Senior Program Manager (CA ONLY) - Military veterans preferred

JOB DESCRIPTION

****Employee for this role must reside in the state of California****

Job Summary

Responsible for leading and overseeing complex, cross-functional initiatives within California Health Plan and supports Enterprise-wide initiatives. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in healthcare payer/provider domain, project and program management, and cross-functional team leadership. This role is responsible for the strategic planning, execution, and successful delivery of key programs aimed at improving member experience, operational efficiency, regulatory compliance, and financial performance across the health plan.

The Senior Program Manager will serve as a key liaison between executive leadership, internal departments (e.g., clinical, operations, IT, quality, compliance), and external stakeholders (e.g., providers, vendors). They will manage multiple high-impact projects simultaneously, ensuring alignment with organizational goals, timelines, and budget.

Strategic Planning & Execution

• Develop comprehensive business cases to support strategic initiatives, including scope statement, cost-benefit analysis, resource needs, timeline, and projected outcomes.
• Develops, defines, and executes plans, schedules, and deliverables. Monitors programs from initiation through delivery.
• Works with operational leaders within the business to provide recommendations on opportunities for process improvements.
• Navigate complex organizational structures and competing priorities to drive alignment and progress.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement, innovation, and accountability across projects and teams.

Leadership & Program Management

• Manages people who lead teams in planning and executing business programs. Assigns and monitors work of program management staff, providing support and direction.
• Serves as the subject matter expert to Program Managers and in functional areas; leads programs to meet critical needs.     

System Implementation Oversight

• Lead and oversee the planning, coordination, and execution of key technology and system implementations, ensuring alignment with business goals and regulatory requirements.
• Partner with IT, business owners, and vendors to define functional and technical requirements, implementation roadmaps, testing strategy, and transition to operations.
• Ensure that system implementations support long-term operational scalability, improve service delivery, and are completed on time and within budget.
• Drive resolution of technical challenges, data integration issues, and cross-system dependencies across business and IT teams.
• Monitor post-implementation performance to validate outcomes and guide optimization efforts.

Stakeholder Communication & Engagement        

• Communicates and collaborates with customers to analyze and transform needs and goals into functional requirements.
• Provide executive status reports and updates to the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), including risks, issues, milestones, and progress against strategic goals    

Critical Thinking & Problem Solving                  

• Apply strong analytical and critical thinking skills to solve complex problems and make data-driven decisions.

JOB QUALIFICATIONS

Required Education

Bachelor's Degree or equivalent combination of education and experience

Required Experience

7-9 years Program Management

Required License, Certification, Association

PMP Certification (and/or comparable coursework)

Preferred Education

Graduate Degree or equivalent combination of education and experience

Preferred Experience

10+ years Program Management

Healthcare Payer/Provider Domain Experience

Medicare and/or Medicaid implementation 

Pay Range: $84,067 - $163,931 / ANNUAL
*Actual compensation may vary from posting based on geographic location, work experience, education and/or skill level.