Join Optum, a global health organization dedicated to improving lives through technology. Our Enterprise Digital Product Office (EDPO) accelerates digital transformation, creating customer-centric solutions that enhance experiences and drive business outcomes. We foster a culture of inclusion, collaboration, and career growth. This Principal UX/CX Designer role is instrumental in shaping the future of digital health experiences.

As a Principal UX/CX Designer, you will define the experience strategy for complex products, combining strategic vision with hands-on design execution. You'll collaborate with leaders across product, engineering, and research to tackle challenging design problems, mentor fellow designers, and influence product direction. This position is perfect for a leader who thrives on shaping vision, mentoring others, and elevating design quality across the organization.

This role balances strategic thinking with hands-on design work, with 35% dedicated to strategy and 65% to tactical execution. It's a hybrid position, offering flexibility and collaboration.

Our mission is to help people live healthier lives and create a more effective and equitable healthcare system.

Partner with the Enterprise digital product team to enhance optum.com and other Optum digital platforms. Develop comprehensive user flows, wireframes, journey maps, and information architecture. Explore and champion emerging opportunities within digital healthcare.

Interpret user insights from analytics, Voice of Customer, and market feedback to anticipate needs and design innovative solutions. Drive discovery activities, synthesize research, and translate findings into user-centered product experiences.

Build consensus across cross-functional teams by clearly articulating design rationale, facilitating discussions, and influencing strategic product decisions. Champion the user by ensuring a deep understanding of the problems being solved. Collaborate with research and content teams for seamless alignment.

Lead critiques, solicit stakeholder requirements, and serve as a key partner in delivering on our mission. Act as a primary resource for complex issues and actively contribute to team culture and learning opportunities. Lead by example with exceptional design execution, setting a high standard for quality and detail.

Anticipate customer needs and proactively develop solutions, providing design recommendations based on technical feasibility, usability, accessibility, legal guidelines, and best practices. Maintain a culture of simple, seamless, and intuitive user experiences. Review and provide feedback on others' work, authorizing deviations from standards when supported by evidence.

Advance the design system, reusable patterns, and best practices to enhance consistency, efficiency, and scalability. Motivate and inspire team members. Lead UX strategy for large-scale journeys, platforms, or ecosystems, owning and evolving information architecture, navigation models, and site structures. Facilitate alignment across teams to deliver cohesive end-to-end experiences.

Translate research, data, and business needs into clear experience strategies and design direction. Collaborate closely with engineering during implementation through ongoing design reviews and quality assurance. Leverage AI-enabled tools to accelerate workflows and identify opportunities for team effectiveness and product enhancement. Elevate experience quality through critique, coaching, and structured design approaches. Navigate ambiguity and structure complex problem spaces into actionable solutions.

A Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience is required. A minimum of 10 years of hands-on UX design experience is necessary, including expertise in information architecture and journey design. Significant experience (10+ years) working with multiple teams and managing competing priorities is essential.

Demonstrated experience (10+ years) incorporating user feedback into the design process, utilizing methods like user research, NPS, and Voice of the Customer. Proficiency with prominent industry design tools such as Figma, Figjam, and Adobe Creative Suite (10+ years) is a must.

Experience working within cross-functional teams (5+ years) and utilizing personas to inform design decisions (5+ years) is required. Proven experience presenting to stakeholders (5+ years) is also necessary.

Candidates must possess proven experience leading UX strategy for complex or large-scale digital experiences, with solid expertise in information architecture, navigation systems, and experience frameworks. The ability to influence stakeholders and drive alignment across teams is critical, alongside strong communication, facilitation, and storytelling skills, including presenting to senior leadership.