Director, Payer Client Operations

Zelis • St. Louis, MO

2d • $139,000 - $176,700 • Hybrid

About The Position

At Zelis, we're transforming the way healthcare payments work. As the Director, Payer Client Operations, you will lead a high-performing organization responsible for delivering operational excellence and exceptional client experiences for some of the nation's largest healthcare payer organizations across our National, Dental, and Vision market verticals. This is a strategic operations leadership role—not a traditional customer service or call center leadership position. We're looking for a proven leader of leaders who is passionate about operational excellence, developing high-performing teams, and building trusted partnerships with enterprise clients. You'll work across the organization to optimize service delivery, improve operational performance, and help shape the future of our client operations organization. The Director, Payer Client Operations position requires to be onsite at a Zelis office one day per week.

Requirements

• 8+ years of progressive leadership experience in client operations, service operations, customer success operations, or healthcare operations.
• Experience leading managers and developing high-performing leadership teams in a "leader of leaders" environment.
• Demonstrated success leading operational organizations supporting enterprise clients.
• Proven experience managing operational performance through KPIs, SLAs, workforce planning, capacity planning, and continuous improvement.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to translate data into operational improvements.
• Experience leading cross-functional initiatives and influencing stakeholders across multiple business functions.
• Excellent communication, executive presence, and relationship management skills.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and professional experience.

Nice To Haves

• Experience within large commercial healthcare payer organizations, healthcare payments, healthcare technology, payment integrity, or revenue cycle technology.
• Experience supporting large national or regional health plans and enterprise healthcare clients.
• Experience supporting National, Dental, and Vision lines of business is highly preferred.
• Experience leading operational transformation initiatives, process improvement programs, or technology implementations.
• Experience with Salesforce, Jira, or comparable CRM and workflow management platforms.
• Lean, Six Sigma, or other continuous improvement experience is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of managers responsible for delivering exceptional operational performance and client outcomes.
• Build a high-performing, accountable culture by developing leadership capability, fostering employee engagement, and creating opportunities for growth.
• Partner with executive leadership to develop and execute operational strategies that support business objectives and long-term organizational growth.
• Drive operational excellence through continuous improvement, workflow optimization, process standardization, and scalable solutions.
• Establish and manage key performance indicators (KPIs), service level agreements (SLAs), quality metrics, productivity measures, and operational dashboards to ensure strong business performance.
• Analyze operational trends and performance data to identify opportunities for improvement and proactively address risks.
• Lead organizational change initiatives, including process redesign, technology adoption, and operational transformation efforts.
• Partner closely with Product, Technology, Sales, Finance, and Client Success to improve operational effectiveness and enhance the client experience.
• Serve as an escalation point for complex client issues, ensuring timely resolution while maintaining strong, long-term client relationships.
• Manage workforce planning, capacity planning, and resource allocation to support business growth and operational efficiency.
• Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement across the organization.

Benefits

• 401k plan with employer match
• flexible paid time off
• holidays
• parental leaves
• life and disability insurance
• health benefits including medical, dental, vision, and prescription drug coverage

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: Associate degree