Our leadership

Dirk McMahon was named chief executive officer, UnitedHealthcare, in June 2019. Prior to this role, McMahon was president and chief operating officer, Optum, with responsibility for driving Optum's enterprise performance overall and directly overseeing OptumInsight, Optum Technology, Operations, Optum Administration and business and corporate strategy. In 2017, McMahon was named to the Office of the Chief Executive. Previously, he was executive vice president, Enterprise Operations, UnitedHealth Group. McMahon has served in a number of leadership positions across the enterprise since joining the company in 2003, including chief executive officer, OptumRx, overseeing UnitedHealth Group's pharmacy benefit management programs, along with various management positions in information technology, operations and finance. Before joining UnitedHealth Group, McMahon was head of airport operations worldwide for Northwest Airlines.

Brian Brueckman was named executive vice president of Operations for UnitedHealthcare in March 2016. He leads global operational performance across UnitedHealthcare, focused on advancing quality and growth across the company and overseeing 30,000 operations employees and leaders across multiple business areas at UnitedHealthcare.

With deep experience in consumer satisfaction, Brian is working to bring operational consistency across the UnitedHealthcare enterprise with sharp attention to improving the customer experience for the company’s members and providers. He is spearheading efforts to resolve member and provider issues more quickly, create brand champions in the employee population, and make UnitedHealthcare the preferred healthcare choice.

Brian has more than 25 years of experience in consumer affairs in the wireless telecommunications industry. Prior to joining UnitedHealthcare, Brian spent 18 years as an operations leader at T-Mobile, most recently as executive vice president, Direct to Customer Operations. He had responsibility for customer and technical service, collections, telesales, web sales, and service partner management.

While at T-Mobile, Brian won two J.D. Power & Associates awards for customer service. He led a program that generated more than $200 million in revenues through service package sales, and he drove more than $350 million of savings in operational expenses.

Heather Cianfrocco is the chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare Community & State. UnitedHealthcare Community & State proudly serves 6.7 million Medicaid members in 28 states, plus Washington D.C.  UnitedHealthcare is a division of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) which is a diversified health and well-being company with a mission to help people live healthier lives and help make the health system work better for everyone. UnitedHealthcare Community & State leverages the national capabilities of UnitedHealth Group and delivers them at the local market level to support effective care management, strong regulatory partnerships, greater administrative efficiency, improved clinical outcomes, and the ability to adapt to a changing market environment.

Before being named CEO of Community & State, Heather served as senior vice president of Health Advancement and Clinical Transformation for UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement. Before this role, Heather served in several leadership positions with Community & State, most recently as senior vice president of Clinical Strategy and Operations where she oversaw the Clinical Operating Team and was responsible for complex care and quality, including core clinical performance, quality improvement, complex care product performance, and network and clinical affordability. Prior to this, Heather served as Northeast Region CEO and Quality Leader with Community & State after leading the Pennsylvania Community Plan as CEO. Throughout her time with UnitedHealthcare, she has held other leadership positions within Community & State in legal, compliance, operations, and contracting.

Before joining UnitedHealthcare, Heather worked in private legal practices in Pittsburgh where she concentrated on corporate and securities law, representing health care entities in mergers and acquisitions. She has also volunteered her time for animal rescues and various community organizations, including previously serving as a member of the national advisory board of The Salvation Army. Heather also serves on the board of directors for the UnitedHealth Foundation.

John Cosgriff is senior vice president of Business Development for UnitedHealthcare, a $163 billion division of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) – Number 6 on the Fortune 500 list. UnitedHealthcare serves one in eight Americans, making it the single largest business dedicated to health and well-being in the United States.

John works with leaders across UnitedHealthcare to define and drive the strategic direction for the overall organization, including identifying new ways to grow and diversify the business, increase the value provided to clients and consumers, and ensure the distinct long-term leadership position of UnitedHealthcare in the market. In this role John oversees the chief strategy officer function for the business, and heads mergers and acquisitions.

John joined UnitedHealth Group in 2005. Past roles in the company have included responsibility for marketing and business development, mergers and acquisitions, strategic partnerships and innovation. Prior to joining UnitedHealth Group, John was a management and technology consultant in Accenture’s Washington, D.C. consulting practice, where he served financial services and health services clients in the United States and Europe. John previously held staff positions in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate.

John is a Trustee for St. Paul Academy and Summit School, and the Science Museum of Minnesota. He is also a mentor for Techstars, a national startup accelerator.

Stephanie Fehr is executive vice president and chief human capital officer for UnitedHealthcare. Stephanie brings over 20 years of human resources and talent development experience to her role at UnitedHealthcare and is responsible for building the UnitedHealthcare talent infrastructure.

Since 2000, Stephanie has held human resources and talent leadership roles in Apple’s Operations, Leadership Development, and Retail divisions. She led the design, development and implementation of Apple's leadership training program, AMP, and has been a key member of Apple’s Retail executive team.

Bill Golden is the chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual, a $50 billion division of UnitedHealthcare and the nation’s largest business serving the health coverage and well-being needs of employers and their employees.

