Senior Manager Client Services

San Diego Wellness Collaborati; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 85,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Valid8 Financial, Inc. seeks a Senior Manager Client Services to lead two teams within California’s CalAIM framework, overseeing ECM and CS housing services for Medi-Cal members. The role requires high-touch leadership, rapid decision-making, and collaboration with MCPs, housing navigators, and partners.

You will coach two Team Managers, manage referrals and authorizations, and drive process improvements while ensuring compliance and quality across operations.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of progressive experience in healthcare, managed care, social services, or community-based operations, including 2+ years of people management.
• Knowledge of California Medi-Cal, CalAIM, ECM and/or CS housing-related services.
• Experience managing referral, authorization, or care coordination workflows with MCPs and external partners.
• Ability to lead teams through ambiguous, high-pressure, time-sensitive situations with sound judgment.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills with cross-team collaboration.
• Excellent organizational and problem-solving skills with multiple priorities.
• High-touch leadership— accessible to managers and coordinators.
• Sound judgment and ownership of outcomes.
• Partner fluency with MCPs, subcontractors, and community partners.
• Operational rigor balancing responsiveness with compliance, quality, and process discipline.

Responsibilities

• Directly supervise, coach, and support two Team Managers, serving as their first point of escalation and a steady source of guidance on complex member situations.
• Provide hands-on leadership across both teams’ coordinators, ensuring they feel supported in high-pressure, time-sensitive casework.
• Hold regular check-ins with each Team Manager to surface bottlenecks, anticipate workload pressures, and resolve issues before they escape to the Director.
• Foster a collaborative, resilient team culture across both functions, particularly given the emotionally and operationally demanding nature of the work.
• Act as the go-to resource for navigating complex, ambiguous, or uncharted situations that fall outside established workflows.
• Make timely, compliance-aligned decisions on pending referrals, authorizations, and implementation challenges, exercising judgment when no clear precedent exists.
• Partner with the teams to troubleshoot member-specific obstacles in real time, balancing urgency with compliance and quality.
• Identify recurring escalation patterns and translate them into improved processes, documentation, or training.
• Serve as a key liaison between the two internal teams, the subcontracted housing navigation partner workforce, managed care plans, and community referring parties.
• Support the housing deposit benefits team in coordinating with housing navigators to deliver housing deposit support for Medi-Cal members through Community Supports.
• Support the intake/referrals team in fielding incoming community referrals, securing authorizations from MCPs, and connecting authorized members with their paired navigators.
• Strengthen working relationships and communication channels with external partners to keep time-sensitive cases moving.
• Monitor the flow of referrals, authorizations, and implementations across both teams to ensure timeliness, accuracy, and adherence to MCP and Medi-Cal/CalAIM requirements.
• Develop, refine, and document standard operating procedures, especially for complex scenarios that previously lacked clear guidance.
• Track key operational metrics and surface trends, risks, and opportunities to the Director.
• Ensure consistency, compliance, and quality standards are maintained across both functions.
• Supporting the Director of Business Operations: Function as the operational extension of the Director, reducing the need for day-to-day case-level decisions.
• Keep the Director informed of significant issues, risks, and partner concerns with clear, prioritized communication.
• Contribute to operational planning and process improvement initiatives and represent Business Operations in cross-departmental discussions as needed.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Time management

Healthcare knowledge

CalAIM/ECM/CS familiarity

Referral/Authorization workflows

Decision making under pressure

Relationship building

Organization skills

Problem solving

Calm under pressure

Job description

The Senior Manager Client Services serves as the operational right hand to the Director of Business Operations, providing high-touch leadership and day-to-day support to two specialized teams operating within California’s CalAIM framework. These teams manage the referral, authorization, and implementation of Enhanced Care Management (ECM) and Community Supports (CS) housing services for Medi-Cal members, in close coordination with managed care plans (MCPs), community referring parties, and subcontracted service partners.

