Government Affairs Director

Position description

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 diverse team that shares your passion for helping others. Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

Position Summary:

The Director, External Affairs will lead UnitedHealth Group’s external affairs efforts in the UK. They will be responsible for the strategic development and management of engagement efforts, public policy and thought leadership development. 

They will bring the leadership, relationships, and experience necessary to create a strategy that effectively positions the company for sustained success and ensures the company can navigate a rapidly changing landscape.

They will be highly effective at collaborative working, be comfortable with working at every level of the organization, be capable of managing high-pressure environments, have a keen ability to multi-task, and be comfortable in a “sleeves rolled up” role.

The Director, External Affairs UK will report to the Senior Vice President, International Relations Europe, and Asia Pacific.

Major Responsibilities:

• Build and lead an effective, integrated, initiative-taking UK external affairs capability.
• Ensure the company has an active process in place to anticipate and understand government legislation, regulation, and public policy.
• Develop and advance thought leadership in key areas.
• Ensure robust partnerships driving engagement with third party organisations.
• Build and maintain relationships ensuring the company plays its part as an industry leader offering expertise in relevant discussions.
• Maintain and coordinate an in-depth situational awareness of external political and economic factors.
• Create and maximize opportunities to highlight the company’s capabilities, innovations, and public policy priorities, in external venues.
• Ensure internal alignment and timely and effective communication with leadership.

Leadership Characteristics:

• Getting Organized: Is well organized, resourceful, and enterprising; effective and efficient at marshalling multiple resources to get things done; lays out tasks in sufficient detail to set direction; can get things done with less and in less time; can work on multiple tasks at once without losing track; foresees and plans around obstacles.
• Managing Work Processes: Is an effective process, workflow, and systems designer; is good at figuring out what to measure to track progress; sets up systems that can almost manage themselves; is a master at the effectiveness and efficiency of work systems; can quickly diagnose and fix a workflow problem; always looking for incremental process improvement.
• Demonstrating Professional Accountability and Integrity: Demonstrates deep personal accountability and the highest degree of ethical standards; champion of compliance and ethics in business practices; deals promptly and fairly with problems; is motivated by tackling tough challenges and not afraid to make complex decisions’ challenges the status quo; comfortable in confronting and working through conflict.
• Communicating Effectively: Writes and presents effectively; adjusts to fit the audience and the message; gets a message across.
• Managing Diverse Relationships: Relates well to a wide variety of diverse styles, open to differences; effective up, down, sideways, inside, and outside; builds diverse networks; quick to find common ground; treats differences fairly and equitably; treats everyone as a preferred customer.

Required Qualifications:

• Undergraduate Degree
• An experienced leader who possesses the seniority, presence, and credibility.
• Excellent people skills able to build and maintain solid relationships.
• Demonstrable experience of the British political and policy-making environment.
• Superior written and oral communications skills.
• Capable of creating and communicating a vision, both internally and externally.
• Experience managing suppliers effectively.
• Gravitas to appropriately advise senior-level corporate executives.
• Ability to work under pressure and to meet tight deadlines within an organization driven by ambitious standards and solid processes.
• 5-10+ years of experience working in government, institutional relations, corporate affairs, or related functions.
• Experience in health care and/or technology (desirable but not essential).
• Based in the UK with ability to travel to London and Leeds.

Application instructions

Please be sure to indicate you saw this position on globalvacancies.org