Manager, Utilization Management Nurse Management

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 Utilization Management team reviews inpatient stays and prior authorization for our members and correctly applies the guidelines for nationally recognized levels of care for both our Medi-Cal and Medicare populations. The Utilization Management Manager will report to the Director of Utilization Management. In this role you will lead and support a team of clinicians to ensure safe, timely, and appropriate care for members. You will apply advanced clinical knowledge and proven management skills to organize work, coach staff, and manage risk. Your leadership helps drive consistent, high-quality utilization management outcomes.

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:

• Establish operational objectives for department or functional area and participate with other managers to establish group objectives  
• Be responsible for team, department, or functional area results in terms of planning, cost; in collaboration with department Director  
• Participate in the development and implementation of the annual budget under the direction of Sr Manager / Director  
• Ensure workflow procedures and guidelines are clearly documented and communicated  
• Interpret or initiate changes in guidelines/policies/procedures  
• Establish and manage operational and regulatory reports 
• Ensure regulatory and accreditation standards are met for Medicare, and Medi-Cal lines of business
• Collaborate across functional departments to improve member outcomes 
• Participate in regulatory and internal audits as applicable 
• Support and facilitate staff meetings, clinical rounds, and weekly huddles 

Your Knowledge and Experience

• Requires maintaining an active, unrestricted RN license in assigned states or the ability to obtain required state (in addition to primary state license) RN license within 90 days of hire
• Requires 7 years of prior relevant experience including 3 years of management experience gained as a team leader, supervisor or project/program manager
• Requires knowledge of regulatory requirements for government lines of business (Medi-Cal and Medicare) 
• Bachelor of Science in Nursing or advanced degree preferred
• Demonstrated experience with basic management approaches such as work scheduling, prioritizing, coaching, process execution, work organization, inventory management, risk management and delegation 
• Strong emotional intelligence skills 
• Strong communication and computer navigation skills
• Strong teamwork and collaboration skills
• Strong critical thinking skills
• Independent motivation and strong work ethic 

 

Hybrid Virtual Work

This role allows employees to work virtually full-time, however employees will be expected to come to the office based on business need.