Managing Principal

Aurrera Health Group; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 155,000 - 185,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, vision, dental insurance

401(k) retirement plan

Home office stipend

Generous leave

Job summary

Aurrera Health Group is a fully remote national policy and communications firm. We seek a Managing Principal to lead Medicaid and health policy work, manage major client relationships, and drive growth.

You will guide senior teams, shape strategy, and help expand services across CMS, state agencies, and partners with a focus on impact and value. The role emphasizes executive leadership, cross-functional collaboration, and fostering talent while maintaining client satisfaction and responsible

Qualifications

• 15+ years of progressive health policy experience.
• Experience advising senior clients and leading major policy initiatives.
• Ability to lead large portfolios and cross-functional teams.
• Strong business-development and client relationship track record.
• Excellent written, verbal, presentation, and facilitation skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead complex Medicaid and health policy work across engagements.
• Own senior client relationships and portfolio leadership.
• Grow the business through renewals, new work, and proposals.
• Lead strategic communications connected to policy and implementation.
• Develop other leaders and coach senior staff.
• Contribute to firm-wide decisions and cross-team collaboration.

Skills

Leadership

Client relations

Business development

Policy expertise

Strategic thinking

Communication

Team development

Decision making

Job description

Fully Remote • Medicaid, Policy and Programs

Job Type

Full-time

Description

What We Do

Aurrera Health Group (Aurrera Health) is a mission-driven, national health policy and strategic communications firm. Our mission is to advance access to affordable, comprehensive, high-quality health care for all. We help states, counties, communities, foundations, non-profits, and federal agencies design and implement health policy and social services programs. Our team members have decades of experience working in the Medicaid, behavioral health, and social services fields at the federal, state, and local levels. Headquartered in Sacramento, California, with team members across the country, Aurrera Health Group is a small, woman-owned and women-led business.

How We Support Our Clients

• Policy Research and Analysis
• Program Design, Implementation, and Assessment
• Stakeholder Engagement and Facilitation
• Strategic Planning and Change Management
• Technical Assistance
• Health Care Data Analysis

What You’ll Do

Lead Complex Medicaid and Health Policy Work

You will provide senior strategic direction across major Medicaid policy, implementation, technical assistance, and strategic communications engagements. You will serve as a trusted subject matter advisor to sophisticated clients and help translate changing federal and state policy into practical strategies and solutions. Our current need includes substantial work related to Medicaid eligibility and enrollment, federal policy implementation, state Medicaid work, and strategic communications. The specific portfolio will evolve as client and organizational needs change.

Own Senior Client and Portfolio Leadership

You will:

• Lead major client relationships and complex portfolios.
• Work directly with senior government officials, clients, funders, partners, and project leaders.
• Anticipate risks and opportunities and make sound decisions when information is incomplete.
• Ensure high-quality client deliverables and strategically valuable work.
• Oversee portfolio scope, staffing, budgets, quality, and priorities.
• Create clear roles and accountability so senior team members can lead effectively.

Grow and Sustain the Business

Business development is a core part of this role.

You will:

• Protect and deepen existing client relationships.
• Identify renewals, follow-on work, and opportunities to expand successful engagements.
• Develop and pursue new work based on emerging policy needs.
• Shape proposals, partnerships, and positioning strategies.
• Build relationships with complementary organizations and senior stakeholders.
• Help identify areas where Aurrera Health can credibly expand its expertise and market presence.
• Evaluate opportunities thoughtfully based on mission, expertise, client need, capacity, financial sustainability, and risk.

Lead Strategic Communications

Strategic communications is an important part of the current portfolio. You will help clients translate complex policy and implementation work into communications strategies that reach the right audiences at the right time. This may include audience analysis, messaging, stakeholder engagement, education and outreach strategies, rollout planning, and collaboration with communications professionals and subject matter experts.

Develop Other Leaders

At this level, success is not about personally doing all of the firm’s hardest work. You will manage and coach Directors and potentially other senior staff, delegate meaningful authority, establish clear performance expectations, and help develop the next generation of client leaders, managers, and subject matter experts. We are looking for a leader who can provide candid and constructive feedback, address difficult issues directly, create psychological safety and accountability, and build teams that can succeed without unnecessary dependence on the Managing Principal.