Prior to being named CEO of UnitedHealthcareEmployer & Individual, Bill led its Local Markets business, serving the health coverage and well-being needs of employers and organizations with 2-3,000 employees across 24 health plans in four regions. As Local Markets CEO, Bill had responsibility for $48 billion revenue, 250,000 employer groups and more than 15 million members nationwide. 

Bill joined UnitedHealthcare through the Oxford Health Plans acquisition in 2004. He became the New York Health Plan CEO in 2006 and was elevated to Northeast Region CEO in 2013. Prior to joining UnitedHealthcare, Bill held various sales leadership positions at NYLCare and MetLife.

Bill is a board member of the New York State Business Council, Lincoln Center Business Counciland Each One Counts Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides grant funding to programs dedicated to easing the physical andemotional suffering of children with terminal or chronic illness. 

Kirsten Gorsuch is the chief communications officer for UnitedHealthcare. In this role, she oversees a team that develops and implements communications strategies to enhance and protect UnitedHealthcare’s reputation, create a more favorable business environment and strengthen employee engagement.

Prior to joining UnitedHealthcare, Kirsten served as senior vice president of external affairs for Blue Shield of California where she was responsible for corporate communications, government affairs, alliance management, corporate social responsibility and community relations. She also served as the head of corporate communications at Medtronic, the world’s leading medical device company. Prior to her corporate roles, Kirsten was senior vice president at two global public relations firms, Ketchum and GCI Group, where she counseled a wide range of clients in the health care sector.

She is a former trustee and current member of the Arthur W. Page Society, an organization of individuals who have reached the highest level of practice in the field of corporate communications or public relations.

Bill Hagan is president of UnitedHealthcare Clinical Services and is responsible for delivering clinical programs for the company’s Commercial, Medicaid and Medicare businesses. Bill and his team partner with physicians, hospitals and other health care professionals to improve the quality and efficiency of health care to help millions of people live healthier lives.

Bill has been with UnitedHealthcare for more than 16 years. He has served in multiple leadership roles, including chief growth officer for the company’s Medicaid business that served approximately five million members across 23 states, Regional CEO for UnitedHealthcare’s Medicaid business for the western territory and Tennessee, and CEO of health plans in Arizona and Wisconsin. He was also CEO of the company’s subsidiary, Information Network Corporation, managing call centers, claims processing, provider data management and technology for the Medicaid business.

Before joining UnitedHealthcare, Bill held various senior executive positions at XML Solutions, IBM Global Services and American Express that spanned software development, business intelligence and global data management services.

Bill is a board member of Health Current, the Arizona state-wide Health Information Exchange and a board member of Grace & Mercy Ministries, a homeless and refugee support organization in Phoenix.

Thad Johnson is chief legal officer of UnitedHealthcare. In this role, he has overall responsibility for UnitedHealthcare’s legal and regulatory affairs functions. Prior to this, he was general counsel of UnitedHealthcare’s Employer & Individual business and had oversight of legal, compliance, regulatory affairs and health care reform implementation.

Thad joined UnitedHealth Group in 2000 as an associate general counsel and assistant secretary supporting corporate development, treasury and finance. He has held various legal leadership roles, including network, pharmacy, clinical services, transactions, vendor and strategic partnership contracting, and corporate governance and licensing.

Prior to joining UnitedHealth Group, Thad was with Dorsey & Whitney where he advised private and public companies on securities law, merger and acquisitions, debt and equity offerings, private equity placements, corporate governance concerns and other general business matters. 

He currently serves on the board of directors for the Children’s Law Center of Minnesota.

Molly Joseph is chief executive officer, UnitedHealthcare Global and executive vice president of Global, UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) – No. 6 on the Fortune 500 list. UnitedHealthcare Global provides clinically integrated benefits, services and medical delivery to 7 million people in more than 130 countries. Molly also serves on UnitedHealthcare’s Executive Council and is a member of UnitedHealth Group’s Executive Leadership team.

Previously Molly served as chief executive officer, UnitedHealthcare Global Solutions and senior vice president, Global, for UnitedHealth Group. Past roles included serving UnitedHealth Group in corporate development where she led acquisitions and other transactions for the company. Prior to joining UnitedHealth Group, Molly was an investment banker focused on mergers and acquisitions. She began her career as a corporate lawyer, also focused on business transactions.

Molly earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Santa Clara University and her Juris Doctorate from Georgetown Law Center.

Molly is Board Chair for Empresas Banmédica, a leading health care provider serving people in Chile, Colombia and Peru. She also serves on the Board of Directors of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR), on the Advisory Board of Children’s HeartLink, a global nonprofit health care organization, as well as on the Board of Directors of Young Voices of Austin, a nonprofit children’s organization. She was named a 2018 Courageous Woman in Health Care by the Women’s Health Leadership TRUST and was recognized with the 2014 Minneapolis / St. Paul Women in Business Award.

Ed Lagerstrom is president of UnitedHealthcare Networks (UHN), responsible for assuring UnitedHealthcare’s individual, employer-sponsored, Medicare and Medicaid members have access to affordable, high-quality care delivered through a national network of physicians, health care professionals, hospitals and other care facilities. Today, UHN includes more than 1 million physicians and health care professionals and more than 6,000 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. Ed also manages UnitedHealthcare’s relationship with OptumRx for commercial and Medicaid customers.

