Sr. Advisor - Defense Health Agency (DHA)

Commence • Virginia Beach, VA

7d • $150 - $350 • Remote

About The Position

Commence, headquartered in Virginia Beach, VA, is a mission-led, technology-driven company built to solve the hardest problems in federal health care and drive measurable outcomes. Its work spans program integrity and compliance, quality improvement and measurement science, health informatics, interoperability, and AI, delivered across the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Defense Health Agency (DHA), and state health agencies. At its center is a data-centric philosophy grounded in a simple conviction: that better data, made accessible, connected, and usable, is the raw material of better decisions, better care, and better efficiency. Commence is seeking a Sr. Advisor to guide the company’s strategy across the Defense Health Agency and the Military Health System. The advisor joins at a defining moment. The Department is restructuring military medicine into two distinct programs: one dedicated to combat and operational medical readiness, funding the direct care system, military hospitals and clinics, operational medicine, and medical force generation; and one dedicated to private sector care delivered through TRICARE. Each side of that divide carries its own priorities, its own budget, and its own challenges, and the Sr. Advisor will shape where Commence can contribute most across both. That includes medical readiness and the push to bring beneficiaries back into military treatment facilities, access to care and provider skills sustainment on the direct care side, and purchased care oversight, claims and payment integrity and cost transparency on the TRICARE side.

Requirements

• 10 or more years in health care, including service at DHA, the Services’ medical departments, or the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs in a senior leadership capacity such as directorate or program executive leadership, flag or general officer service, senior executive service, or an equivalent role
• Deep working knowledge of Military Health System programs which could include: TRICARE and purchased care, the direct care system and military treatment facility operations, medical readiness and force generation, program integrity, and defense health budget and acquisition, and of how DHA, the Services, and Health Affairs interact to set and execute priorities

Nice To Haves

• Advanced degree in public health, health policy, health administration, economics, public administration, law, or a related field preferred

Responsibilities

• Help set and guide the company’s vision for impactful approaches and solutions across DHA and the Military Health System, grounded in the agency’s mission, priorities, and operational needs
• Advise leadership on military health strategy, including which directorates, programs, and problem sets on both the readiness and private sector care sides represent the strongest fit for Commence capabilities
• Translate DoD health policy direction, budget structure, TRICARE program change, and the ongoing restructuring of the Military Health System into concrete implications for the health and technology portfolio strategy
• Guide development of white papers, RFI responses, and thought leadership that position Commence as a valuable contributor to agency priorities
• Build and steward relationships across the military health ecosystem, including research organizations, associations, and academic partners
• Advise delivery leadership on client expectations and program stewardship so that performance on current work reinforces desired outcomes

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior