DSHS HCLA Critical Incident Program Manager

State of Washington•Thurston County – Olympia, WA

15h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), Home & Community Living Administration (HCLA), division of Home & Community Services (HCS) is seeking a Critical Incident Program Manager. This role is crucial for developing and implementing an Incident Management System and an Electronic Critical Incident System to meet new federal requirements from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Access Rule. The goal is to improve transparency, accountability, data standardization, and monitoring of home- and community-based services (HCBS) to enhance access to care, quality of care, and health outcomes for Medicaid beneficiaries. This is a project-based position funded through the 2025-2027 biennium, offering a flexible hybrid schedule with the official work location in Olympia, Washington. Occasional in-person meetings at the Olympia headquarters may be required.

Requirements

A bachelor’s degree in public health, social work, public administration, health administration, public policy, data analytics, or a closely related field AND five or more years of progressively responsible professional experience in critical incident management, quality improvement, health or human services program management, or a related field.
OR Equivalent combination of education and/or professional experience.
Knowledge of Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS) and long-term services and supports, including applicable federal and state statutes and regulations.
Knowledge of CMS Access Rule, HCBS Final Settings Rule, and HCBS Quality Measure Set, including the eight federally required Critical Incident deliverables.
Knowledge of critical incident management, grievance, and continuous quality improvement systems in large human services organizations.
Knowledge of data governance, HIPAA, and state confidentiality requirements.
Knowledge of Washington's long-term services and supports delivery system.
Knowledge of program and project management tools, as well as continuous improvement, change management and evaluation tools and other methods.
Ability to lead and facilitate work groups across different agencies and teams, even without direct authority.
Ability to analyze data to identify trends, causes of problems, and areas for improvement.
Ability to write clear policies, procedures, contracts, and other documents.
Ability to communicate clearly with clients, providers, agencies, executives, legislators, and other stakeholders.
Ability to negotiate data-sharing agreements and Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs).
Ability to work effectively in a political environment with state and local officials, agencies, tribal leaders, local governments, community organizations, and advocacy groups.
Ability to coordinate projects and work across teams without direct supervisory authority.
Ability to assess how changes to policies, procedures, and laws may affect agency goals and services.
Ability to manage projects from planning through implementation, including schedules, assignments, risks, issues, and communication.
Ability to research complex or sensitive issues and provide recommendations to executive leadership.
Ability to use Microsoft Office programs effectively.
Ability to keep the needs of HCS and its clients as the focus while working across the organization.
Ability to prepare clear written correspondence and communicate effectively both verbally and in writing.
Ability to lead through collaboration and influence when authority is shared or limited.
Ability to use critical thinking to understand complex information and explain it clearly to different audiences.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree in a relevant field (MPH, MSW, MPA, MHA, or similar).
Direct experience with Medicaid HCBS programs or long-term services and support.
Experience reviewing and actioning critical incidents identified through non-standard channels (grievances, protective-services data, licensing surveys, claims data, law enforcement, advocacy referrals).

Responsibilities

Design, operate, and administer the HCS Incident Reporting and Management System.
Develop the HCS framework for incident reporting, triage, escalation, incident reviews, coordination, resolution, and quality monitoring.
Develop and maintain project timelines, decision logs, and risk registers to ensure compliance with CMS Access Rule Critical Incident requirements.
Routinely review signals of possible critical incidents that arrive outside the standard reporting workflow.
Report findings, response status, and emerging risks to HCS leadership and escalate critical matters.
Represent HCS on the enterprise-wide CMS Access Rule Critical Incident Work Group.
Drive HCS provider and Area Agency on Aging (AAA) quality improvement through policy, contract, partnership, and technical assistance.
Integrate HCS incident data with the HCLA-wide grievance system and support HCS continuous quality improvement.
Establish and maintain non-duplicative data-sharing arrangements with partner agencies.
Engage HCS external stakeholders and ensure HCS federal compliance and audit readiness.
Coordinate with tribal nations in accordance with the DSHS tribal consultation policy.