HCPF Employees Only - County Policy Alignment Lead

STATE OF COLORADO RESIDENCY REQUIRED AT TIME OF APPLICATION

Envision Yourself Working at HCPF

The State of Colorado strives to create a Colorado for All by building and maintaining workplaces that value and respect all Coloradans through a commitment to equal opportunity and hiring based on merit and fitness. The State is resolute in non-discriminatory practices in everything we do, including hiring, employment, and advancement opportunities.

NOTE: This announcement may be used to fill multiple openings.

The Department of Health Care Policy & Financing (HCPF) oversees and operates Health First Colorado (Colorado's Medicaid Program), Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+), and other state public health programs for qualified Coloradans. Our mission is to improve health care equity, access and outcomes for the people we serve while saving Coloradans money on health care and driving value for Colorado. 

We are committed to increasing the diversity of our staff and providing culturally responsive programs and services. Therefore, we encourage responses from people of diverse backgrounds and abilities.

As part of the State of Colorado, HCPF offers a competitive benefits package:

• PERA retirement benefits including PERA Defined Benefit Plan, PERA Defined Contribution Plan, plus 401K and 457 plans

• Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance coverage

• Automatic Short-Term and Optional Long-Term Disability Coverage

• Life and AD&D Insurance

• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)

• Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) job protection and State of Colorado Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML)

• 11 Paid Holidays Annually and Accrued Annual and Sick Leave

• Accrued Sick Leave for State of Colorado Temporary Employees

• Flexplace and Flextime work arrangements

• Variety of discounts on services and products available through the State of Colorado's Work-Life Employment Discount Program

• Free RTD EcoPass to all eligible State Employees

• Reduced college tuition through CSU Global

• Credit Union of Colorado Membership Eligibility

• Some positions may qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. For more information, go to https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/dhr/student-loan-forgiveness-programs.https://dhr.colorado.gov/dhr-resources/student-loan-forgiveness-programs

The Partner Relations and Administration Division of The Policy and Communications Office serves as the Department’s subject matter experts (SME), Staff and Senior Authorities on county and tribal relations, communications, and outreach; county oversight through management of statutory and regulatory administrative rules and requirements, site reviews and administrative dashboards; county administration funding, budgeting and fiscal monitoring, cybersecurity and information technology compliance and services to counties and implementation and monitoring of county contract and grant administration. The Division serves as the liaison to County Governments, County Partner Organizations, Tribal leaders, and other government officials and their representatives on issues concerning Medicaid, the Child Health Plan Plus, other state health programs and health policy generally. The Division serves as the "face" to our county partners, including County Human Services Directors, Local Public Health Directors, Boards of County Commissioners and tribal leaders. Division staff regularly represent the Department to county and community partners. The Division staff conduct outreach to local community partners including counties, local public health, tribal relations, Connect for Health Colorado local coverage guides, assistance sites and brokers/agents. Division staff identifies opportunities to improve relations and information sharing with local partners and serves as a liaison between the Department and local partners. Therefore, Department leaders rely on Division staff to make recommendations to systematically improve the local administration system, to make daily decisions that impact a workforce of 4,500+ county and eligibility site staff and to develop strategies, project plans and mitigation plans to address systemic issues. Division staff recommendations, as managed by this position, are taken as fact by Executive Leadership, as their expertise in local governments and local administration is specialized and unique; these recommendations also impact and require engagement with other state agencies’ Executive Leadership.
The Division includes the County Administration Fiscal Unit, which acts as the fiscal management team; these staff are responsible for managing county administration funding, accounting, budgeting and fiscal compliance and regulatory oversight, as well as the County Grant Program. This statutory funding system, with expenditures shared across the federal, state and local governments, is the primary fund source used by counties to maintain the Medical Assistance Program-related operations of their county human/social services department. This funding system supports county staffing functions that impact multiple areas of the Department, including eligibility determination, program integrity, subrecipient monitoring, performance improvement, audits and quality assurance, and others.

The Division includes the County Administration Programs Section, with staff responsible for subject matter expertise and responsibility for regulatory oversight of county departments of human/social services through financial and administrative Executive Director rules at 10 CCR 2505-5 1.010 and 1.020 and eligibility compliance from Volume 8 of the CCR. These regulations are central to the Department’s fiscal and programmatic subrecipient monitoring of counties. The Section manages and conducts county regulatory oversight programs through site audits (Management Evaluation Reviews) and desk reviews. Staff in the Unit are responsible for issuing guidance and actively managing and conducting oversight of county compliance areas including communications, civil rights and accessibility, quality and performance standards (Medical Assistance Performance (MAP) Dashboard Program), customer service and complaints, confidentiality, information security and automated systems and other programmatic county areas not directly related to eligibility determination. The Section is responsible for implementing new regulatory requirements at 10 CCR 2505-5 1.020, issuing policy guidance to support new regulations, coordinating with existing funding programs to support counties in implementing new regulatory requirements, and conducting post-implementation analyses and recommendations. Staff in the County Administration Programs Section are also responsible for the programmatic operations of county programs that provide contract mechanisms for oversight to counties to address compliance issues, while providing funding to support local innovation in Medical Assistance. Section staff coordinate and communicate with other units of government to ensure local administration is compliant within the confines of State and federal law. Unit staff work closely with other Division staff, Legal, Eligibility, Audits, Office of Community Living and other staff on ensuring county partners are held accountable.

