Product Strategist, Consultant - Small Business

Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association

Rancho Cordova, CA

JOB DETAILS
SKILLS
Actuarial Skills, Analysis Skills, Business Case, Business Support, Communication Skills, Competitive Analysis/Strategy, Competitive Research, Consulting, Corrective Action, Cross-Functional, Customer Experience, Customer/Client Research, Data Quality, Documentation, Establish Priorities, Financial Analysis, Health Plan, Information Technology & Information Systems, Investment Management, Leadership, Legal, Market Analysis, Market Trend Analysis, Operational Communications, Operations Management, Operations Processes, Performance Analysis, Performance Metrics, Policy Development, Presentation/Verbal Skills, Problem Solving Skills, Product Design, Product Lifecycle, Product Management, Product Planning, Product Strategy, Project/Program Management, Regulations, Regulatory Compliance, Regulatory Requirements, Regulatory Submissions, Risk Analysis, Risk Management, Small Business, Strategic Planning, Time Management, Trend Analysis
LOCATION
Rancho Cordova, CA
POSTED
6 days ago

Your Role

The Product Strategy team drives product strategy development and execution for the Small Business market. The role reports to the Senior Manager, Product Strategy.

The Product Strategist, Consultant supports the assigned lines of business, translating market insights, business objectives, customer needs, and regulatory requirements into actionable product strategies. This role is responsible for portfolio direction, product roadmaps, and strategic recommendations that drive growth, retention, affordability, and member experience.

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 Knowledge and Experience

  • Requires bachelor''s degree or equivalent experience
  • Requires at least 7 years of experience in product strategy, product management, portfolio management, health plan products, or related fields
  • Requires experience developing product strategies, roadmaps, and business cases
  • Requires deep understanding of health plan products, market dynamics, and regulatory environments
  • Requires extensive knowledge of ACA guidelines and health plan product management; experience with Small Business markets strongly preferred
  • Demonstrated experience in project management
  • Demonstrates strong ownership and problem-solving in ambiguous situations
  • Proven ability to translate complexity into action
  • Strong analytical, strategic thinking, and problem-solving abilities
  • Demonstrated ability to influence stakeholders and lead cross-functional initiatives
  • Excellent executive communication and presentation skills
  • Experience with competitive intelligence, financial analysis, and strategic planning

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

Your Work

In this role, you will:

Strategic Support and Planning:

  • Support the development, maintenance, and execution of product portfolio strategy, roadmap development, and prioritization for assigned lines of business.
  • Translate strategic direction into actionable initiatives, business requirements, and implementation plans that support portfolio objectives.
  • Identify opportunities to improve growth, retention, operating income, member experience, and affordability.
  • Evaluate market trends, emerging customer needs, competitive activity, and regulatory developments to inform strategic recommendations.
  • Recommend product enhancements, modifications, new offerings, or product exits.
  • Establish success metrics and monitor performance against strategic objectives
  • Present product recommendations, business cases, tradeoffs, and risks to senior leadership.

Portfolio Management and Execution:

  • Manage the day-to-day maintenance of assigned product portfolios, including strategic, regulatory, and market-driven updates to product designs, benefits, cost shares, and customer experience offerings.
  • Serve as the primary point of contact for product cycle activities, coordinating cross-functional stakeholders to ensure portfolio activities remain aligned with approved strategies, business objectives, and implementation timelines.
  • Monitor portfolio performance, market trends, regulatory developments, and customer feedback to identify opportunities for product enhancements and provide recommendations to leadership.
  • Coordinate portfolio governance and execution activities, including preparing materials, documenting decisions, tracking dependencies, and ensuring initiatives progress through established governance and decision-making processes.
  • Prepare strategic initiatives for implementation and support post-launch monitoring by ensuring accurate product information across systems, filings, communications, and operational processes while identifying and addressing performance or implementation issues.

Regulatory Filings & Compliance:

  • Serve as the Product Strategy lead for annual regulatory filing activities, ensuring key deadlines, requirements, and milestones are met.
  • Evaluate regulatory changes, emerging mandates, and policy developments to identify risks, opportunities, and impacts to product strategy.
  • Partner with Legal, Regulatory, Actuarial, Product Consultants, and filing teams to ensure product strategies, plan designs, and supporting materials are compliant, accurate, and market competitive.
  • Identify and escalate filing risks, compliance concerns, operational impacts, and timeline challenges, providing recommendations and executive-ready status updates to leadership.
  • Maintain institutional knowledge of filing requirements, processes, and historical decisions while supporting regulatory reviews, discussions, and strategic recommendations throughout the filing cycle.

