Principal AI Program Manager, Appeals Innovation and Automation - Remote

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. The Principal AI Program Manager will lead the identification, governance, development, implementation, and scaling of Artificial Intelligence solutions across the Appeals organization. This role serves as the bridge between business operations, clinical leadership, technology teams, legal, compliance, privacy, security, and enterprise governance to ensure the responsible deployment of AI capabilities that improve quality, efficiency, consistency, and user experience. The ideal candidate will possess deep expertise in AI agents, workflow automation, generative AI, and healthcare operations, with a proven ability to translate business challenges into AI-enabled solutions. This individual will drive the full lifecycle of AI initiatives, from opportunity assessment and business case development through governance approval, implementation, adoption, and ongoing optimization. You'll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely * from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges.

AI Strategy and Innovation Establish and maintain the Appeals AI roadmap and portfolio of initiatives Identify opportunities to improve quality, efficiency, consistency, turnaround times, and user experience through AI and automation Evaluate emerging AI technologies, agent frameworks, and automation platforms for applicability within Appeals operations Lead pilot programs, proofs of concept, and innovation initiatives Develop business cases, return-on-investment analyses, and implementation strategies for AI projects AI Agent Development and Optimization Design, build, test, and deploy AI agents supporting Appeals and Grievance workflows Collaborate with technology teams to develop custom AI agents, connectors, retrieval solutions, and workflow automations Establish evaluation methodologies and accuracy testing frameworks Continuously refine prompts, workflows, training data, retrieval strategies, and agent configurations to improve performance Develop monitoring and feedback loops to ensure sustained accuracy and reliability Governance, Risk, and Regulatory Oversight Serve as the primary owner of AI governance activities within Appeals Develop documentation and presentations required for Artificial Intelligence Review Board (AIRB) and governance committee approvals Partner with Legal, Compliance, Privacy, Information Security, and Risk Management teams to ensure responsible implementation Ensure AI solutions adhere to corporate policies, healthcare regulations, and responsible AI standards Maintain audit-ready documentation supporting validation, transparency, monitoring, and risk mitigation activities Cross-Functional Leadership Act as the primary AI subject matter expert for Appeals Operations Partner with operational leaders, medical directors, nurses, analysts, product teams, architects, engineers, and vendors Translate business requirements into technical specifications and implementation plans Coordinate efforts across multiple business units and enterprise technology organizations Facilitate stakeholder alignment and executive communication Change Management and Adoption Develop AI adoption strategies and organizational change management plans Create training materials, educational resources, and best practices for users Promote responsible and effective use of AI-enabled solutions Build organizational trust through transparent evaluation and measurable outcomes Support production deployments and enterprise scaling efforts Measurement and Continuous Improvement Define key performance indicators and success metrics for AI