Health Improvement Manager – Rural Health Focus

Wellmark•Des Moines, IA

23h•Hybrid

About The Position

We believe health is shaped by the environments where we live, learn, work, and play. By partnering with communities, we can create healthier opportunities that focus not just on restoring health, but on sustaining it. Our goal is to give all Iowans and South Dakotans, not just Wellmark members, the opportunity to live long, healthy lives regardless of their income, education or background. Wellmark aims to build relationships, engage strategic coalitions, and create alignment on opportunities to help eliminate barriers to optimal health. As a Health Improvement Manager, you will represent Wellmark with the intention of strengthening the health of communities across Iowa and South Dakota. You’re energized by communities and committed to improving health outcomes through collaboration, data, and evidence‑based action. This role is about understanding how health systems, insurers, government agencies, nonprofits, and community organizations intersect — and you can navigate those dynamics with confidence. You’re a natural connector who sees patterns, relationships, and opportunities others miss. You bring healthy skepticism: you ask thoughtful questions, challenge assumptions, and push for clarity. You bring strong business and strategic-level thinking, intellectual curiosity, and sound judgment. You understand how health and state ecosystems function and can quickly assess what’s viable, what’s aspirational, and what needs verification. You’re comfortable saying, “That’s not my lane, but I know who should be at the table,” and then making the connection. You ask questions others don’t think to ask while balancing empathy with healthy skepticism through digging into data, evidence, outcomes and applicability to Wellmark’s scope and strategic goals. This role requires presence, clarity, and confidence; someone who can engage stakeholders, hold their own in complex discussions, and represent Wellmark with credibility. Strong verbal and written communication are key. You think like a business owner, use data to guide decisions, and have the optimism to improve systems paired with the discernment to know what will truly work.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree or direct and applicable work experience.
7 years of related experience in both partnering with key stakeholders (e.g., state and regional government, business leaders, associations) and working with groups of professionals to achieve goals, as well as in working with state government and state and regional non-profit and funding organizations.
Ability to connect disparate organizations and ideas which enable effective coalition building and sustainable collaborations to ensure project outcomes.
Influencing and soliciting cooperation from local and statewide stakeholders.
Must be able to understand the agenda and business models of other organizations.
Ask meaningful questions, and distill information into actionable solutions.
Outstanding interpersonal skills with the ability to cultivate and manage key relationships.
Professional, polished, and diplomatic in approach.
Utilizing strong verbal and written communication skills to articulate accurate information to stakeholders, both internally and externally, including key decision makers and diverse audiences.
Effective at delivering a presentation to a large audience to convey ideas, frameworks, and inspire action of others.
Ability to understand and interpret data to support point of view and persuade stakeholders.
Establish baseline measures and understand how to facilitate planned change and report outcomes.
Being a self-starter working proactively and independently.
Adaptable and flexible with changing priorities.
Working strategically.
Ability to support multiple projects to achieve short and long-term goals translating progress to internal stakeholders.
Valid driver’s license.
Ability to travel >35% including possible overnight or weekend stays.

Nice To Haves

10 years of related experience.
Experience working on state and regional health improvement and/or rural health issues as well as in developing positive relationships with state and regional entities working on health improvement and/or rural health.

Responsibilities

Serve as a subject matter expert on rural health issues, applying analytical and evaluative skills to understand how federal and state policy, local government, nonprofit organizations, associations, and business groups influence health outcomes.
Maintain a current, well reasoned understanding of how these entities shape opportunities and barriers in rural communities.
Build and sustain relationships across systems, using strong communication and interpretation skills to align diverse stakeholders.
Stay current on evidence based and emerging practices in health improvement, evaluating the credibility and relevance of new research.
Analyze and interpret health related data to identify actionable, evidence based solutions, drawing logical inferences that guide strategic decisions.
Partner with the data and measurement team to evaluate program effectiveness, reflect on outcomes, and recommend improvements grounded in sound reasoning.
Identify, design, and implement initiatives that address barriers to health and align with organizational strategy, using structured problem solving and critical analysis.
Translate data, best practices, and community insights into clear problem statements and compelling, well supported solutions.
Motivate state and regional partners to adopt effective interventions through persuasive communication and evidence based reasoning.
Connect people, organizations, and ideas to build sustainable coalitions with measurable impact.
Manage initiatives from concept through execution, applying evaluative judgment to partner engagement, technical assistance, and outcome reporting.
Communicate progress and insights to leadership with clarity and precision, ensuring transparency and alignment across teams.
Continuously refine programs based on data, partner feedback, and reflective assessment of what is working and why.
Coordinate internal and external subject matter experts to deliver high quality educational opportunities that strengthen partners’ analytical and problem solving capabilities.
Facilitate or support training sessions that build critical thinking capacity across communities and organizations.
Work closely within the Health Improvement team and other internal partners to ensure efforts are coordinated, mutually reinforcing, and grounded in shared interpretation of data and strategy.
Contribute to a cohesive strategy that measurably improves the health of Iowans and South Dakotans.
Represent Wellmark’s health improvement work across Iowa and South Dakota with credibility, clarity, and strong communication skills.
Build strong, memorable relationships with partners at all organizational levels, using thoughtful inquiry and reflective listening to deepen trust.
Speak at state, regional, and local events, translating complex information into compelling narratives that resonate with diverse audiences.
Collaborate with Communication Manager to develop effective messaging and promotional materials.
Other duties as assigned.