Strategic Planning and Performance, Principal

Your Role

The People and Engagement (P&E) Strategy, Analytics and Talent Acquisition team drives enterprise impact through: (1) Defining our strategy for being a great place to do meaningful work, and translating that into execution through operational, tech, financial, and human capital plans and objectives; (2) Developing insights through advanced analytics of our “people” metrics, data, and trends, and turning these insights into action via cross-functional partnerships; and (3) Recruiting, hiring, and retaining the great talent needed to achieve our enterprise goals and serve our members.

The Strategic Planning and Performance, Principal will report to the Director, Strategic Planning and Performance. In this role you will support the creation, ongoing execution and reporting of P&E’s annual functional plans (operational, financial, human capital, and tech) and key performance indicators.  You will anticipate and create visibility into upcoming critical initiatives and efforts that have a direct impact on P&E and organizational goals and risk reduction.  In addition, you will provide high-level management of cross-functional financials in order to achieve P&E budget targets.  You will help drive the strategic direction for P&E through your actions and engagement with the P&E senior leadership team. 

Your Work

In this role, you will:

• Facilitate the development of P&E’s annual functional plans by taking the Ascendiun Family of Company’s enterprise-level mission and strategies, and cascading them into P&E goals, supported by a set of specialized initiatives that drive performance to targets
• Develop and manage P&E’s technology roadmap in partnership with the Stellarus corporate platform portfolio, including AI capabilities, prioritization and value realization
• Own the management and leadership-level-reporting of the ongoing portfolio of operating plan initiatives and key performance indicators to ensure alignment with P&E strategy and objectives, and mitigate challenges and risks
• Create and maintain the structure, process and integrity of the platforms used to centrally manage and report on functional plan performance; leverage these platforms to improve existing department processes
• Build visuals/dashboards/reports that provide insight into upcoming critical initiatives and events, in order to anticipate challenges, resource needs and interdependencies
• Manage budget planning as part of the annual budget cycle; work in conjunction with Finance partners to complete business planning and forecasting and provide budget support
• Consult and make recommendations to senior management on significant issues
• Drive collaboration with cross-functional internal and external stakeholders, building key relationships with Finance, Human Resources Business Partners, Analytics, Talent Acquisition and leadership team members; lead the P&E weekly “pod” with these stakeholders to address near-term business priorities and challenges
• Track progress against goals including metrics and performance tracking
• Determine key business issues, develop effective action plans and implement to successful conclusion

Your Knowledge and Experience

• Requires a bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience

• Requires at least 10 years of prior relevant experience, with a focus on program and project management, financial and budget management, senior leadership-level communication (verbal and written), and interdisciplinary team, stakeholder, and initiative management

• Requires the ability to operate autonomously with limited oversight, and think proactively around next steps for achieving goals and creating value

• Requires the ability to think strategically and problem-solve complex, dynamic issues related to strategic plan execution

• Requires the ability to develop streamlined and polished content for a wide range of audiences (PowerPoint decks, financial and analytical presentations, leadership dashboards, operating plan reports, etc.)

• Requires the ability to maintain high levels of organization in the face of a changing environment or priorities

• Knowledge of change management principles and practices preferred

• Competency across PowerPoint, Excel, Airtable and experience with Workday strongly preferred

• Healthcare experience strongly preferred

• Master’s degree in Healthcare Administration, Business Administration or similar field preferred

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.

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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.