Manager, National Communications Strategy & Planning (Medicare)

Molina Healthcare•Long Beach, CA

4d•Remote

About The Position

The Manager, Welcome Kits & Provider Directories owns the end-to-end development, coordination, and delivery of two critical member-facing document types — Medicare Annual Notice of Change, Evidence of Coverage, and Summary of Benefits — across all applicable Medicare Advantage markets. Welcome Kits are a new member's first communication from Molina; Provider Directories must reflect current, approved provider data and satisfy CMS and state filing requirements on an annual and ongoing basis. This is a high-accountability, execution-focused role that sits at the intersection of regulatory compliance, market coordination, and operational delivery. The Manager works closely with Regional Mandated Materials Managers, Government Contracts, D-SNP Market Leaders, Provider Data Management, and the Online Materials Library (OML) team to ensure materials are market-accurate, SMAC-compliant, and delivered on schedule across multiple markets simultaneously. In collaboration with senior leadership, supports the development and execution of enterprise communication strategies aligned with brand standards, business objectives, and regulatory requirements, while representing regional needs and insights. Serves as the primary communications lead for an assigned region, delivering regular (monthly and mid‑month/weekly) updates to health plans and ensuring clear, consistent communication throughout the material development lifecycle. Supports and contributes to comprehensive communication strategies that drive member engagement, retention, provider relations, and regulatory compliance, translating enterprise objectives into regionally executable plans. Co‑leads monthly health plan calls in partnership with Marketing, including scheduling, agenda development, preparation, facilitation, and follow‑up, ensuring alignment on priorities, timelines, and expectations. Leads and manages the development of mandated and regulatory communication materials within the region, ensuring milestones, timelines, and deadlines are clearly communicated, tracked, and met. Proactively tracks progress, identifies risks or delays, and communicates mitigation strategies to health plans and internal stakeholders to support timely delivery and reduce downstream impacts. Builds and maintains strong cross‑functional partnerships with shared services teams (e.g., Compliance Practice Oversight, Product, Enrollment, Medicare Implementations), coordinating year‑over‑year updates, operational changes, and regional requirements. Represents regional perspectives and recurring themes to inform enterprise communication planning, campaign roadmaps, and continuous improvement efforts. Oversees Source of Truth (SOT) governance for the region, ensuring accuracy, completeness, and timely stakeholder input; serves as the primary point of contact for SOT change requests, escalations, and post‑deadline updates, including late‑breaking changes. Identifies, escalates, and helps resolve communication or operational issues by partnering with internal and external stakeholders to ensure timely resolution, consistent follow‑up, and clear documentation. Utilizes data, competitive insights, and member feedback to inform strategic decisions and regional communication approaches. Partners with analytics teams to define and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs), track progress, measure effectiveness of communication efforts, and apply insights to improve future initiatives. Develops and refines communication frameworks, templates, tools, and best practices based on regional patterns, questions, and recurring needs. Champions innovation and continuous improvement across communication strategy, planning, intake, and execution processes. Leads, coaches, and develops team members by setting clear direction, providing guidance and feedback, fostering collaboration, and ensuring alignment with organizational goals and high‑quality outputs. Inspires a high‑performing team culture grounded in accountability, transparency, creativity, and operational excellence through regular engagement, communication, and performance management.

Requirements

At least 7 years of progressive communications/marketing experience, including health care/managed care experience, or equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.
At least 1 year of management/leadership experience.
Ability and experience leading communications/marketing strategy and strategic planning initiatives.
Strong understanding of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regulations, Medicaid/Medicare communications, and member engagement strategies.
Experience with communication analytics platforms and strategic planning tools.
Strong analytical and strategic thinking skills.
Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
Project management experience/experience managing complex projects in a regulated environment.
Ability to work cross-functionally with internal/external stakeholders in a highly matrixed organization.
Strong verbal and written communication skills.
Microsoft Office suite and applicable software programs proficiency.

Nice To Haves

Project Management Professional (PMP) or Agile certification.
Proficiency in marketing technology platforms/tools (e.g. Salesforce Health Cloud, Adobe Experience Manager, Tableau).
Experience with multicultural and multilingual communications.
Familiarity with National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) standards and health literacy best practices.
Bilingual capabilities (Spanish, Mandarin, etc.).

