Innovation Solution Evangelist/ Cost Management......telecommuters considered - Full-time / Part-time

Is strategy part of your career wheelhouse? Jump into a Product Manager role here at Optum and look for ways to innovatively enhance our products. We're part of the UnitedHealth Group family of businesses, bringing 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. Join us where incredible ideas abound in a singular opportunity to do your life's best work.(sm)

The newly created Center of Innovation for OptumInsight is a key and critical strategy in achieving our aggressive organic growth targets. The Center of Innovation will develop new solutions as well as coordinate the prioritization and launch of both internal solutions and external solutions developed by either a partner within Optum or a third-party.  In this context, innovations are defined as new solutions (technology, managed service or consulting) that generate new revenue and must support the OptumInsight strategy and core focuses.  Solution Evangelists will work with external and internal parties to translate market research and needs, conceptualize, mobilize design teams, and manage the business case for approval by the Innovation Commercialization Council.  Approved business cases or partner innovations will be developed by product management and resources but are monitored by Solution Evangelists to ensure successful launch and adoption.  Success is ultimately measured by the revenue generated by the new innovation.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Collaborate on the creation and documentation of the overall Center of Innovation processes including Innovation Pipe Drive events, the role of the Innovation Commercialization Council, innovation validation and preparation, and Partner Support processes
  
• Generate new innovation ideas through collaboration, formal and informal events, and engage with partners to define problems space and generate potential solutions
  
• Sponsor Innovation Pipe Drive events that bring together cross-functional, internal or external, parties to generate ideas for new solutions 
  
• Initiate/participate in on-going creative brainstorming, idea generation and trend gathering
  
• Coordinate the research, evaluation and filter assigned ideas from senior management
  
• Engage with sales and client management teams to develop potential innovations and validate ideas generated by clients; both on a one-on-one as well as in focus group, industry event forums
  
• Collaborate with business development team to analyze and evaluate new business and partner innovation opportunities
  
• Manage the Center of Innovation Business Analysts and Project Managers assigned to the innovation pipeline
  
• Manage process and resources to validate new innovation ideas including market, competitive environment, existing within Optum or can leverage existing solutions, partnership opportunity, and complete prototype development
  
• Manage process to build business case for new innovation, and present to Innovation Council for approval and prioritization, participate in portfolio rationalize discussions
  
• Manage Optum internal partner process to access the provider market, manage creation market opportunity and projected revenue estimates as part of the business case
  
• Coordinate assignment to product management, or act as product manager through the capital request and development process; manage P0 PLM requirements as necessary
  
• Work with sales, client management, product management, engineering and marketing to ensure the timely and effective launch of a new innovation
  
• Monitor performance of the new solution by reviewing sales, implementation, support, and client satisfaction metrics.  Conduct post-launch assessment of newly implemented initiatives.
  
• Provide industry expertise, thought-leadership and leadership to clients and market
  
• Attend and participate/present at industry events
  
• Participate in sales process to promote new innovation and potentially create more sophisticated bundled offerings to fit unique client need

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree
  
• 15+ years healthcare industry of which minimum 7 years working directly in the field related to subject matter expertise:  hospital cost management, supply chain, strategic cost management initiatives ranging from non labor reduction through clinical transformation




• Managing labor cost and improving productivity
  
• Reducing non-labor cost including supply chain and contracted services
  
• Optimizing clinical service mix
  
• Rationalizing system-wide overhead cost
  
• Activity-based costing methodologies


• Strategic thinker, experience evaluating new product/market ideas, experience generating and testing hypotheses with a financial outcomes focus, in-depth and thorough knowledge of products, strategic/analytic, and marketing concepts
  
• Experience in the coordination of and collaboration of work teams, both internal and external, and a proven track record of innovation success
  
• Surfs comfortably and successfully in complex, matrixed organizations; understands what it is like to live and work at a large organization and/or work within large external organization to achieve significant results
  
• Demonstrate success building strategic partnerships with external clients to co-create and scale products/solutions from ground up
  
• Creativity and a passion for ideation and innovation; intellectually curious, thoughtful and observational; creative thinker with an open mind to learn and explore new areas and opportunities; creative problem solver/thinker craves client engagement
  
• Ability to use different techniques to communicate and source ideas from diverse areas to drive results and influence others
  
• Creative and inclusive: collaborative leader, requires creativity and ability to 'make it work'
  
• Provide training, awareness and collaboration capabilities in the development and articulation of innovation strategies
  
• Openness, inclusive, mentoring/teaching, evangelist for subject matter
  
• Extremely strong communication and presentation skills; both verbal and visual (powerpoint, idea boards, etc.)
  
• Proficiency with Microsoft Project, Excel, Word and Power Point, Visio
  
• Ability to travel up to 75% of the time

Preferred Qualifications:

• 
  

  Master's degree

  
  
• Existing industry network and professional affiliations preferred; participation and thought-leadership demonstrated in public industry forums

Careers with Optum. Here's the idea. We built an entire organization around one giant objective; make health care 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, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.

UnitedHealth Group is a drug-free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment.

Job Keywords: product, product management, project management, Eden Prairie, MN, Minnesota, telecommute, telecommuting