Lead Product Manager, AI Ecosystem Partnerships & Vendor Strategy - Remote

Requisition Number: 2350800
At UnitedHealthcare, we're simplifying the health care experience, creating healthier communities and removing barriers to quality care. The work you do here impacts the lives of millions of people for the better. Come build the health care system of tomorrow, making it more responsive, affordable and optimized. Ready to make a difference? Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together.
Navigating healthcare is complex, and we are committed to delivering seamless, trustworthy AI solutions that empower members and operational teams. As Lead Product Manager, AI Ecosystem Partnerships & Vendor Strategy, you are the architect and operator of our company's external AI partnership and vendor strategy-ensuring we harness the best of both internal innovation and external expertise to accelerate our AI agenda and deliver meaningful value.
You own the sourcing, structuring, and management of strategic AI partnerships and vendor relationships, maximizing measurable value, interoperability, and compliance from every engagement. You lead the full lifecycle of partnership execution: from market scans and RFI/RFPs, through contract negotiation and integration planning, to ongoing performance management and benefit realization. Your stewardship of the vendor ecosystem ensures our company's AI platform is resilient, future-ready, and that capital is concentrated on the most accretive solutions.
In a rapidly evolving AI landscape, you are the force behind our company's ability to scale quickly and adapt intelligently. You identify when to build, buy, or partner-balancing speed, cost, and strategic differentiation. By leveraging external partnerships, you help our company tap into specialized talent, advanced platforms, and innovation at scale-enabling us to move faster and smarter than the competition. You also drive the decommissioning of duplicative technologies, ensuring our investments are focused, and our platform remains streamlined and sustainable.
Your role is pivotal in ensuring that every partnership is not only operationally sound but also strategically aligned with our company's mission to improve member outcomes and operational efficiency. You proactively monitor the vendor landscape, anticipate market shifts, and ensure that our company's AI investments are future-proof and resilient to disruption. You are a champion for responsible AI, embedding privacy, security, and compliance into every partnership and integration.
Collaboration is at the heart of your impact. You work closely with Product, Engineering, Legal, Compliance, and Security to operationalize partnerships, ensure seamless integration, and uphold the highest standards for responsible AI, privacy, and resilience. You support evidence-based prioritization and investment decisions, ensuring every partnership and technology choice is grounded in a measurable impact for our members and the enterprise.
By orchestrating the right mix of internal and external capabilities, you help our company stay ahead of industry disruption, accelerate time-to-value, and empower teams to deliver intelligent, personalized care experiences that set us apart in the market. Your leadership ensures that our company's AI ecosystem is not only innovative, but also sustainable, scalable, and focused on delivering real value for our members and operational teams.
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:

• Build and maintain a segmented AI vendor landscape (foundational models, orchestration, safety/guardrails, personalization, analytics, contact center tech) with clear capability, risk, and fit assessments
• Lead RFI/RFP processes, commercial and technical due diligence, and contract negotiations; ensure data protection, security, SLA/OLA, and interoperability obligations are explicit
• Operate the buy/partner/build framework; set decision criteria (time-to-value, TCO, interoperability, substitution risk, talent velocity) and document trade-offs
• Establish joint roadmaps and governance with strategic partners; align delivery plans, compliance checkpoints, and co innovation opportunities
• Partner with Product and Engineering to design integration patterns (APIs, SDKs, eventing) and reusability standards; drive decommission savings by rationalizing vendor footprints
• Publish benefit realization and vendor performance dashboards (NPS/EXI lift, call containment, AHT reduction, uptime, latency, defect rates)
• Maintain executive-ready narratives that simplify complex partnership choices and risks; brief senior stakeholders on options and implications

Measures of Success:

• Time-to-value and ROI of partner solutions; realized decommission savings and footprint rationalization
• Uptime/latency SLAs met; reduction in integration defects and escalation tickets
• Documented benefit realization (AHT reduction, call containment, NPS/EXI lift)
• Adoption of standardized buy/partner/build playbooks across product teams

Competencies & Best Practices:

• Strategic Partnering: Builds trust, shared roadmaps, and transparent governance
• Decision Rigor: Applies structured economics and risk analysis to partnership choices
• Technical Depth: Understands integration, data contracts, and platform interoperability
• Responsible AI Mindset: Embeds privacy, compliance, and safety into partner operations
• Executive Storytelling: Distills complex options into clear recommendations

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.
Required Qualifications:

• 7+ years of experience in technology partnerships, vendor management, or corporate development within AI/ML, SaaS, or cloud ecosystems
• Proven experience running RFI/RFP cycles, negotiating contracts, and managing complex vendor portfolios in regulated environments
• Fluency in API-first platforms, data interoperability, privacy/security obligations (HIPAA, SOC2, ISO 27001), and responsible for AI governance
• Solid financial acumen (TCO, NPV/IRR, cost/benefit analysis) and the ability to link partnership decisions to enterprise outcomes
• Excellent executive communication and stakeholder management skills across product, engineering, and compliance
• Comfort and willingness to travel up to 25% domestically

Preferred Qualifications:

• Healthcare payer/provider experience; familiarity with contact center platforms and CRM ecosystems
• Experience implementing vendor risk frameworks and third party risk tools
• Exposure hyperscale AI stacks (Azure, AWS, GCP) and foundation model vendors

*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 $112,700 to $193,200 annually based on full-time employment. We comply with all minimum wage laws as applicable.
Application Deadline: This will be posted for a minimum of 2 business days or until a sufficient candidate pool has been collected. Job posting may come down early due to volume of applicants.
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.