Health Initiative Senior Project Manager

ABOUT THE HEALTH INITIATIVE:

It is well-established that 80% of a person’s health is determined by factors outside the doctor’s office — healthy food, safe housing and a livable income. Yet our healthcare system is built backwards, with more than 99% of US healthcare dollars spent on medical care alone. The amount of money going toward healthcare is huge — the US government and private health insurance companies spend $10.7B on healthcare every day.

This is projected to grow 6% annually through the next decade, despite recent safety net cuts. But what exactly do we get for all this healthcare spending? Right now, the US has some of the worst health outcomes across all high-income countries, including preventable heart disease and obesity, which cost the system nearly $500B each year. This is inefficient and leaves people behind, especially low-income children and families.

But what if our healthcare system was built to pay for health, not just healthcare? What if it moved dollars upstream to pay for the basics people need to get and stay healthy, like safe housing and nutritious food? The result would be a win-win-win:
Children and adults would have better access to healthy food and safe housing and, as a result, have better health outcomes. When healthier patients use less care, the government saves money – and insurance companies’ revenues increase – incentivizing both to pay for these basics.

The Health Initiative (THI) is a national organization that crosses political divides, taps market forces and activates stakeholders to shift dollars toward health. By providing strategic guidance and technical assistance, we activate healthcare institutions to move dollars into the hands of patients and communities to pay for food and housing— improving health outcomes for those most at risk and reducing overall healthcare costs.

Since 2018, THI has used our playbook to spur healthcare institutions to spend nearly $1B in healthcare dollars on food, housing and other basics. For example, we supported North Carolina to use Medicaid dollars to provide patients with groceries, rental assistance and other basics, keeping them out of the hospital and saving the state a net $1,020 per person per year.

THI also advised a Fortune 25 insurance company on how to provide food and housing benefits for 22K high-risk patients (87% living on less than $20K a year) and to design an evaluation which found that those receiving higher benefits have lower healthcare costs.

THI maintains a diversified revenue base which enables staff stability, long-term planning, and meaningful impact.

ABOUT THE POSITION:

The Health Initiative (THI) seeks a highly organized, detail-oriented, and responsive Senior Project Manager who thrives in the fast-paced context of issue-based campaigns and/or start-up environments, has an excellent track record of managing work to deliver results, and is enthusiastic about THI’s goals.

Responsibilities: Project Managers serve a critical function, supporting the development and execution of content that helps THI deliver on its ambitious aim. Project Managers need strong relational skills with an ability to get things done through others while managing projects to completion. They will have excellent attention to detail, strong communication skills, and the ability to operate in an evolving organization while managing competing and time sensitive priorities.

This is an internal facing role, reports to the Chief of Staff, and has critical relationships with members of the program and development teams. The role does not have direct reports, though this could change in the future. In a flexible and growing organization, reporting structures and responsibilities may shift over time to align with organizational needs.

The role will require occasional evening and weekend work.

Key Responsibilities of a Senior Project Manager
:

• Develop, maintain, and iterate workplans for successful execution to meet goals.
• Track project progress, provide clear updates, and surface risks proactively for very fast-moving priorities.
• Prepare agendas and lead internal planning meetings, providing real time updates on priorities and…