Contribute Beyond Your Initial Portfolio

Managing Principals are senior organizational leaders. You will participate in broader decisions about clients, staffing, growth, risk, and organizational priorities and will work across teams and functions to advance Aurrera Health’s goals. The portfolio described in this posting represents our current business need, not necessarily the permanent boundary of the role. Over time, you may lead different clients, subject matter areas, teams, or strategic priorities. We are looking for someone who sees that flexibility as part of senior leadership and who can continue adding value as the firm evolves.

What We’re Looking For

Successful candidates will demonstrate:

• At least 15 years of progressively responsible health policy experience.
• Extensive and recent experience in at least one of the following:
• Federal CMS or work directly supporting CMS or federal Medicaid and Medicare programs;
• State Medicaid agency leadership or substantial work directly supporting state Medicaid agencies; or
• Senior-level Medicaid consulting.
• Deep and current Medicaid policy, program, operations, and implementation expertise.
• Experience advising senior clients and leading major policy initiatives, consulting engagements, or executive-level projects.
• Experience managing multiple significant clients, projects, contracts, or workstreams.
• A track record of building and maintaining senior client relationships.
• Meaningful business-development experience, including expanding client relationships, developing new work, supporting successful proposals, and/or contributing to revenue growth.
• Experience managing and developing senior staff through delegation, coaching, feedback, and accountability.
• Strong independent judgment and the ability to make consequential decisions in ambiguous or high-stakes situations.
• Excellent written, verbal, presentation, and facilitation skills.
• Experience developing and leading strategic communications connected to complex federal or state health policy or implementation efforts.
• A collaborative and inclusive leadership approach that supports psychological safety, healthy disagreement, accountability, and professional growth.
• The flexibility to adapt responsibilities and priorities as client and organizational needs evolve.
• Established relationships across CMS, state Medicaid agencies, foundations, health plans, consulting firms, or other relevant organizations.

Please include the month and year as well as whether jobs were part- or full-time (and hours per week for part-time roles) for relevant positions on your resume so we can assess required experience consistently.

Additional Expertise We Welcome

We are particularly interested in candidates who can bring expertise that complements our Medicaid work and potentially helps Aurrera Health broaden its capabilities.

Examples may include:

• Federal Medicaid eligibility and enrollment.
• CHIP.
• Rural health.
• Health information technology.
• Value-based care.
• Alternative payment and delivery system reform.
• Medicaid managed care.
• Medicaid waivers and major program implementation.
• Candidates are not expected to have experience across all of these areas. Additional expertise is additive and does not replace the requirement for extensive, recent CMS, state Medicaid, or Medicaid consulting experience.

Location

Aurrera Health Group is a fully remote organization and candidates from all areas of the country are encouraged to apply. This position may require occasional travel for client meetings, conferences, organizational meetings, retreats, or other business needs. Clients will include organizations from coast to coast and Managing Principal may need to demonstrate some flexibility to accommodate meeting with clients based on their time zones, within reason.

Compensation and Benefits

Aurrera Health Group offers competitive salaries based on industry standards and experience, skills, and responsibility. We maintain equitable pay bands for employees based on these factors. The starting pay range for this position is $155,000 $185,000 per year, with an opportunity for an end-of-year bonus. Additionally, Aurrera Health Group offers a comprehensive benefit package, including:

• Generous leave program, including company holidays, vacation, sick, parental, and volunteer leave.
• Employer-matching 401(k) retirement plan.
• Health, vision, dental insurance with generous employer premium contributions, and Flexible Spending Account plans.
• Short and long-term disability insurance plans.
• Home office and cell phone stipends, charitable donation matching, and other benefits

A Note About AI and Your Application

Aurrera Health reviews application materials directly and carefully. Communication is an important part of our work, and your application is one way we assess a candidate’s ability to communicate clearly, thoughtfully, and effectively in writing.

For that reason, we ask applicants not to use generative AI to write or develop any component of their application. We want to hear directly from you, in your own words, about your experience, your interest in this role, and why you want to work at Aurrera Health.

Candidates should not submit confidential, proprietary, or client-sensitive information as part of their application.