Actuarial Analyst, Experienced
Blue Shield of California
Oakland, CA 94607Full Time
Financial AnalystApply with AI Cover Letter
Job Description
Your Role
The Pay for Value team supports the program design, budget setting, and operations of Blue Shield of California’s value-based care (VBC) payment models, including Accountable Care Organization (ACO), Virtual Care, and other innovative incentive programs. The Actuarial Analyst, Experienced will report to the Actuarial Manager of the Pay for Value team. In this role you will support reporting and analytical work across various programs, collaborating with colleagues from diverse backgrounds and roles within the company.
Your Work
In this role, you will:
Understand the core principles and functionality of decision, descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analytic methods including forecasting, statistical and machine learning techniques
Conduct and develop analysis, assess risk and population risk scores and assignment, develop pricing and trends, assess changes in benefit designs, develop reserves, perform forecasting, analyze provider reimbursement terms and/or evaluates actuarial risk related analysis
Coordinate, prepare, perform and audit actuarial analyses to assist in the development of complex actuarial formulations leading to the recommendation of pricing, trending, reserving, provider reimbursement and/or risk assessment strategies
Perform data exploration using a combination of statistical programming languages (including, but not limited R, Python, SQL, SAS) and deploy predictive analytics and machine learning techniques to improve risk prediction, improve reserve, trend and financial forecasting in a manner that is actuarially sound, and enable real-time results and operational efficiencies
Direct, coordinate, and/or develop evaluation and financial reporting standards for internal and external reports
Support program reporting and analytics, including cost target setting, reconciliation, forecasting, and "what-if" modeling to inform strategy development
Collaborate with internal teams and cross-functional partners to support program development and ensure alignment with BSC healthcare affordability and quality objectives
Perform ad-hoc actuarial analyses to support various business needs and provide actionable insights and recommendations based on these analyses
Understand how other network initiatives and alternate payment models interplay and affect VBC programs and relationships
Your Knowledge and Experience
Requires a bachelor’s degree with at least a minor in mathematics, statistics, computer science or equivalent business experience
Requires at least 2 years of professional actuarial experience
Typically, has completed 3 courses towards the eventual attainment of the Associate, Society of Actuaries (ASA) designation.
Requires advanced experience and skillset in Microsoft Excel and/or SAS/SQL
Requires strong communication and presentation skills
Experience with data visualization tools such as Power BI or Tableau preferred
Prior healthcare industry experience preferred
ABOUT THE TEAM
About Blue Shield of California
As of January 2025, Blue Shield of California became a subsidiary of Ascendiun. Ascendiun is a nonprofit corporate entity that is the parent to a family of organizations including Blue Shield of California and its subsidiary, Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan; Altais, a clinical services company; and Stellarus, a company designed to scale healthcare solutions. Together, these organizations are referred to as the Ascendiun Family of Companies.
At Blue Shield of California, our mission is to create a healthcare system worthy of our family and friends and sustainably affordable. We are transforming health care in a way that genuinely serves our nonprofit mission by lowering costs, improving quality, and enhancing the member and physician experience.
To achieve our mission, we foster an environment where all employees can thrive and contribute fully to address the needs of the various communities we serve. We are committed to creating and maintaining a supportive workplace that upholds our values and advances our goals.
Blue Shield is a U.S. News Best Company to work for, a Deloitte U.S. Best Managed Company and a Top 100 Inspiring Workplace. We were recognized by Fair360 as a Top Regional Company, and one of the 50 most community-minded companies in the United States by Points of Light. Here at Blue Shield, we strive to make a positive change across our industry and communities – join us!
Our Values:
Honest. We hold ourselves to the highest ethical and integrity standards. We build trust by doing what we say we're going to do and by acknowledging and correcting where we fall short.
Human. We strive to listen and communicate effectively, showing empathy by understanding others' perspectives.
Courageous. We stand up for what we believe in and are committed to the hard work necessary to achieve our ambitious goals.
Our Workplace Model
We believe in fostering a workplace environment that balances purposeful in-person collaboration with flexibility - providing clear expectations while respecting the diverse needs of our workforce. Our workplace model is designed around intentional in-person interaction, collaboration, connection, creativity and flexibility:
For most teams, this means coming into the office two days per week.
Employees living more than 50 miles from an office location, out of state employees, and employees in certain member-facing roles should work with their manager to determine in-office time based on business need.
For employees with medical conditions that may impact their ability to work in-office, we are committed to engaging in an interactive process and providing reasonable accommodations to ensure their work environment is conducive to their success and well-being.
The Company reserves the right to require more presence in the office based on business needs, and requirements are subject to change with periodic reviews.
Physical Requirements:
Office Environment - roles involving part to full time schedule in Office Environment. Based in our physical offices and work from home office/deskwork - Activity level: Sedentary, frequency most of work day.
Equal Employment Opportunity:
External hires must pass a background check/drug screen. Qualified applicants with arrest records and/or conviction records will be considered for employment in a manner consistent with Federal, State and local laws, including but not limited to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regards to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, protected veteran status or disability status and any other classification protected by Federal, State and local laws.
