Syracuse Alum Leads Health Plan Strategy at Optum Rx
Syracuse University alum Zack Jacobson has built a career at the intersection of health care, pharmacy benefits and financial strategy. Now health plan market president at Optum Rx, he leads sales, client management and service delivery for Optum Rx supporting insurers nationwide.
For Zack, the leadership skills supporting that work began developing long before he entered the industry.
A Miami native, Zack first strengthened his ability to navigate complex issues through Posse’s Pre-Collegiate Training (PCT) program. PCT’s emphasis on dialogue and perspective-taking taught him to consider how other people approach a problem before determining his own response.
“The training helped you understand how other people are thinking, helping you to put yourself in someone else’s shoes,” says Zack.
He learned that few issues are simple and without complexity—a lesson that continues to influence how he leads teams, negotiates with clients and approaches industrywide challenges.
At Syracuse, Zack studied mathematics and completed his undergraduate degree in three years. He began his career in consulting before joining Express Scripts, where he discovered an interest in the health care and pharmacy benefits industry.
While working full time, Zack pursued a law degree through Seton Hall University’s part-time weekend program. Balancing his career and legal education required discipline, resilience and the ability to determine which responsibilities needed his attention at different moments.
Zack later joined a pharmacy benefit consulting firm, where he worked with health plans across the country to develop and implement pharmacy strategies aligned with the goals of insurers and employer groups in service of the members they cover.
That experience ultimately brought him to Optum Rx. He initially oversaw pricing, underwriting and financial strategy before advancing to lead the company’s health plan market. In his current role, Zack draws on the analytical skills he developed as a mathematics student alongside the interpersonal abilities strengthened through Posse.
Throughout his career, Zack has remained connected to his Posse and Syracuse communities. He speaks with particular gratitude about Mark and Gina Glauser, who served together as mentors for his Posse.
“The relationship all of us built with them still lasts today,” says Zack. “Mark and Gina are still people I see as mentors in my life.”
When advising current Scholars, Zack emphasizes that technical expertise alone is not enough to sustain a successful career.
“Being good at what you do is table stakes,” he says. “It’s everything else you do around that that matters.”
He encourages Scholars to draw on their full identities, recognize the value of their experiences and remain open to perspectives different from their own. He also advises them to pursue harmony rather than expecting every area of life to remain in perfect balance.
Zack first encountered that distinction during law school orientation. The idea helped him understand that different priorities will require greater attention at different stages without making the whole unsustainable.
“When an orchestra is in harmony, sometimes the strings are louder, sometimes the drums aren’t playing, but it all flows,” he says.
