Dental Standards Leader

About the role

The Dental Standards Leader will transform the dental standards team by developing, designing, and reimagining processes that support distribution, claims, implementation, and underwriting teams. This leader will drive strategy to improve workflows and enhance operational efficiency and service delivery.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of dental standards analysts.
• Be viewed as a subject matter expert and thought leader on plan level recommendations to distribution partners and underwriting based on industry knowledge, market trends, and the optimization of internal Guardian systems to ensure best in class dental plan experience for our plan holders.
• Lead and manage cross-functional projects and initiatives related to dental product development, plan design, regulatory implementation, underwriting support, and operational improvement.
• Create and oversee project plans, timelines, and deliverables while ensuring alignment across stakeholders (Sales, Underwriting, Claims, Network, Legal, and Product).
• Identify risks, drive issue resolution, and support prioritization of strategic initiatives.
• Create and maintain training materials, job aids, and standard operating procedures to ensure consistency and scalability of knowledge transfer and dental standards team development.
• Facilitate knowledge-sharing sessions and contribute to a culture of continuous learning and professional development.
• Partner with implementation and distribution teams on accurate case level setup to ensure new & in force plans are set up and/or amended as appropriate. Oversee performance guarantees, contract comparison & plan options requests in support of new business sales and client persistency.
• Lead and/or support projects that innovate and improve team efficiency, workflows, and service quality.
• Represent Guardian recommendations in Finalist Presentations and/or Stewardship meetings.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree, masters degree or equivalent work experience required.
• Minimum of 5+ years in at least one core area: Provider Network Management, Group Distribution, Underwriting, Claims, Operations, Dental Standards or Dental Product.
• Strong internal systems knowledge, analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Track record of collaborating cross-functionally to solve complex business problems and navigate rapidly evolving macro trends.
• Superior knowledge of dental terminology, Current Dental Terminology (CDT) codes, clinical rationale, and policies of dental procedures.
• Knowledge of dental administration, policies, and guidelines.
• Travel 10-20% travel to various field offices, key partners and finalist presentations.
• Preferred locations include Atlanta, GA; Plano, TX, Newport Beach, CA; San Francisco, CA; Chicago, IL; Bethlehem, PA; New York, NY; Holmdel, NJ; and Boston, MA.
• Will consider candidates with required qualifications in other locations and/or Remote.

Benefits

Salary Range: $86,210.00 - $141,635.00. The salary for this position ultimately will be determined based on the education, experience, knowledge, and abilities of the successful candidate. In addition to salary, this role may also be eligible for annual, sales, or other incentive compensation.

Our Promise: At Guardian, you’ll have the support and flexibility to achieve your professional and personal goals. Through skill-building, leadership development, and philanthropic opportunities, we provide opportunities to build communities and grow your career, surrounded by diverse colleagues with high ethical standards.

Notice Regarding Guardian’s Use of Artificial Intelligence in Recruitment: As part of Guardian’s job application process, Guardian may use artificial intelligence tools (“AI Tools") to automate the sorting and filtering of information provided by applicants as part of its preliminary screening. This preliminary screening may be used to help identify applicant materials and resumes relative to their indication that the applicant meets the requirements for the specific job for which they are applying, as specified in the listing posted on Guardian’s jobs website (Careers at Guardian at https://www.guardianlife.com/careers).