Associate Director. Data Mining and Recovery Operations

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 diversity and inclusion, talented peers, comprehensive benefits and career development opportunities. Come make an impact on the communities we serve as you help us advance health equity on a global scale. Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

The Associate Director of Data Mining & Recovery Operations provides strategic leadership across Non Clinical Payment Integrity (NCPI) to drive enterprise level value through effective post pay overpayment identification, recovery, and prevention initiatives across Government and Commercial lines of business. The role is accountable for shaping and executing DMRO strategy, aligning analytics driven recovery programs with financial, compliance, and operational priorities.

This position partners closely with all Payment Integrity value stream leaders, Health Plans, Legal, Finance, and Optum Recovery Operations to ensure scalable, compliant, and audit ready execution of recovery programs. The Associate Director also provides governance and oversight of vendors supporting DMRO capabilities, serving as a senior escalation point and ensuring performance, risk management, and outcomes are aligned with Payment Integrity objectives.

Careers with Optum offer flexible work arrangements and individuals who live and work in the Republic of Ireland will have the opportunity to split their monthly work hours between our Dublin or Letterkenny office and telecommuting from a home-based office in a hybrid work model.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Lead Data Mining & Recovery Operations Oversight to drive identification and recovery of post pay medical claim overpayments, ensuring alignment with Payment Integrity strategy, financial targets, and regulatory requirements
• Oversee data mining and recovery strategies leveraging analytics, algorithms, and contract audit tools to maximize recoveries while supporting avoidance and prevention initiatives
• Manage the end to end recovery lifecycle, including inventory prioritization, validation, ODAR governance, and recovery closure, ensuring audit readiness and compliance with contractual and regulatory standards
• Provide oversight of vendor performance supporting DMRO, including monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs), service level agreements (SLAs), and contractual compliance
• Lead vendor governance and business reviews, delivering structured insights to stakeholders on performance, risks, trends, and opportunities for improvement
• Serve as the primary escalation point for vendor related risks, contract compliance issues, and service disruptions, coordinating cross functional resolution with Legal, Finance, Procurement, Health Plans, and Operations
• Partner cross functionally with analytics, Quality Assurance, Benefits Operations, COB, Optum Recovery Operations, Health Plans, and vendors to resolve issues, remove operational barriers, and ensure seamless execution
• Monitor and report on operational performance, recovery outcomes, and vendor effectiveness to support executive level reporting and Payment Integrity governance forums
• Drive continuous improvement through process optimization, exploratory analysis, and concept development to improve operational efficiency and reduce future payment leakage
• Provide leadership, direction, and mentorship to team members, fostering a high performing, accountable, and results driven organization

You will 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 providing development for other roles you may be interested in.

Required Qualifications:

• Proven solid experience in vendor management, operations, or partner oversight, preferably within a multinational and/or healthcare environment
• Demonstrated people leadership experience, including direct management of team members, coaching and development, performance management, and fostering a high performing, accountable team culture
• Proven solid understanding of US healthcare contract structures, performance metrics, regulatory requirements, and vendor governance
• Proven experience managing multiple external vendors, driving performance against SLAs, KPIs, and contractual obligations, and leading corrective action and continuous improvement efforts
• Demonstrated solid analytical and problem solving skills, with experience reviewing operational, quality, and financial performance data to identify trends and improvement opportunities
• Proven experience identifying process gaps, implementing solutions, and reducing operational risk or quality issues
• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain solid relationships with internal stakeholders and external partners across multiple levels of the organization
• Demonstrated excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to influence outcomes, manage difficult conversations, and engage effectively with senior leadership
• Proven experience leading or supporting vendor onboarding, training, and ongoing performance development
• Proven solid organizational, prioritization, and project management skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities
• Demonstrated proficiency in Microsoft Office tools, including Excel, PowerPoint, and Visio, to support analysis, reporting, and stakeholder communication
• Proven ability to work effectively independently and collaboratively within a cross functional team environment

Preferred Qualifications:

• Demonstrated experience within Payment Integrity or adjacent healthcare operations, with an understanding of how post pay recovery, avoidance, and prevention strategies drive enterprise financial outcomes
• Proven strategic knowledge of Payment Integrity value streams, including Data Mining, Coordination of Benefits (COB), Subrogation, Reclamation, and Claims Editing, and how these functions interoperate across the claims lifecycle
• Proven experience applying regulatory and compliance considerations to operational decision making, vendor governance, and risk management within a healthcare environment
• Proven ability to translate Payment Integrity concepts into actionable insights and recommendations for senior stakeholders, supporting governance, audit readiness, and long term program optimization

Please note you must currently be eligible to work and remain indefinitely without any restrictions in the country to which you are making an application. Proof will be required to support your application.  

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.


Diversity creates a healthier atmosphere: Optum is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to gender, civil status, family status, sexual orientation, disability, religion, age, race, and membership of the Traveller community, or any other characteristic protected by law. Optum is a drug-free workplace. © 2026 Optum Services (Ireland) Limited. All rights reserved.