This is a high-engagement, escalation-ready role. Both teams handle time-sensitive, member-facing work that frequently involves complex or unprecedented situations requiring real-time judgment. The Senior Manager is responsible for being the consistent, knowledgeable point of support that managers and their coordinators can rely on — absorbing the day-to-day problem-solving, decision-making, and cross-functional navigation that currently flows to the Director. Success in this role means the teams have a dependable leader in the weeds with them, while the Director is freed to focus on strategy, partnerships, and broader operational direction to support these teams.

Key Responsibilities

Directly supervise, coach, and support two Team Managers, serving as their first point of escalation and a steady source of guidance on complex member situations.

Provide hands‑on leadership across both teams’ coordinators, ensuring they feel supported in high-pressure, time-sensitive casework.

Hold regular check-ins with each Team Manager to surface bottlenecks, anticipate workload pressures, and resolve issues before they escape to the Director.

Foster a collaborative, resilient team culture across both functions, particularly given the emotionally and operationally demanding nature of the work.

Escalation & Complex Case Support

Act as the go-to resource for navigating complex, ambiguous, or uncharted situations that fall outside established workflows.

Make timely, compliance‑aligned decisions on pending referrals, authorizations, and implementation challenges, exercising judgment when no clear precedent exists.

Partner with the teams to troubleshoot member‑specific obstacles in real time, balancing urgency with compliance and quality.

Identify recurring escalation patterns and translate them into improved processes, documentation, or training.

Cross-Functional & Partner Coordination

Serve as a key liaison between the two internal teams, the subcontracted housing navigation partner workforce, managed care plans, and community referring parties.

Support the housing deposit benefits team in coordinating with housing navigators to deliver housing deposit support for Medi‑Cal members through Community Supports.

Support the intake/referrals team in fielding incoming community referrals, securing authorizations from MCPs, and connecting authorized members with their paired navigators.

Strengthen working relationships and communication channels with external partners to keep time‑sensitive cases moving.

Operations, Process & Quality

Monitor the flow of referrals, authorizations, and implementations across both teams to ensure timeliness, accuracy, and adherence to MCP and Medi‑Cal/CalAIM requirements.

Develop, refine, and document standard operating procedures, especially for complex scenarios that previously lacked clear guidance.

Track key operational metrics and surface trends, risks, and opportunities to the Director.

Ensure consistency, compliance, and quality standards are maintained across both functions.

Supporting the Director of Business Operations

Function as the operational extension of the Director, reducing the need for the Director to be involved in day‑to‑day case‑level decisions.

Keep the Director informed of significant issues, risks, and partner concerns with clear, prioritized communication.

Contribute to operational planning and process improvement initiatives and represent Business Operations in cross‑departmental discussions as needed.

Qualifications

5+ years of progressive experience in healthcare, managed care, social services, or community‑based operations, including 2+ years of people management or team leadership.

Working knowledge of California Medi‑Cal, CalAIM, Enhanced Care Management (ECM), and/or Community Supports (CS) — particularly housing‑related services.

Demonstrated experience managing referral, authorization, or care coordination workflows, ideally involving managed care plans and external partners.

Proven ability to lead teams through ambiguous, high-pressure, time-sensitive situations with sound judgment and composure.

Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with a track record of building effective relationships across internal teams and external partners.

Excellent organizational and problem‑solving skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and competing deadlines.

Calm under pressure— steady and decisive in urgent, emotionally charged, or unprecedented situations.

High‑touch leadership— present, accessible, and genuinely supportive to managers and coordinators.

Sound judgment— comfortable making decisions without a playbook and owning the outcomes.

Partner fluency— skilled at navigating relationships with MCPs, subcontractors, and community partners.

Operational rigor— balances responsiveness with compliance, quality, and process discipline.

Salary/Benefits

This is an exempt full‑time position. The annual salary range is $85,000-$100,000 depending on experience and market rates. SDWC offers a comprehensive benefits package (e.g., healthcare, dental, vision, and retirement).

Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until July 1 2026, and the posting may be closed at any time during this period.