Program Manager, Principal (Behavioral Health)

Your Role

The Behavioral Health Services (BHS) team is responsible for developing and executing a best-in-class behavioral health product for Blue Shield of California. The Behavioral Health Program Manager, Principal will report to the Director of Behavioral Health Strategic Planning and Performance. In this role you will strengthen the performance of the Behavioral Health program by transforming reporting, trend analysis and issue identification into actionable insights that support leadership decision making and program improvements. Through disciplined planning, stakeholder engagement and performance measurement, this position helps to ensure Behavioral Health efforts are aligned to strategic goals, measurable value and successful execution across the organization.

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.

Responsibilities

Your Work

In this role, you will:

• Operate at a strategic business level to ensures projects/programs are in line with Blue Shield of California strategic goals
• Consult with all levels including senior management, make recommendations, and influence decision-making
• Leverage cross-functional internal and external relationships to drive initiatives forward
• Plan and implement multiple and extremely complex projects/programs spanning across business areas
• Determine key business issues, develop effective action plans and implement to successful conclusion
• Facilitate the generation of monthly, quarterly and ad hoc performance reporting through active engagement of Behavioral Health Leadership and Analytics teams; enabling trend analysis, messaging, mitigation planning and execution
• Serve as the primary point of contact for the collection and management of Behavioral Health program opportunities; conduct root cause analysis, feasibility assessments and action plans that provide visibility to BHS and the organization

Qualifications

Your Knowledge and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree or High School Diploma/GED and 4 years of additional relevant experience in lieu of a degree
• Requires 10 years of prior relevant experience
• Requires experience with Behavioral Health operations, quality and/or performance management
• Keen analytical skills, including the ability to identify trends, assess business impact and translate findings into actionable recommendations required
• Requires excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to actively engage leadership and cross-functional stakeholders, as well as clearly summarize performance, risks, opportunities and value outcomes
• Strong organizational skills, including the ability to manage initiative tracking, maintain portfolio-level visibility and support follow-through on key actions

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.

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.

Our Workplace Model

We believe in fostering a workplace environment that balances purposeful in-person collaboration with flexibility - providing clear expectations while respecting the diverse needs of our workforce. Our workplace model is designed around intentional in-person interaction, collaboration, connection, creativity and flexibility:

• For most teams, this means coming into the office two days per week.

• Employees living more than 50 miles from an office location, out of state employees, and employees in certain member-facing roles should work with their manager to determine in-office time based on business need.

• For employees with medical conditions that may impact their ability to work in-office, we are committed to engaging in an interactive process and providing reasonable accommodations to ensure their work environment is conducive to their success and well-being.

The Company reserves the right to require more presence in the office based on business needs, and requirements are subject to change with periodic reviews.

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.