Financial Analyst, Principal
Blue Shield of California
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Job summary
Blue Shield of California is seeking a Principal Finance Analyst to lead financial analysis, budgeting, and forecasting for the Operations Finance team. You will advise executive operations leadership, supervise two contributors, and partner with management on strategic initiatives and operating leverage.
The role emphasizes data-driven decision making, strong governance of reporting processes, and collaboration across business units to drive cost, margin, cash, and productivity improvements.
Qualifications
- Requires a Bachelor’s degree or High School Diploma/GED with 4 years of additional relevant experience.
- Requires 10+ years of progressive finance analytics experience including KPI definitions and enterprise-level reporting.
- Demonstrated leadership of cross-functional initiatives with structured PM practices and measurable outcomes.
- Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Excel (Pivot Tables, VLOOKUPs), Word, Access, and PowerPoint.
- Hands-on experience with core finance systems (Oracle/ERP, Essbase/EPM) and building standardized extracts, data validation, and repeatable reporting.
Responsibilities
- Monitor and measure cash flow and regulatory capital.
- Develop and maintain financial models; perform scenario analyses for forecast and balance sheet.
- Consolidate data into integrated reports tracking cost, quality, utilization, and risk.
- Review internal controls and ensure financial transactions meet standards and policy.
- Support implementation of new programs, products, and services with analytical insight.
- Prepare quarterly forecasts and annual plans; present financial plans to senior management.
- Guide and develop team members to track budgets, explain variances, and identify risks/opportunities.
- Provide data-driven summaries to support strategic decisions and budget impact analyses.
Skills
Education
Tools
Job description
The Operations Finance team is responsible for financial analysis, budget preparation, financial control, forecasting, reporting and for evaluating alternate financial plans. The Principal finance analyst will report to the Director of Operations Finance. In this role you will be managing two individual contributors. You will ensure financial stewardship over operations and serve as the trusted advisor to the executive operations leadership. This includes analysis of key strategic initiatives to drive business results and operating leverage. This position will be the lead finance partner for two of the organizations critical business units.
The Operations Finance team is responsible for financial analysis, budget preparation, financial control, forecasting, reporting and for evaluating alternate financial plans. The Principal finance analyst will report to the Director of Operations Finance. In this role you will be managing two individual contributors. You will ensure financial stewardship over operations and serve as the trusted advisor to the executive operations leadership. This includes analysis of key strategic initiatives to drive business results and operating leverage. This position will be the lead finance partner for two of the organizations critical business units.
- Monitor and measure cash flow and regulatory capital
- Collect and evaluate data, develop and maintain financial models, analyze results and conduct scenario analyses to forecast balance sheet, cash flow and regulatory capital
- Reconcile data results from different sources and combine them into integrated reports spanning cost, quality, utilization, and risk profile metrics
- Follow and conduct audit processes and review internal controls to ensure financial transactions are accurate, timely and comply with accounting standards, principles and company policy
- Participate on internal workgroups and committees to provide analytical insight and support for the implementation and enhancement of new programs, products, and services
- Quarterly forecast updates and annual planning; effective communication and presentation of financial plan to senior management, with interpretation of strategic goals and detail needed to support achievement of those goals
- Work with, and manage team members to effectively track budget and forecast details, results, explain variances, identify risks/opportunities and solutions
- Make data driven decisions by providing clear and accurate financial summaries in support of achieving financial and operational targets.
- Partner with management, cross-functional operations teams, and senior finance personnel to understand strategic initiatives and how they impact the budget
- Requires a Bachelor’s degree or High School Diploma/GED and 4 years of additional relevant experience in lieu of a degree
- Requires a minimum of 10 years of progressive finance analytics experience, including setting analytical strategy for a domain, governing KPI definitions, and leading enterprise-level reporting and decision support
- Demonstrated leadership of complex, cross-functional initiatives using structured project management practices (e.g., define scope, milestones, risks, and stakeholder cadence) with delivery of measurable outcomes (cost, margin, cash, or productivity impacts)
- Demonstrated advanced proficiency with Microsoft Excel (Pivot Tables, VLookups), Word, Access, and PowerPoint
- Hands-on experience using core finance systems and data sources relevant to the role (e.g., Oracle/ERP, Essbase/EPM, or similar), including building standardized extracts, validating data quality, and establishing repeatable reporting processes
This role requires employees to be in-office based on our hybrid workplace model, balancing purposeful in-person collaboration with flexibility. For most teams, this means coming into the office two days each week. Employees living more than 50 miles from an office location will work with their manager to determine in-office time based on business need.
