Vice President of Public Affairs

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota

About Blue Cross:

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is one of the most recognized and trusted health care brands in the world with 2.5 million members. We’re committed to reinventing health care to improve health for our members and the community. We hope you'll join us.

https://www.bluecrossmn.com/


Position Details

Vice President of Public Affairs
Job
Full-time
3/8/2023
Twin Cities Metro
Eagan, MN

How is this role important to our work:

The Vice President of Public Affairs serves as a trusted and strategic advisor to executive leadership focusing on the Corporate and Public Affairs Practice across the US. This role will be responsible for leading the development and growth of the healthcare public affairs capability.

The ideal candidate will have significant experience and background in both Public Affairs and Communications and demonstrable abilities to analyze the economic, stakeholder and political aspects of healthcare issues with the ability to create knowledge-based communications campaigns, strategies, and tactics. A key priority for this role is to lead an enterprise-wide strategy to identify policy and regulatory opportunities to address racial and health inequities that impact our members and communities and to integrate racial and health equity priorities into the organization’s policy agenda.

The VP of Public Affairs will report to the SVP, Pharmacy and Chief Legal Officer and will lead the Public Affairs team.

A Day in the life:

  • Drive strategic public relations/affairs and policy program/campaign development, execution and management. 
  • Serve as a senior strategic advisor to CEO, Board of Directors, and executive leaders and guide industry leaders on policy communications and industry positioning. 
  • Effectively represent Blue Cross and Blue Shield of MN and advocate industry positions with external partners, potential members, and other interested parties. 
  • Represent the organization's positions to various public entities and members, including partner organizations, business development partners and prospects, and other interested parties. 
  • Actively monitor public affairs landscape and advise the enterprise accordingly. 
  • Develop and execute public affairs strategy that advances our organizational priorities. 
  • Partner with the business on proactively identifying key public affairs risk including active engagement on identifying mitigation opportunities. 
  • Strategic partner and proactive planning on how we position population health and affordability initiatives with our stakeholders. 
  • Representation of and strategic posturing with trade groups including MHA, MMA, MCHP. 
  • Drive and influence strategies at BCBSA to ensure support of our strategic priorities at the association, national and federal level. 
  • Proactively influence & help change legislation that can have meaningful impact to the enterprise. 
  • Work with business unit to find ways to advance our work with DOC. 
  • Help influence DHS on key policy matters so we are at the table (such as redetermination strategy). 
  • Creates development and execution of the organization’s regulatory advocacy strategy. 
  • Effectively communicate with (and manage) internal and external stakeholders to bring awareness of products, programs, and process risks. 
  • Assessing and advising the business and Executive leadership (including the CEO) on existing and new regulatory frameworks applicable to the business operations. 
  • Educating policymakers and regulators through formal and informal channels on healthcare issues.

Nice to Have:

  • Bachelor's Degree and/or equivalent experience/Master's Degree preferred.
  • Knowledge and demonstrable deliverables of healthcare issues surrounding access, pricing, insurance, and of care delivery preferred.

Required Skills and Experiences:

  • 10+ years of related professional experience in the areas of; Communications, Public Affairs within healthcare-related policy issues 
  • 5+ years of related management experience in the areas of; Communications, Public Affairs within healthcare-related policy issues. 
  • Proven ability to collaborate well with senior executives and leaders, leveraging strong intellectual, conceptual, and analytical skills; ability to clearly, confidently, and convincingly present analyses and recommendations. 
  • Strong understanding of Congress, regulatory agencies, and/or state legislatures at various levels with sensitivity to policy and political considerations. 
  • Previous experience working directly in and/or providing clients & prospects with counsel and information within the healthcare policy arenas, while providing in-depth expertise on specific client industries. 
  • Experience with healthcare financing, reimbursement, telemedicine, patient-centric models, innovation focused on population health, clinical trial models, regulatory approvals and the use of big data are highly preferred. 
  • Industry experience that includes knowledge around pharmaceuticals, biotech, medical devices, hospital systems, care deliver, insurance, and access issues. 
  • Strong communication sills – ability to articulate a variety of issues to different audiences and tailor the messages. 
  • Collaborative work style. Understands the necessity to gain partnership and agreement. 
  • Inspires openness and trust amongst colleagues. 
  • Demonstrates ability to respond to changing and sometime ambiguous situations. 
  • Knowledge of board governance matters; experience and background interacting with a board of directors. 
  • Brings regulatory insights/trends to the organization in a manner that not only are risks identified but also potential mitigants are suggested. 
  • Partner with business leaders across the organization to identify policy and regulatory changes that would address barriers they face in advancing racial and health equity in the enterprise. 
  • Influence key stakeholders with which we partner with to advance our policy agenda to prioritize a focus on racial and health equity issues.


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