Competitive Intelligence and Market Analysis:

  • Lead market assessments and competitive research efforts for assigned portfolios.
  • Evaluate competitor products, pricing strategies, networks, benefit offerings, and market positioning.
  • Identify emerging trends, market opportunities, customer demands, and industry disruptions.
  • Conduct scenario planning and assess impacts of competitive and market changes.
  • Develop strategic recommendations and business cases supported by market insights and performance data.
  • Present competitive intelligence findings and implications to leadership and stakeholders.

Operational and Issue Management

  • Identify and help resolve operational issues impacting the portfolio
  • Own risk and issue resolution management, including cross-functional meetings, risk mitigation and corrective action plans, and status reporting.
  • Coordinate across teams to drive timely resolution and escalate risks as needed
  • Identify and support development of processes and controls to prevent recurring issues

Your Work

In this role, you will:

Strategic Support and Planning:

  • Support the development, maintenance, and execution of product portfolio strategy, roadmap development, and prioritization for assigned lines of business.
  • Translate strategic direction into actionable initiatives, business requirements, and implementation plans that support portfolio objectives.
  • Identify opportunities to improve growth, retention, operating income, member experience, and affordability.
  • Evaluate market trends, emerging customer needs, competitive activity, and regulatory developments to inform strategic recommendations.
  • Recommend product enhancements, modifications, new offerings, or product exits.
  • Establish success metrics and monitor performance against strategic objectives
  • Present product recommendations, business cases, tradeoffs, and risks to senior leadership.

Portfolio Management and Execution:

  • Manage the day-to-day maintenance of assigned product portfolios, including strategic, regulatory, and market-driven updates to product designs, benefits, cost shares, and customer experience offerings.
  • Serve as the primary point of contact for product cycle activities, coordinating cross-functional stakeholders to ensure portfolio activities remain aligned with approved strategies, business objectives, and implementation timelines.
  • Monitor portfolio performance, market trends, regulatory developments, and customer feedback to identify opportunities for product enhancements and provide recommendations to leadership.
  • Coordinate portfolio governance and execution activities, including preparing materials, documenting decisions, tracking dependencies, and ensuring initiatives progress through established governance and decision-making processes.
  • Prepare strategic initiatives for implementation and support post-launch monitoring by ensuring accurate product information across systems, filings, communications, and operational processes while identifying and addressing performance or implementation issues.

Regulatory Filings & Compliance:

  • Serve as the Product Strategy lead for annual regulatory filing activities, ensuring key deadlines, requirements, and milestones are met.
  • Evaluate regulatory changes, emerging mandates, and policy developments to identify risks, opportunities, and impacts to product strategy.
  • Partner with Legal, Regulatory, Actuarial, Product Consultants, and filing teams to ensure product strategies, plan designs, and supporting materials are compliant, accurate, and market competitive.
  • Identify and escalate filing risks, compliance concerns, operational impacts, and timeline challenges, providing recommendations and executive-ready status updates to leadership.
  • Maintain institutional knowledge of filing requirements, processes, and historical decisions while supporting regulatory reviews, discussions, and strategic recommendations throughout the filing cycle.

Competitive Intelligence and Market Analysis:

  • Lead market assessments and competitive research efforts for assigned portfolios.
  • Evaluate competitor products, pricing strategies, networks, benefit offerings, and market positioning.
  • Identify emerging trends, market opportunities, customer demands, and industry disruptions.
  • Conduct scenario planning and assess impacts of competitive and market changes.
  • Develop strategic recommendations and business cases supported by market insights and performance data.
  • Present competitive intelligence findings and implications to leadership and stakeholders.

Operational and Issue Management

  • Identify and help resolve operational issues impacting the portfolio
  • Own risk and issue resolution management, including cross-functional meetings, risk mitigation and corrective action plans, and status reporting.
  • Coordinate across teams to drive timely resolution and escalate risks as needed
  • Identify and support development of processes and controls to prevent recurring issues

About the Company

B

Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association

At the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), we provide business strategy, technical support and consulting expertise to 36 Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies across the nation, employing more than 1,000 of the best strategic thinkers in the industry. We are a Brand manager that sets quality control standards for the 36 independent companies that use the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Brands, and we serve as a trade association that represents these Blue companies. It is through our involvement that the Blues companies share a united vision and strategy while also benefiting from the local strength of all member companies.
COMPANY SIZE
2,000 to 2,499 employees
INDUSTRY
Insurance
WEBSITE
https://www.bcbs.com/about-us/careers