As of January 2025, Blue Shield of California became a subsidiary of Ascendiun. Ascendiun is a nonprofit corporate entity that is the parent to a family of organizations including Blue Shield of California and its subsidiary, Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan; Altais, a clinical services company; and Stellarus, a company designed to scale healthcare solutions. Together, these organizations are referred to as the Ascendiun Family of Companies.
At Blue Shield of California, our mission is to create a healthcare system worthy of our family and friends and sustainably affordable. We are transforming health care in a way that genuinely serves our nonprofit mission by lowering costs, improving quality, and enhancing the member and physician experience.
To achieve our mission, we foster an environment where all employees can thrive and contribute fully to address the needs of the various communities we serve. We are committed to creating and maintaining a supportive workplace that upholds our values and advances our goals.
Blue Shield is a U.S. News Best Company to work for, a Deloitte U.S. Best Managed Company and a Top 100 Inspiring Workplace. We were recognized by Fair360 as a Top Regional Company, and one of the 50 most community-minded companies in the United States by Points of Light. Here at Blue Shield, we strive to make a positive change across our industry and communities – join us!
- Honest. We hold ourselves to the highest ethical and integrity standards. We build trust by doing what we say we're going to do and by acknowledging and correcting where we fall short.
- Human. We strive to listen and communicate effectively, showing empathy by understanding others' perspectives.
- Courageous. We stand up for what we believe in and are committed to the hard work necessary to achieve our ambitious goals.
We believe in fostering a workplace environment that balances purposeful in-person collaboration with flexibility - providing clear expectations while respecting the diverse needs of our workforce. Our workplace model is designed around intentional in-person interaction, collaboration, connection, creativity and flexibility:
- For most teams, this means coming into the office two days per week.
- Employees living more than 50 miles from an office location, out of state employees, and employees in certain member-facing roles should work with their manager to determine in-office time based on business need.
- For employees with medical conditions that may impact their ability to work in-office, we are committed to engaging in an interactive process and providing reasonable accommodations to ensure their work environment is conducive to their success and well-being.
The Company reserves the right to require more presence in the office based on business needs, and requirements are subject to change with periodic reviews.
Office Environment - roles involving part to full time schedule in Office Environment. Based in our physical offices and work from home office/deskwork - Activity level: Sedentary, frequency most of work day.
Please click here for further physical requirement detail.
External hires must pass a background check/drug screen. Qualified applicants with arrest records and/or conviction records will be considered for employment in a manner consistent with Federal, State and local laws, including but not limited to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regards to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, protected veteran status or disability status and any other classification protected by Federal, State and local laws.
Job Identification : 20261661
Job Category : Finance and Accounting
Posting Date : 2026-09-09T16:36:00+00:00
Job Schedule : Full time
Locations :
El Dorado Hills, CA, United States
CA, United States
Long Beach, CA, United States
Oakland, CA, United States
Rancho Cordova, CA, United States
Redding, CA, United States
San Diego, CA, United States
Woodland Hills, CA, United States
Pay Range for California : $137,720.00 to $206,690.00
Pay Range for Bay Area : $155,248.00 to $232,996.00
Note : Please note that this range represents the pay range for this and many other positions at Blue Shield that fall into this pay grade. Blue Shield salaries are based on a variety of factors, including the candidate experience, location (California, Bay Area, or outside California), and current employee salaries for similar roles.
Role can be filled by a candidate requiring sponsorship : No
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