Strategic Planning and Performance, Principal - Health Plan Strategy

Blue Shield of CA; Rancho Cordova (CA); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Blue Shield of California seeks a Principal Health Plan Strategist to advance our integrated health plan strategy-to-execution process and drive strategic initiatives across the organization. This role provides decision support through data-driven insights, executive stakeholder collaboration, and rigorous strategy design and implementation.

Reporting to the Director of Strategic Planning and Performance, you will act as a change agent, shaping enduring strategies and execution plans while

Qualifications

• Requires a bachelor’s degree or GED and 4 extra years of relevant experience in lieu of a degree; graduate degree strongly preferred.
• Requires at least 10 years of prior relevant experience.
• Experience in health care/health plan or health care provider settings.
• Experience leading enterprise programs, strategic planning, or cross-functional initiatives in matrixed organizations.
• Strong strategic thinking to translate insights into actionable strategies.
• Core management consulting skills: client management, workshop facilitation, problem solving, data analysis, process design, change management.
• Clear and persuasive communication, written and verbal.
• Influence and stakeholder alignment across leaders and peers.
• Excellent project management skills; Agile experience preferred; Design thinking certification preferred; Agile certification preferred.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Stakeholder management

Data analysis

Change management

Project management

Communication

Facilitation

Agile methodologies

Influence / persuasion

Education

Bachelor's degree or GED

MBA/MPH/MHA preferred

Job description

Your Role

The Health Plan Strategist, Principal is responsible for supporting the improvement and maintenance of our integrated health plan strategy to execution process and supporting initiatives designed to provide strategic thought leadership to business leaders across the organization to address specific strategic initiatives. This role will serve as a change agent, leveraging a consistent and disciplined approach to strategy to design dynamic yet enduring strategies and implementation plans. Under the guidance of leadership, this role will use data-driven insights, executive stakeholder management, strategy design, development and implementation, and project and program management to provide decision support to business and executive leaders. The Health Plan Strategist, Principal will have a pivotal role in supporting the ongoing building and executing of organization and business-unit level strategies to strengthen Blue Shield of California's ability to transform healthcare. This role will report to the Director, Strategic Planning and Performance.

Our leadership model is about developing great leaders at all levels and creating opportunities for our people to grow - personally, professionally, and financially. We are looking for leaders that are energized by creative and critical thinking, building and sustaining high-performing teams, getting results the right way, and fostering continuous learning.

Your Knowledge and Experience

• Requires a bachelor's degree or high school diploma/GED and 4 years of additional relevant experience in lieu of a degree; graduate degree (e.g., MBA, MPH or MHA) strongly preferred
• Requires at least 10 years of prior relevant experience
• Requires experience in healthcare industry environment, health plan/insurance or healthcare provider
• Requires experience leading enterprise-level programs, strategic planning processes, or cross-functional initiatives in highly matrixed organization
• Demonstrate strong strategic thinking with the ability to synthesize complex concepts, align enterprise priorities, and translate insights into actionable strategies
• Requires core management consulting capabilities including client management, workshop facilitation, structured problem-solving, data analysis, process design, and change management
• Ability to communicate clearly and persuasively, simplifying complex information for diverse audiences both verbal and written
• Ability to influence effectively by combining logic and empathy to build alignment, navigate complex organizations and drive change; ability to gain buy-in from leaders and peers
• Excellent project management skills, Agile methodology experience preferred
• Design thinking certification preferred; Agile or similar certification preferred

Hybrid

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.