Policy and Strategy Specialist

About the role

The Policy and Market Strategy Specialist supports Activate Care's strategic growth by combining Medicaid and Medicare policy expertise with policy-informed market intelligence, public-sector opportunity analysis, and strategic project coordination.

Responsibilities

• Policy, Regulatory, and Market Strategy Support strategic planning by advising on state and federal health insurance markets and regulations, including:
  • State Medicaid plans and Medicaid managed care
  • Medicare, Medicare Advantage, and D-SNP plans
  • State waivers, pilots, and innovative care models
  • Value-based payment and risk-based contracting models
  • Quality measures for value-based purchasing
• Analyze policy changes and assess implications for Activate Care's growth strategy, care models, proposals, products, and client opportunities
• Prepare product-market fit analyses (e.g., landscape & trend analyses, policy briefs, regulatory summaries, funding authority) for new markets, contracted projects, and strategic planning
• Support Community Needs Assessments/Community Health Assessment and Equity projects by helping interpret Medicaid policy, state flexibility, coverage rules, local programs, and existing community assets
• Help determine what is feasible for health plans, providers, state agencies, and community partners to implement within existing policy, benefit, funding, and regulatory structures
• Maintain a structured opportunity pipeline for time-sensitive public-sector opportunities, including RFPs/RFIs, state funding opportunities, waiver activity, Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) opportunities, and emerging Medicaid or Medicare initiatives
• Develop and maintain rapid-response systems for scanning state websites, procurement portals, policy updates, public notices, and agency communications for opportunities aligned with Activate Care's strategy
• Conduct policy-informed market research on Medicaid, Medicare, D-SNP, rural health, behavioral health, maternal health, reentry, social care, value-based care, and at-risk provider trends
• Prepare concise opportunity briefs that synthesize policy context, funding source, eligibility requirements, customer or agency need, population impact, strategic fit, feasibility, and recommended next steps
• Support go/no-go recommendations by assessing policy feasibility, operational implications, public-sector funding alignment, and fit with Activate Care's capabilities and strategy
• RHTP and Public Funding Coordination Coordinate RHTP opportunities and related state or federal funding initiatives
• Serve as project manager for selected rural health and public funding workstreams, including timelines, deliverables, internal contributors, decision points, and leadership updates
• Support development of concept summaries, proposal inputs, partner briefs, and executive recommendations related to rural health transformation and other public funding opportunities
• Collaborate with appropriate functional teams (e.g., Sales/Growth, Marketing, Product, Solutions, Finance, Operations, Technology, Strategy) to determine whether opportunities should advance into proposal development, care model development, partnership exploration, or archive
• New Concept Incubator and Strategic Initiative Support Facilitate the use of a New Concept Incubator process for proposed products/solutions, including intake, research, documentation, and decision-support process in partnership with functional teams and stakeholders
• Support evaluation of new technology products, care models, workforce models, and service innovations through policy research, regulatory review, public funding analysis, strategic fit analysis, and operational feasibility assessment
• Develop or contribute to Opportunity Analysis Briefs, including assumptions, policy and regulatory landscape, potential customers, market context, implementation feasibility, potential costs, time to market, and recommendations
• Maintain related tools and repositories, including Google Forms, Monday.com boards, Notion pages, templates, decision trees, and Slack channels
• Support semi-annual Strategic Initiatives meetings and initiative sponsors through preparation of materials, follow-up documentation, Monday.com tracking, and status updates
• Sales, Marketing, Product, and Proposal Support Contribute to strategy regarding which markets and populations to target, including incarcerated reentry, complex medical and disabled populations, pregnant women, infants, children, and other priority groups
• Partner with Marketing by providing policy context, regulatory feasibility, funding analysis, and Medicaid/Medicare market intelligence that can inform positioning, messaging, and sales enablement
• Support proposal strategy and content by preparing policy summaries, market context, opportunity rationale, regulatory feasibility language, and strategic recommendations
• Collaborate with Product and Technology teams to share policy and market insights that may inform product roadmap discussions, solution design, or platform differentiation
• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications & Skills

• Education: Master's degree in healthcare policy, public health, healthcare administration, public administration, business, or a related field preferred.
• Experience: Minimum of 5-7 years of experience in healthcare policy, Medicaid/Medicare strategy, public-sector healthcare consulting, health plan strategy, market research, healthcare innovation, or related work.
• Experience: Experience conducting policy analysis, Medicaid landscape research, waiver scans, public funding analysis, competitive scans, opportunity assessments, or business case support.
• Experience: Experience coordinating cross-functional projects, strategic initiatives, opportunity pipelines, or rapid-response processes.
• Skills: Strong analytical, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills, with the ability to synthesize complex policy and market information into clear, executive-ready insights. Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Strong project management skills, including the ability to track timelines, owners, dependencies, risks, decisions, and deliverables across multiple workstreams. Familiarity with Monday.com, Notion, Google Workspace, Slack, Asana, Smartsheet, or similar platforms preferred.
• Diversity & Inclusion: Highly organized, reliable, detail-oriented, mission-driven, and comfortable working independently in a remote, fast-moving environment.