Ed has held numerous leadership roles across UnitedHealth Group (UHG) since joining the company in 2003. Most recently, he sat on the OptumRx senior leadership team overseeing the prescription purchasing and pricing functions. Prescription purchasing includes the management of more than $90 billion of total prescription spend on behalf of OptumRx clients and more than 65 million members. The Industry and Network Relations team negotiates retail pharmacy networks with more than 67,000 retail and specialty pharmacies, drug purchase discounts with more than 300 pharmaceutical companies and manages the OptumRx wholesaler relationship. 

Prior to joining OptumRx, Ed had responsibility for the pharmacy, national ancillary, laboratory and out-of-network programs for UnitedHealthcare (UHC). In addition, he led the network function for the Community and State line of business (Medicaid).  During his tenure at UHC, his team was instrumental in migrating more than 11 million commercial members from a third party pharmacy benefit manager to OptumRx. He also helped lead the transformation of fee-for-service reimbursement with medical providers serving UHC members to reimbursement methodologies based on performance and value. 

Ed initially joined UHG to help lead the UHG Corporate Development group.  His team was responsible for leading, facilitating and managing merger and acquisition activities for UHG until he joined UHC in 2009.  

Prior to joining UHG, Ed spent more than 10 years as an investment banker, consultant and internal auditor focusing on all aspects of mergers and acquisitions, including valuation, due diligence, financial analysis, transaction structure and negotiations. Ed received his MBA from the University of Notre Dame and undergraduate degree from Winona State University.

Phil McKoy is chief information officer of UnitedHealthcare. He is responsible for establishing, leading and executing strategic technology roadmaps and the associated capital investments to support UnitedHealthcare’s businesses through innovative and differentiated technology capabilities.

Phil is accountable for driving technology imperatives that support the company’s commercial Employer & Individual, Medicare & Retirement, Community & State, and Global business segments, as well as specialty areas including UnitedHealthcare Dental and UnitedHealthcare Vision.

Prior to joining UnitedHealthcare, Phil was senior vice president and chief information officer for the Global Loyalty Services division of Aimia, a $2.5 billion global leader in loyalty management and analytics. Phil also served as vice president of Target.com, where he was responsible for elevating the end-to-end guest experience on Target.com and other Target mobile platforms. During his eight years at Accenture, Phil consulted with Fortune 500 companies in the United States and Europe.

He is on the board of Reve Academy, an innovative out-of-school program creating pathways to digital careers for kids in disadvantaged communities (www.reveacademy.org) and is also a member of the Executive Leadership Council (www.elcinfo.com).

Tim Noel serves as chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare's Medicare & Retirement business, the largest organization dedicated to seniors and Medicare beneficiaries. Prior to this role, Tim was chief financial officer and senior vice president of Federal Products for Medicare & Retirement, where he was responsible for the overall financial performance of the company as well as the planning, strategy and competitive positioning of Medicare Advantage and Part D products. Tim joined UnitedHealth Group in 2007 and has held a variety of financial and operational leadership roles with responsibility for planning and analysis, financial modeling for mergers and acquisitions, investor relations, and oversight of several financial operations functions.

Prior to joining UnitedHealth Group, Tim held a variety of financial and operational leadership roles, most recently for Northwest Airlines, where he was extensively involved in the bankruptcy reorganization process.

Jenny O'Brien is the chief compliance officer for UnitedHealthcare and provides oversight and strategic direction for the business’ compliance programs, collaborating with leaders from across the organization to ensure the business meets state and federal compliance requirements.

Before joining UnitedHealthcare in 2009, Jenny was a partner within the health care compliance practice at a Minneapolis law firm. She also served as compliance officer for a large integrated health care system and as an assistant attorney general for the State of Minnesota.

Jenny is on the board of directors and past president of the Health Care Compliance Association/Society of Corporate Compliance & Ethics, and a member of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Audit & Compliance Committee for the Bon Secours Health System in Maryland. Jenny has also served as adjunct professor at Hamline University School of Law and on the Hamline Health Law Institute Advisory Board in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Jeff Putnam is the chief financial officer for UnitedHealthcare. Jeff is responsible for the overall financial management of the combined commercial, Medicare and Medicaid benefits businesses.

Before moving to UnitedHealthcare, Jeff was senior vice president and controller for UnitedHealth Group. He served in this role from 2011 through 2016 and was responsible for the corporate accounting, financial planning and analysis, capital planning, corporate actuarial and accounts payable functions. 

From 2007 through 2010, Jeff was the senior vice president of financial planning and analysis, leading enterprise budgeting and forecasting, management reporting and analysis, accounts payable, and corporate procurement activities. In 2005 and 2006, he served as chief financial officer for the Medicare Advantage business, where he had oversight of financial planning, underwriting and operations. Before joining UnitedHealth Group in 2005, Jeff spent 13 years in the airline industry in various finance and operations senior management roles.  

Jeff currently serves on the board of Second Harvest Heartland, and previously served as a director and board chair of Free Arts Minnesota.