Vice President Machine Learning Jobs in Minnesota

UnitedHealth Group is a health care and well-being company that's dedicated to improving the health outcomes of millions around the world. We are comprised of two distinct and complementary businesses, UnitedHealthcare and Optum, working to build a better health system for all. Here, your contributions matter as they will help transform health care for years to come. Make an impact with a team that shares your passion for helping others. Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together. 

The VP, People Analytics & Data Strategy will lead the People function's enterprise analytics, workforce data semantics, and AI data readiness agenda. This leader will be accountable for ensuring People data is trusted, well-governed, business-relevant, and fit for use across analytics, decision support, AI, and intelligent workflows.
 

This is not a traditional reporting role. It is a strategic leadership role at the intersection of workforce analytics, data stewardship, AI readiness, and business decision support. The VP will own the business meaning of People data, the semantic consistency of metrics and KPIs, the readiness of data for priority AI use cases, and the translation of data into decision support and measurable business value.
 

The role will work in close partnership with Tech partners, COEs, Shared Services, AI Enablement, and other key partners. People-side ownership of data meaning and stewardship will sit here; technical architecture, engineering, and runtime sits with Tech.

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

For all hires in the Minneapolis or Washington, D.C. area, you will be required to work in the office a minimum of four days per week.

Primary Responsibilities: 

Enterprise analytics and decision support
 Lead the People analytics and workforce insights agenda in support of enterprise, functional, and executive decision-making 
 Deliver high-impact workforce reporting, dashboards, scorecards, and insights that inform strategic decisions across talent, workforce, payroll, productivity, and organizational effectiveness 
 Shape executive and board-ready workforce narratives, including trend analysis, scenario support, and strategic storytelling 
 Establish clear standards for insight quality, metric consistency, and business interpretation 
 

Workforce data semantics and stewardship
 Own the business meaning, stewardship, and source-of-truth logic for People data across major domains including Core HR, Talent Acquisition, Talent, Learning, Payroll, Time, and Employee Support 
 Define and govern metric logic, KPI definitions, business rules, and semantic consistency across the People ecosystem 
 Establish a People data stewardship model, including domain accountability, issue resolution, and governance mechanisms 
 Partner with COEs and Shared Services to ensure critical business rules and source data requirements are clearly defined and maintained 
 

AI-ready data and data products
 Lead the People-side AI data strategy, ensuring data is fit for purpose for priority AI use cases, agent workflows, and intelligent automation 
 Assess and prioritize AI data-readiness needs for key use cases, including structured and unstructured data, enrichment, metadata, lineage, and observability requirements 
 Define the backlog of People data products and improvements required to enable AI-first HR capabilities 
 Partner with AI Enablement and People Tech to align data priorities to product roadmap and AI use-case strategy 
 

Governance, quality, and risk
 Establish and enforce business-facing governance for People data quality, stewardship, privacy, and appropriate use 
 Define business quality thresholds and monitor data issues that impact trust, analytics, or AI deployment 
 Partner with Tech, Privacy, Compliance, and Security teams to ensure People data governance aligns with enterprise controls and AI governance requirements 
 Help shape the People function's role in AI governance, especially where workforce data supports sensitive decisions or employee-facing experiences 
 

Partnership with technology
 Partner with Optum Tech on enterprise data engineering, platform architecture, metadata tooling, lineage, observability, pipeline delivery, and BI engineering 
 Serve as the business owner for People data requirements while Tech owns technical build and runtime 
 Translate business semantics and use-case needs into technical requirements for data pipelines, models, and platform capabilities 
 Ensure solid alignment between People data priorities and enterprise platform investments 

Value realization and measurement
 Define and monitor value metrics for People analytics, AI-enabled workflows, and digital products 
 Establish KPI frameworks to track adoption, business outcomes, efficiency gains, and decision quality 
 Ensure analytics and AI investments are tied to measurable business value, not just technical activity 
 Provide leadership on how data and AI should be measured, governed, and continuously improved 
 

Leadership
 Build and lead a high-performing team across workforce analytics, data semantics, stewardship, AI data readiness, and value measurement 
 Develop talent and capabilities in analytics, business data ownership, stewardship, and AI-ready data practices 
 Establish a modern operating model that connects analytics, product, AI, and technology teams with clear accountability and decision rights 
 Serve as a senior leader across the People transformation agenda, bringing clarity, rigor, and enterprise perspective
 

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.

What success looks like

 People data is trusted, governed, and consistently defined across the enterprise 
 Workforce analytics is elevated from reporting to strategic decision support 
 Priority AI use cases have a clear data-readiness path and do not stall due to weak data ownership 
 Business and technical teams are aligned on the split between data meaning and data engineering 
 Data quality, stewardship, and observability improve across critical People domains 
 Executive leaders have greater confidence in workforce metrics, AI outputs, and decision support 
 The People function builds a scalable, AI-ready data foundation that enables transformation at pace 
 

Required Qualifications: 

 12 years of leadership experience in enterprise analytics, data and analytics, people analytics, data governance, digital transformation, or adjacent strategy roles 
 Proven experience leading analytics and/or business data strategy in a complex enterprise environment 
 Solid experience owning business data definitions, governance, metrics, and cross-functional stakeholder alignment 
 Experience enabling AI, advanced analytics, or intelligent automation through improved data readiness and stewardship 
 Solid executive communication skills and ability to translate complex data topics into business decisions and strategic narratives 
 Experience working in close partnership with engineering, architecture, product, and technology leaders 
 Demonstrated success building teams and operating models across analytics, governance, and decision support 
 

Preferred experience

 Experience in HR, HRIS, workforce analytics, talent analytics, payroll analytics, or adjacent People domains 
 Experience with enterprise platforms such as Oracle HCM, ServiceNow, Salesforce, Power BI, and cloud data platforms 
 Experience in regulated or audit-sensitive environments where data quality, lineage, and governance matter materially 
 Familiarity with AI-ready data concepts such as metadata, observability, lineage, stewardship, and data product management 
 

Leadership profile

We are looking for a leader who:
 Sees data as a strategic business asset, not a reporting output 
 Can bridge semantics, analytics, AI, and executive decision-making 
 Brings rigor to definitions, governance, and measurement 
 Can partner effectively with senior Technology leaders without ceding business ownership of the data 
 Is comfortable operating at executive altitude while building real capability below 
 Understands that in an AI-first organization, trusted data is the foundation of trust, speed, and scale
 

*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 $200,400 to $343,500 annually based on full-time employment. We comply with all minimum wage laws as applicable.

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.