Director of Design - Optum Health - Remote

Primary Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and grow a team of 5-8 UX/UI designers within the Optum Health space
• Drive innovation, human-centered experience strategies from concept through execution
• Lead the design strategy for AI powered, conversational, and agentic experiences, ensuring solutions are intuitive, trustworthy, and human-centered
• Proven experience of driving the adoption of emerging AI design practices, including conversation design, and generative user experiences and incorporating them into the design process
• Partner closely with product, engineering, research, and business leaders to define and deliver best-in-class experiences
• Establish clear priorities for the design organization and align team efforts to strategic business objectives
• Foster a culture of creativity, collaboration, accountability and continuous improvement
• Present design strategies, concepts, and recommendations to executive leadership with clarity and confidence
• Influence cross-functional stakeholders and build solid partnerships across the organization
• Help evolve design processes, workflows, and pattern libraries to support scale and consistency
• Navigate ambiguity and lead effectively within a dynamic, fast-paced environment
• Remain hands-on in design execution by creating concepts, prototypes, and experience explorations, while also providing design support during high-demand periods or critical initiatives
• Drives continuous improvement in design processes and methodologies, staying abreast of industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in UX/UI design
• Proven experience leading, managing teams and developing high-performing design teams
• Experience designing AI-powered digital products, including conversational, generative, or agentic experiences
• Proven experience leading UX strategy and feature delivery work across multiple portfolios of UX programs and business units simultaneously
• Deep understanding of user experience principles, design methodologies, interaction patterns, and design systems/pattern libraries
• Expertise translating vision and strategy into tangible user experiences, from early concept development through detailed feature design and delivery
• Advanced proficiency in Figma, including prototyping, workshops and executive-ready storytelling artifacts
• Proven ability to manage competing priorities, allocate design resources effectively, and balance strategic initiatives with ongoing product deliver across a complex portfolio landscape
• Demonstrated ability to operate as a player-coach, providing leadership and direction while remaining actively engaged in design execution when needed
• Demonstrated solid portfolio demonstrating both strategic, visionary work and hands-on product or feature-level design execution
• Demonstrated excellent communication, facilitation, and storytelling skills, with the ability to tailor messages from executive audiences to individual contributors

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience leading design within healthcare or highly regulated industries
• Familiarity with consumer-facing digital health experiences and service design