Managed Care Strategic Advisor (Closes 8/10)

Job Description

Job Description

The Opportunity  

The Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) is seeking a Managed Care Strategic Advisor to help lead an ambitious behavioral health transformation effort in local government. Working directly with executive leadership, this individual will help identify the highest-leverage opportunities to improve how behavioral health services are designed, financed, coordinated, and continuously improved across Allegheny County. The role will combine strategy, operations, analytics, implementation, and organizational leadership to solve some of the system's most complex challenges. 

 
The successful candidate will have facility moving from defining strategy to executing it—leading cross-functional initiatives, building new operational capabilities, and working alongside providers, managed care organizations, state agencies, clinicians, technologists, and researchers to improve outcomes for residents with serious mental illness, substance use disorders, and other complex behavioral health needs. 

 
The role offers a rare opportunity to help shape the future of one of the nation's largest county behavioral health systems. This role reports directly to the head of the Office of Behavioral Health.

If hired for this position, you would be an employee of our partner agency, Community Family Advocates working onsite at Allegheny County DHS.

Current Priorities  

• Design more effective approaches to client referral, prioritization, care coordination, and service delivery. 

• Improve how scarce behavioral health resources are allocated through better analytics, operational design, and performance management. 

• Develop alternative payment models and operational approaches that improve quality, accountability, and outcomes. 

• Strengthen provider performance, network strategy, and system capacity. 

• Build analytical and operational capabilities that allow DHS to better understand system performance and identify opportunities for improvement. 

• Lead complex implementation efforts involving multiple government agencies, providers, managed care organizations, and community partners. 

• Support executive leadership in evaluating long-term opportunities to strengthen the behavioral health system. 

Key Responsibilities  

• Lead high-impact strategic initiatives spanning behavioral health operations, finance, contracting, technology, analytics, provider relations, and program implementation. 

• Develop recommendations that improve access, quality, efficiency, and outcomes across the behavioral health system. 

• Design new operational models that improve how high-need individuals are identified, prioritized, connected to care, and supported over time. 

• Develop innovative approaches to provider incentives, performance management, and operational excellence. 

• Partner with providers, managed care organizations, Commonwealth agencies, and community organizations to implement major system improvements. 

• Build executive-level analyses, recommendations, financial models, and presentations to support strategic decision-making. 

• Establish implementation plans, governance structures, milestones, and performance measures for major initiatives. 

• Recruit, develop, and lead multidisciplinary teams as new organizational capabilities are established. 

Who We're Looking For  

The strongest candidates will have demonstrated success leading large, ambiguous, high-impact initiatives where strategy, operations, finance, technology, and public policy intersect. 

 
They are equally comfortable thinking at the level of organizational strategy and diving into operational details. They enjoy solving difficult problems that lack predetermined answers, earn credibility across diverse stakeholders, and have a track record of turning ambitious ideas into measurable results. 

• Healthcare strategy or operations 

• Medicaid managed care 

• Behavioral health administration 

• Management consulting 

• Healthcare finance 

• Technology or product leadership 

• State Medicaid agencies 

• Provider organizations 

• Public-sector innovation 
  

Growth Opportunity  

This position is designed for someone excited by the opportunity to build, not simply advise. 

 
Initially, the Managed Care Strategic Advisor will lead several of DHS's highest-priority transformation initiatives while working closely with executive leadership. Over time, the successful candidate will have opportunities to recruit exceptional talent, establish new organizational capabilities, and assume broader leadership responsibilities as DHS continues to strengthen its ability to improve behavioral health outcomes across Allegheny County. 

Why DHS?

DHS is diverse, but we strive to be even more inclusive. This includes equity in hiring and advancement, as well as in unleashing the creativity and ideas of staff at every level of DHS. It has strong, assertive leaders. We do not hire yes-people.

You can make a big impact here. We stand out as one of the best human services organizations in the country. But we need problem-solvers, innovators, and terrific leaders to make sure we are smart in how we use our funding so that we reach the people who most need our help to make their lives better.

“DHS strives to be the kind of place where a diverse mix of talented people want to come to grow and do their best work.”

-From the organization’s statement on Equity and Inclusion

AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER -M/F/V/D