The Health Initiative Program Associate

Job Description

Job Description

ABOUT THE HEALTH INITIATIVE:

It is well-established that 80% of a person’s health is determined by factors outside the doctor’s office — healthy food, safe housing and a livable income. Yet our healthcare system is built backwards, with more than 99% of US healthcare dollars spent on medical care alone. The amount of money going toward healthcare is huge — the US government and private health insurance companies spend over $11B on healthcare every day. This is projected to grow 6% annually through the next decade.

But what exactly do we get for all this healthcare spending? Right now, the US has some of the worst health outcomes across all high-income countries, including for preventable heart disease and obesity, which cost the system nearly $500B each year.  This is inefficient and leaves people behind, especially low-income children and families. 

But what if our healthcare system was built to pay for health, not just healthcare? What if it invested dollars more efficiently and effectively to pay for access to nutritious food or safe housing as key levers to prevent and manage disease? The result would be a win-win-win: Children and adults would have better access to healthy food and safe housing and, as a result, have better health outcomes. When healthier patients use less care, the government saves money – and insurance companies’ revenues increase – incentivizing both to pay for these basics.  

The Health Initiative (THI) is a national organization that crosses political divides, taps market forces and activates stakeholders to shift dollars toward health. By providing strategic guidance and technical assistance, we activate healthcare institutions to invest preventatively in nutritious food and safe housing— to improve health outcomes for those most at risk and reduce overall healthcare costs. 

Since 2018, THI has used our playbook to spur healthcare institutions to spend nearly $1B in healthcare dollars on food, housing and other basics. For example, we supported North Carolina to use Medicaid dollars to provide patients with groceries, rental assistance and other basics, keeping them out of the hospital and saving the state a net $1,020 per person per year. THI also advised a Fortune 50 insurance company on how to increase healthy food and housing benefits by $80M for high-risk patients (87% living on less than $20K a year) and to design an evaluation which found that those receiving higher benefits have lower healthcare costs.   

THI maintains a diversified revenue base which enables staff stability, long-term planning, and meaningful impact.

ABOUT THE POSITION:

The Health Initiative (THI) seeks a resourceful, detail-oriented, and flexible Program Associate who thrives in the fast-paced context of issue-based campaigns and/or start-up environments, has the ability to analyze and synthesize complex information, and is passionate about THI’s aim.

The role is critical in achieving our mission by grounding our recommendations in clear and compelling research and analysis. THI organizes its work into cross-functional teams focused on mobilizing a given stakeholder to invest upstream in health. Current teams include Federal, State and Health Plans. Program Associates will focus on one of these areas and support across functional areas as needed. This team member has four primary functions:

• Work closely with the functional team leader to support the development of the strategy, approaches and tactics to mobilize stakeholders

• Draft materials related to program content, e.g. meeting documents, reports

• Conduct analyses related to their functional team, both proactively and reactively using a wide variety of data

• Serve as the internal expert across the organization relevant to their functional team, e.g. proactively scanning the external environment for updates and market trends, providing materials for THI colleagues in other functions such as Development.

The successful candidate will be able to synthesize complex information quickly, have a strong grasp of the health and healthcare landscapes to be able to interpret data and research, and demonstrates solid analytic and communication skills in order to generate compelling, accurate materials and actionable insights.

The position reports to the Senior Policy Director though as part of a small and nimble organization, the Program Associate will work collaboratively across the organization depending on needs and priorities.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Defining Success for this Position:

As noted above, a successful Program Associate will be able to serve as a first drafter and act as a source of truth for all materials related to their functional area and demonstrate creativity and good judgement in recommending next steps and drafting materials to elicit action. Given the organization's dynamic nature, the responsibilities below are examples of how the Program Associate may execute those functions.

Example Responsibilities:

• Draft program content and communications (e.g., meeting prep) for functional team

• Work closely w/functional team lead & Project Manager to develop strategy, approaches, tactics based on content knowledge

• Proactively recommend ideas, content, and approaches to achieve goals

• Understand key players, oversee relationship map, and make proactive recs. on how to manage key relationships

• Lead day-to-day development of content to achieve team goals/strategy w/ team lead’s input and guidance

• Serve as “source of truth” on current functional area materials and a resource for internal expertise across org., including supporting functional team’s content/updates (e.g., reports) for development, other functional teams, and/or operations

• Work closely with Project Manager to identify key decisions or strategic approaches to elevate in meetings with team and leadership

• Identify and leverage AI to support work (with understanding of appropriate uses and guardrails) ·

• When appropriate, represent content with external audiences

• Conduct non-functional area specific research requests as needed by the organization or other program analysis (no greater than 10%)

• Complete background research on specific functional area topics and provide a clear and accurate synthesis for dissemination to internal stakeholders or perhaps to a wider public audience

• Proactively scan the environment to understand updates, context and market trends re THI’s past or current partners and institutions more broadly; synthesize findings for leadership

• Identify, sort, and present data from a wide variety of sources in a format that allows for interpretation of and identification of trends

• Discern and communicate clear next steps and recommendations from conversations and meetings

• Reflect on existing content production systems to identify and test improvements

As part of a small organization, the Program Associate will also engage other staff in fulfilling responsibilities. All team members at THI work collaboratively and across functions to deliver on our mission.

Who We’re Looking For

There are innumerable ways to learn, grow, and excel professionally. We respect this when we review applications and take a broad look at the experience of each applicant. We want to get to know you and the unique strengths you will bring to the work. This said, we are most likely to be interested in your candidacy if you can demonstrate the majority of the qualifications and experiences listed below.

• Bachelor's degree required; master’s degree (MPH, MPP, MPA) preferred

• Knowledge and understanding of healthcare institutions from at least 2+ years working in state or federal health policy or health plan

• Three to five years’ experience working effectively on a team (preferably including at least two years outside an academic program)

• Knowledge of health-related work/policy in drivers of health

• Excellent literature search and review skills

• Strong data collection, interpretation, and analysis skills with exceptional attention to detail

• Strong written and oral communication skills

• Strong research and development skills, including the ability to gather and synthesize large amounts of information from various sources

• The ability to work independently and as a team member

• A talent for prioritizing and managing multiple projects with short-, medium-, and long-term deadlines; ability to successfully meet deadlines consistently

• Good judgment; ability to recognize and successfully navigate ambiguity in projects (e.g., clarifying questions, project scope) to successful resolution

• Experience summarizing results in a written format for senior leadership

• Ability to proactively advance program objectives by anticipating needs, identifying opportunities, and taking initiative to achieve results.

• Ability to work in an environment that is fast-paced and sometimes ambiguous

• Ability to learn and use new systems and technology

• Problem-solving mentality; presents logical recommendations with an understanding of dependencies and adapts to new information or priorities

• Commitment to and deep understand of the mission, vision, and values of THI and their impact on healthcare

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

THI offers a comprehensive benefits package. The salary for this position is $105,000. In addition to a competitive salary, THI also offers:

• Full coverage of medical, dental, and vision insurance.

• Generous 401K matching and parental leave.

• Unlimited sustainable vacation and sick time.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT

THI is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome and encourage all qualified applicants to apply.