Director, Community & Local Government Engagement - Medi-Cal

Your Role

The Blue Shield Promise Community and Local Government Engagement Team is responsible for developing and managing relationships with a wide range of external stakeholders including local elected officials, county government agencies, community-based organizations, advocacy groups, and industry and trade associations. The Director of Community and Local Government Engagement will report to the Blue Shield Promise Senior Director of Public Programs and Stakeholder Engagement and has responsibility for integrating plans with senior leaders across Government Affairs, External Communications/PR, Internal Communications, and Lines of Business leadership.  In this role you will shape and manage the Medi-Cal community outreach plan, local government relations, and community investment strategy to address social drivers of health, support health equity initiatives, and drive membership growth and new business development. This position serves as a senior advisor and strategic thought partner to executives in community and local government affairs and is a highly visible public role.

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:

• Design and drive the external stakeholder engagement plan to expand and strengthen relationships with local elected officials, county government program administrators, community-based organizations, advocacy groups, and industry and trade associations to advance the strategic goals of the Medi-Cal line of business
• Monitor, anticipate, understand, and report out on local policy activities, proposed ordinances and regulations, community issues and priorities, and competitive market information to develop recommendations and shape our positions, responses, and business development opportunities
• Serve as a primary point of contact and liaison to interface with local government officials, county government program administrators, community leaders, advocacy groups, and industry and trade associations
• Work in close collaboration with Brand/Marketing, Communications, Government Affairs, and Strategic Partner Engagement to develop and implement effective outreach strategies to enhance Blue Shield Promise’s reputation and public awareness, and support membership growth and retention goals
• Anticipate and manage issues and threats to Blue Shield Promise's reputation, proactively prepare for potential issues, and respond quickly to unforeseen issues, in coordination with multiple departments and internal stakeholders. If necessary, quickly organize, manage, and lead cross functional teams
• In partnership with Brand/Marketing, develop and execute the annual Medi-Cal marketing plans
• Promote Blue Shield Promise initiatives to address health and social needs of the community and shape our community investment strategy to advance health equity and other strategic goals
• Co-design programs, interventions and pilots with other Blue Shield Promise leaders and community partners to advance health equity, quality, and member experience
• Lead, mentor, coach, and develop a mid-sized team responsible for executing tactical marketing, community outreach and local government engagement plans
• Manage strategic advisers and local government relations consultants
• Serve on, and promote other health plan leaders’ participation on, key community boards and committees and secure speaking opportunities for Blue Shield Promise leaders to increase visibility and elevate the profile of the health plan
• Represent Blue Shield Promise at internal and external meetings, events, presentations and other such activities as requested or required

Your Knowledge and Experience

• Requires a bachelor's degree or equivalent experience
• Requires at least 10 years of prior relevant experience, including 6 years of management experience
• Requires at least 5 years of experience working in the Medi-Cal program
• Requires at least 5 years of experience working in government affairs, public relations, health policy communications, and/or health advocacy and demonstrates strong political savvy skills to successfully represent Blue Shield Promise with local elected officials, community and industry groups - preferably in Los Angeles County
• Requires demonstrated superior communication and writing skills with a proven track record of providing advice and counsel to management on community affairs and successfully shaping and executing communications strategies
• Requires expertise in facilitating and coordinating projects/programs and teams, providing project/program leadership, advice and recommendations, technical direction and expertise, ability to evaluate progress, and resolution of issues related to project/program areas
• Requires ability to influence others outside of department/function area on policies, practices, and procedures

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.

#LI-AD3

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.