The Pay for Value team supports the program design, budget setting, and operations of Blue Shield of California’s value-based care (VBC) payment models, including Accountable Care Organization (ACO), Virtual Care, and other innovative incentive programs. The Actuarial Analyst, Experienced will report to the Actuarial Manager of the Pay for Value team. In this role you will support reporting and analytical work across various programs, collaborating with colleagues from diverse backgrounds and roles within the company.
Your Work
In this role, you will:
Understand the core principles and functionality of decision, descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analytic methods including forecasting, statistical and machine learning techniques
Conduct and develop analysis, assess risk and population risk scores and assignment, develop pricing and trends, assess changes in benefit designs, develop reserves, perform forecasting, analyze provider reimbursement terms and/or evaluates actuarial risk related analysis
Coordinate, prepare, perform and audit actuarial analyses to assist in the development of complex actuarial formulations leading to the recommendation of pricing, trending, reserving, provider reimbursement and/or risk assessment strategies
Perform data exploration using a combination of statistical programming languages (including, but not limited R, Python, SQL, SAS) and deploy predictive analytics and machine learning techniques to improve risk prediction, improve reserve, trend and financial forecasting in a manner that is actuarially sound, and enable real-time results and operational efficiencies
Direct, coordinate, and/or develop evaluation and financial reporting standards for internal and external reports
Support program reporting and analytics, including cost target setting, reconciliation, forecasting, and "what-if" modeling to inform strategy development
Collaborate with internal teams and cross-functional partners to support program development and ensure alignment with BSC healthcare affordability and quality objectives
Perform ad-hoc actuarial analyses to support various business needs and provide actionable insights and recommendations based on these analyses
Understand how other network initiatives and alternate payment models interplay and affect VBC programs and relationships
Your Knowledge and Experience
Requires a bachelor’s degree with at least a minor in mathematics, statistics, computer science or equivalent business experience
Requires at least 2 years of professional actuarial experience
Typically, has completed 3 courses towards the eventual attainment of the Associate, Society of Actuaries (ASA) designation.
Requires advanced experience and skillset in Microsoft Excel and/or SAS/SQL
Requires strong communication and presentation skills
Experience with data visualization tools such as Power BI or Tableau preferred
Prior healthcare industry experience preferred
ABOUT THE TEAM
About Blue Shield of California
As of January 2025, Blue Shield of California became a subsidiary of Ascendiun. Ascendiun is a nonprofit corporate entity that is the parent to a family of organizations including Blue Shield of California and its subsidiary, Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan; Altais, a clinical services company; and Stellarus, a company designed to scale healthcare solutions. Together, these organizations are referred to as the Ascendiun Family of Companies.
At Blue Shield of California, our mission is to create a healthcare system worthy of our family and friends and sustainably affordable. We are transforming health care in a way that genuinely serves our nonprofit mission by lowering costs, improving quality, and enhancing the member and physician experience.
To achieve our mission, we foster an environment where all employees can thrive and contribute fully to address the needs of the various communities we serve. We are committed to creating and maintaining a supportive workplace that upholds our values and advances our goals.
Blue Shield is a U.S. News Best Company to work for, a Deloitte U.S. Best Managed Company and a Top 100 Inspiring Workplace. We were recognized by Fair360 as a Top Regional Company, and one of the 50 most community-minded companies in the United States by Points of Light. Here at Blue Shield, we strive to make a positive change across our industry and communities – join us!
Our Values:
Honest. We hold ourselves to the highest ethical and integrity standards. We build trust by doing what we say we're going to do and by acknowledging and correcting where we fall short.
Human. We strive to listen and communicate effectively, showing empathy by understanding others' perspectives.
Courageous. We stand up for what we believe in and are committed to the hard work necessary to achieve our ambitious goals.
Our Workplace Model
We believe in fostering a workplace environment that balances purposeful in-person collaboration with flexibility - providing clear expectations while respecting the diverse needs of our workforce. Our workplace model is designed around intentional in-person interaction, collaboration, connection, creativity and flexibility:
For most teams, this means coming into the office two days per week.
Employees living more than 50 miles from an office location, out of state employees, and employees in certain member-facing roles should work with their manager to determine in-office time based on business need.
For employees with medical conditions that may impact their ability to work in-office, we are committed to engaging in an interactive process and providing reasonable accommodations to ensure their work environment is conducive to their success and well-being.
The Company reserves the right to require more presence in the office based on business needs, and requirements are subject to change with periodic reviews.
Physical Requirements:
Office Environment - roles involving part to full time schedule in Office Environment. Based in our physical offices and work from home office/deskwork - Activity level: Sedentary, frequency most of work day.
Equal Employment Opportunity:
External hires must pass a background check/drug screen. Qualified applicants with arrest records and/or conviction records will be considered for employment in a manner consistent with Federal, State and local laws, including but not limited to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regards to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, protected veteran status or disability status and any other classification protected by Federal, State and local laws.