Sr. Director, Health Plan Strategy

About Blue Shield of California

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!  

Our Values: 

• 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. 

Physical Requirements:

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. 

Equal Employment Opportunity:

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.

Your Role

The Health Plan Strategy is a new team that will define and drive Blue Shield's strategic position in the market. It ensures strategic recommendations translate into actionable plans aligned with our mission and long‑term growth goals. The team’s core capabilities - strategic planning, market research, and competitive intelligence - support executive decision‑making and help maintain Blue Shield’s differentiated, future‑ready position.

In this role, you will lead the development of health plan strategies that drive growth, profitability, and distinctive value for our members and provider partners. You will integrate product, network, clinical, and financial strategy to ensure alignment with long‑range organizational goals and evolving regulatory and market dynamics. A key responsibility is synthesizing competitive trends, market research, and additional insights into clear, prioritized recommendations for executive leadership. You will also lead cross‑functional initiatives to execute strategic priorities and ensure successful implementation in partnership with teams across the enterprise.

The Sr. Director, Health Plan Strategy will report to the VP, Products and Health Plan Strategy.

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 Work

In this role, you will:

• Define Blue Shield’s strategic position by directing analysis of competitive trends, regulatory shifts, and customer and market needs; lead development of clear enterprise point of view and recommended actions for executive leadership
• Direct decision-quality strategy standards (problem framing, assumptions, options, risks, and tradeoffs) to ensure recommendations are consistent, comparable, and ready for executive decision‑making
• Drive executive alignment and influence by communicating recommendations through concise executive narratives; facilitate cross‑functional stakeholder alignment where priorities conflict and ensure leaders understand implications, choices, and next steps. Provide executive-level updates and strategic recommendations to senior leadership and the Board
• Serve as a thought leader on emerging trends like value-based reimbursement models, artificial intelligence, and partnership strategies. Direct market analysis, competitor assessments, and portfolio optimization to inform growth and investment decisions
• Oversee execution of strategic initiatives from concept development through senior‑leader ratification and approval, ensuring clarity of scope, milestones, and success measures
• Monitor performance against strategic objectives and proactively adjust strategies based on data, insights, and market changes. Ensure all strategies support sustainable growth, regulatory compliance, and exceptional member experience
• Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing Health Plan Strategy team, establishing best practices for strategic planning, insights generation, and analytical rigor

Your Knowledge and Experience

• Requires a bachelor’s degree required; graduate degree strongly preferred
• Requires at least 12 years of experience in health plan strategy, enterprise strategy, or healthcare consulting, with deep expertise in the payer landscape, competitive dynamics, regulatory drivers, and market needs
• Requires at least 6 years of people management experience, including developing high-performing teams
• Requires deep understanding of health plan economics, cost-of-care drivers, network strategy, and value-based care models
• Requires experience developing enterprise-level strategic recommendations, including competitive analysis, investment prioritization, portfolio optimization, and long‑term strategy roadmaps
• Requires experience launching and scaling strategic initiatives or new offerings
• Demonstrated ability to synthesize complex market, regulatory, and financial insights into executive-ready recommendations that drive decision-making at senior leadership, operating committee, and Board levels
• Strong executive influence skills, with the ability to align cross-functional leaders around competing priorities
• Management healthcare consulting experience is strongly 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.

 

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