Position Summary

Lead the strategy, governance, evolution, and lifecycle management of the organization's medical benefit portfolio. This role is accountable for developing and maintaining competitive, compliant, and market leading benefit offerings while balancing customer needs, affordability, operational feasibility, and business objectives. The Core Medical Benefits Director establishes the long-term benefit roadmap, prioritizes investments, oversees implementation readiness, and partners across Product, Clinical, Regulatory, Sales, Operations, and Technology teams to ensure successful execution of benefit strategies.

Key Responsibilities

Benefit Strategy & Portfolio Leadership

• Own the strategic direction and multi-year roadmap for benefit offerings across the portfolio.
• Evaluate market trends, customer needs, regulatory requirements, and competitive opportunities to inform benefit strategy and investment priorities.
• Define and prioritize benefit enhancement opportunities that improve competitiveness, customer experience, affordability, and growth.
• Develop business cases and recommendations for new benefits, capabilities, and product innovations.

Benefit Product Management

• Serve as the accountable business owner for the benefit portfolio across the full lifecycle.
• Guide development and maintenance of existing benefit offerings while identifying opportunities for modernization and innovation.
• Partner with clinical, product, and network teams to ensure benefits align with broader product and solution strategies.
• Oversee portfolio prioritization and roadmap governance activities.

Compliance & Benefit Maintenance

• Ensure benefit offerings remain compliant with regulatory, legislative, filing, and policy requirements.
• Partner with Legal, Compliance, Regulatory, and Operational teams to assess and implement changing requirements.
• Balance market-driven enhancements with ongoing maintenance and compliance needs across the portfolio.

Cross-Functional Leadership & Execution

• Lead cross-functional teams responsible for designing, implementing, and enhancing benefit offerings.
• Partner with Sales, Implementation, Operations, Technology, Clinical, and Product teams to ensure successful delivery and operational readiness.
• Resolve barriers, manage dependencies, and coordinate activities across matrixed stakeholder groups.
• Represent benefit strategy in roadmap, portfolio, and governance forums.

Market & Stakeholder Support

• Serve as the organizational subject matter expert for benefit strategy and design.
• Support business partners with benefit consultation, complex client questions, implementation needs, and strategic recommendations.
• Communicate benefit portfolio strategy, roadmap progress, and key business decisions to leadership and stakeholders.

Talent Leadership & Team Development

• Lead and develop a high-performing team of product managers and subject matter experts responsible for benefit strategy, product management, and benefit operations.
• Foster a culture of accountability, innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement while ensuring alignment to organizational goals and priorities.
• Coach and mentor team members, providing ongoing feedback, career development, and growth opportunities to strengthen product management and strategic leadership capabilities.
• Build organizational bench strength through talent development, succession planning, and effective workforce planning.
• Establish clear priorities, performance expectations, and development plans to ensure the team can successfully deliver benefit strategy, roadmap, and portfolio objectives.
• Promote knowledge sharing and cross-functional collaboration to enhance team effectiveness and organizational impact.

Key Qualifications

• Significant experience in health plan product management, benefit strategy, benefit design, healthcare product development, or related areas.
• Deep understanding of medical benefits, employer-sponsored healthcare products, funding arrangements, and benefit administration.
• Strong knowledge of healthcare regulatory and compliance requirements impacting benefit design and management.
• Demonstrated success leading product portfolios, strategic roadmaps, and cross-functional initiatives.
• Experience developing business cases, evaluating market opportunities, and prioritizing investments.
• Ability to translate customer, market, and business needs into actionable product and benefit strategies.
• Proven ability to influence and lead in a matrixed organization.
• Strong executive communication, stakeholder management, and presentation skills.
• Analytical mindset with the ability to leverage data and market intelligence to inform strategic decisions.

If you will be working at home occasionally or permanently, the internet connection must be obtained through a cable broadband or fiber optic internet service provider with speeds of at least 10Mbps download/5Mbps upload.

About Cigna Healthcare

Cigna Healthcare, a division of The Cigna Group, is an advocate for better health through every stage of life. We guide our customers through the health care system, empowering them with the information and insight they need to make the best choices for improving their health and vitality. Join us in driving growth and improving lives.

Qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, color, age, disability, sex, childbirth (including pregnancy) or related medical conditions including but not limited to lactation, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran or military status, religion, national origin, ancestry, marital or familial status, genetic information, status with regard to public assistance, citizenship status or any other characteristic protected by applicable equal employment opportunity laws.

If you need a reasonable accommodation to complete the online application process, please email [email protected] for assistance.  Please note that this email inbox is dedicated to accommodation requests only and cannot provide application updates or accept resumes.

The Cigna Group has a tobacco-free policy and reserves the right not to hire tobacco/nicotine users in states where that is legally permissible. Candidates in such states who use tobacco/nicotine will not be considered for employment unless they enter a qualifying smoking cessation program prior to the start of their employment. These states include: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Washington State.

Qualified applicants with criminal histories will be considered for employment in a manner consistent with all federal, state and local ordinances.