Responsibilities

Owns Medicare Annual Notice of Change, Evidence of Coverage, and Summary of Benefits from start to finish: Gathering market inputs, managing production, and ensuring on-time delivery across all Medicare Advantage markets.
Tracks SMAC requirements and makes sure they show up correctly in materials: Works directly with Government Contracts and D-SNP Market Leaders to stay on top of market-specific regulatory requirements throughout the year.
Keeps Medicare Annual Notice of Change, Evidence of Coverage, and Summary of Benefits current year-round: PDs go beyond an annual update. Changes and regulatory updates happen month to month, and this role manages those updates from the source data through to the final document.
Coordinates across a lot of teams at once: Regional Managers, Government Contracts, DMLs, Provider Data, OML, health plans, and MarCom Ops. Keeping everyone informed and moving is a core part of the job.
Manages CMS and state filing deadlines: Works with OML to make sure materials are submitted correctly and on time and handles any corrections or resubmissions that come back.
Own end-to-end coordination of all materials included in each market's Medicare Welcome Kit — from initial market intake through final production and delivery.
Ensure Welcome Kit content accurately reflects market-specific benefit designs, SMAC-driven requirements, and all applicable CMS and state regulatory standards.
Manage year-over-year Welcome Kit refreshes, incorporating annual plan changes, new market requirements, and feedback from prior production cycles.
Track open items, outstanding inputs, and market-specific variations across all assigned markets throughout the production cycle.
Manage the production and ongoing maintenance of Medicare Printed Provider Directories for all applicable markets.
Collaborate with Provider Data Management teams to ensure approved 'good data' files are used as the authoritative source for all directory content.
Oversee annual directory refreshes and coordinate month-to-month updates driven by provider changes, market updates, or regulatory requirements.
Ensure all updates are accurately reflected, tracked, and communicated to relevant stakeholders in a timely manner.
Develop working knowledge of market-specific SMAC requirements and their downstream impact on Welcome Kit content and structure.
Partner with Government Contracts (GC) and D-SNP Market Leaders (DMLs) to identify SMAC-driven requirements and ensure they are correctly incorporated into materials.
Track SMAC changes throughout the year and confirm that Welcome Kit content is updated accordingly ahead of each production cycle.
Serve as an informed point of contact for market-specific regulatory questions related to Welcome Kits and Provider Directories.
Partner with health plan market teams to confirm required materials, gather market-specific inputs, and manage timelines across multiple concurrent markets.
Coordinate with Regional Mandated Materials Managers on production status, open items, market readiness, and escalation of issues.
Support Regional Manager-led working sessions with health plans by preparing content updates, status reports, and tracking follow-ups and next steps.
Ensure health plan partners have clear visibility into material status, upcoming changes, and any market-specific actions required of them.
Partner with the Online Materials Library (OML) team to support CMS and state filing requirements for Welcome Kits and Provider Directories.
Ensure materials are submitted accurately and on time, with awareness of filing deadlines and their impact on upstream production timelines.
Manage CMS or state feedback, corrections, and resubmissions in coordination with OML and relevant market stakeholders.
Maintain documentation of filing status, correspondence, and resolution outcomes by market and document type.
Supports the development and execution of enterprise communication strategies aligned with brand standards, business objectives, and regulatory requirements, while representing regional needs and insights.
Serves as the primary communications lead for an assigned region, delivering regular (monthly and mid‑month/weekly) updates to health plans and ensuring clear, consistent communication throughout the material development lifecycle.
Supports and contributes to comprehensive communication strategies that drive member engagement, retention, provider relations, and regulatory compliance, translating enterprise objectives into regionally executable plans.
Co‑leads monthly health plan calls in partnership with Marketing, including scheduling, agenda development, preparation, facilitation, and follow‑up, ensuring alignment on priorities, timelines, and expectations.
Leads and manages the development of mandated and regulatory communication materials within the region, ensuring milestones, timelines, and deadlines are clearly communicated, tracked, and met.
Proactively tracks progress, identifies risks or delays, and communicates mitigation strategies to health plans and internal stakeholders to support timely delivery and reduce downstream impacts.
Builds and maintains strong cross‑functional partnerships with shared services teams (e.g., Compliance Practice Oversight, Product, Enrollment, Medicare Implementations), coordinating year‑over‑year updates, operational changes, and regional requirements.
Represents regional perspectives and recurring themes to inform enterprise communication planning, campaign roadmaps, and continuous improvement efforts.
Oversees Source of Truth (SOT) governance for the region, ensuring accuracy, completeness, and timely stakeholder input; serves as the primary point of contact for SOT change requests, escalations, and post‑deadline updates, including late‑breaking changes.
Identifies, escalates, and helps resolve communication or operational issues by partnering with internal and external stakeholders to ensure timely resolution, consistent follow‑up, and clear documentation.
Utilizes data, competitive insights, and member feedback to inform strategic decisions and regional communication approaches.
Partners with analytics teams to define and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs), track progress, measure effectiveness of communication efforts, and apply insights to improve future initiatives.
Develops and refines communication frameworks, templates, tools, and best practices based on regional patterns, questions, and recurring needs.
Champions innovation and continuous improvement across communication strategy, planning, intake, and execution processes.
Leads, coaches, and develops team members by setting clear direction, providing guidance and feedback, fostering collaboration, and ensuring alignment with organizational goals and high‑quality outputs.
Inspires a high‑performing team culture grounded in accountability, transparency, creativity, and operational excellence through regular engagement, communication, and performance management.