functions including eligibility, claims, call and alerting utilization/care management to ensure contract commitments and local needs are met and issues are resolved


• Manages vendor relationships and performance for member services and crisis line


• Ensures effective delivery of services, meeting goals and ensuring contract compliance


• Oversees hiring, promotions and ongoing performance management to assure adherence to human capital policies


• Guides staff in the effective delivery of services, meeting goals and ensures contract compliance


• Designs appropriate communications, training and performance support materials


• Monitors compliance with established performance standards, assists teams in identifying performance issues, generates solutions for identified problem areas and drives action plans to maintain compliance with performance requirements


• Uses data to identify trends, patterns, issues and opportunities that have an impact on the business and uses the data to help make sound business decisions/recommendations


• Prioritize initiatives and educational efforts to ensure urgent and important issues are addressed promptly and resolved; successfully drives to excellent results and meets or exceeds goals


• Supports the Executive Director and other leaders in supporting daily operations of the HARP and mainstream eligible services


• Completes special projects as assigned

Required Qualifications:

• 4 year degree


• 5 + years broad range managerial and administrative experience in public sector and /or behavioral health


• 3 + years directly within management of staff and functions


• Thorough understanding of managed care principles, models and financing


• Demonstrated data analysis and report writing capability


• Proficiency with MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook


• Proven ability to build effective team - facilitating cohesive staff efforts, and influence others via collaboration outside of direct reporting structure


• 2 + years client facing, relationship building


• Call center experience


• 2+ years of experience working directly with metrics based performance successfully driving business results and resolving operational challenges

Preferred Qualifications:

• Advanced degree


• Experience within a corporate managed health care, large matrix organization


• Experience delivering presentations & building new programs/initiatives-ground up


• Project management expertise

Careers with Optum. Here's the idea. We built an entire organization around one giant objective; make the health system work better for everyone. So when it comes to how we use the world's large accumulation of health-related information, or guide health and lifestyle choices or manage pharmacy benefits for millions, our first goal is to leap beyond the status quo and uncover new ways to serve. Optum, part of the UnitedHealth Group family of businesses, brings together some of the greatest minds and most advanced ideas on where health care has to go in order to reach its fullest potential. For you, that means working on high performance teams against sophisticated challenges that matter. Optum, incredible ideas in one incredible company and a singular opportunity to do your life's best work.(sm)

Diversity creates a healthier atmosphere: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, protected veteran status, or disability status.

UnitedHealth Group is a drug-free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment. In addition, employees in certain positions are subject to random drug testing.