We are onboarding new employees using a hybrid approach. The Department supports flexible work arrangements. Depending on the business need and description of the position, we have options that range from hybrid to full-time in the office. Specific discussions about the schedule will be discussed during the offer stage. 

**Please note - equipment provisioning and certain onboarding tasks will take place in person, in our downtown Denver office, on the first day of employment.**

The County Policy Alignment Lead serves as the agency’s senior policy advisor responsible for leading policy implement alignment for locally-administered eligibility and  benefit programs operating within the county cohort model. The position provides strategic leadership to ensure the consistent interpretation, coordination, and implementation of federal and state requirements across state agencies, coho and partner organizations while maintaining compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and program requirements. 

Responsibilities in this position include:

• Provides cross-program policy analysis by evaluating the interaction of federal and state laws, legislation,regulations, administrative rules, state plans, policy guidance, operational processes, training, communications, eligibility systems, and other implementation components to identify opportunities for improved policy alignment and coordinated service delivery.

• Develops recommendations, implementation strategies, and executive decision-support materials that support consistent implementation while documenting areas where statutory, regulatory, or program-spec requirements necessitate different approaches.

• Agency’s principal representative for cross-agency policy alignment initiatives and works collaboratively with partner state agencies, counties, advocates, and other stakeholders to develop implementation-ready policy solutions that support effective administration of Colorado’s cohort-administered eligibility and benefit programs.

Residency Requirement:

This posting is only open to residents of the State of Colorado at the time of submitting your application. 

Class Code & Classification Description:

There are two ways to qualify for this position:

Option 1:

Experience Only:

Eight (8) years of relevant experience in an occupation related to public policy, public administration, program administration, fiscal or budget analysis, legislative analysis, regulatory analysis, or another field closely related to the work assigned to the position. The qualifying experience must have included responsibility for analyzing complex programs, policies, legislation, regulations, rules, budgets, or financing structures and developing recommendations for organizational leadership or other decision-makers.

Of the required experience, at least two (2) years must have involved policy, program, fiscal, or budget analysis for a publicly funded health, human-services, or early-childhood program.

Option 2:

Education and Experience:

A combination of relevant education and experience equal to eight (8) years. This experience should include experience in an occupation related to public policy, public administration, program administration, fiscal or budget analysis, legislative analysis, regulatory analysis, or another field closely related to the work assigned to the position. The qualifying experience must have included responsibility for analyzing complex programs, policies, legislation, regulations, rules, budgets, or financing structures and developing recommendations for organizational leadership or other decision-makers.

Of the required experience, at least two (2) years must have involved policy, program, fiscal, or budget analysis for a publicly funded health, human-services, or early-childhood program.

Appropriate education will substitute for the required experience on a year-for-year basis. Relevant education will be calculated as the following:

• An associates will count as two years of experience

• A bachelors will count as four years of experience

• A masters degree will count for six years of experience

• A doctorate or juris doctorate degree will count for seven years of experience

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Previous relevant professional state experience

• 8+ years of experience working with public assistance programs, specially Medicaid

• County public assistance eligibility experience

• Strong foundational understand of SNAP, TANF, Adult Financial, CCCAP

• Master in Public Administration, Business Administration, Finance or Public Policy.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, rigorous attention to detail, ability to perform at a very high level under pressure and within tight deadlines, superb organizational skills, ability to build trust with senior decision-making audiences, and experience leading teams directly or indirectly through influence.

• Expert in policy analysis and projections, including the ability to develop new forecasting models.

• Demonstrated success in leading a major public policy change.

DEFINITION OF PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Professional experience is defined as experience that may include: independent judgment and discretion in performing work duties, a level of specialized knowledge, in-depth work requirements such as data gathering, analysis and interpretation, customer service across a broad range of individuals including key personnel, and/or individual accountability for results.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

• All positions at HCPF are security sensitive positions and require that the individuals undergo a criminal record background check as a condition of employment.

• Employees who have been disciplinary terminated, resigned in lieu of disciplinary termination, or negotiated their termination from the State of Colorado must disclose this information on the application.

APPEAL RIGHTS:

If you receive notice that you have been eliminated from consideration for this position, you may file an appeal with the State Personnel Board or request a review by the State Personnel Director.

An appeal or review must be submitted on the official appeal form, signed by you or your representative. This form must be delivered to the State Personnel Board by email ([email protected]), postmarked in US Mail or hand delivered (1525 Sherman Street, 4th Floor, Denver CO 80203), or faxed (303.866.5038) within ten (10) calendar days from your receipt of notice or acknowledgement of the department’s action.

For more information about the appeals process, the official appeal form, and how to deliver it to the State Personnel Board; go to spb.colorado.gov; contact the State Personnel Board for assistance at (303) 866-3300; or refer to 4 Colorado Code of Regulations (CCR) 801-1, State Personnel Board Rules and Personnel Director's Administrative Procedures, Chapter 8, Resolution of Appeals and Disputes, at spb.colorado.gov under Rules.

How to Apply (PLEASE READ CAREFULLY)

Please note that ONLY your State of Colorado job application will be reviewed during the initial screening; if you submit a resume and cover letter, they will be reviewed in later stages of the selection process. Therefore, it is paramount that you clearly describe all your relevant experience on the application itself. Applications left blank or marked "SEE RESUME" will not be considered.

Your application will be reviewed against the minimum qualifications for the position. If your application demonstrates that you meet the minimum qualifications, you will be invited to the comparative analysis process, which is described below.

Comparative Analysis Process

The comparative analysis process will consist primarily of a review of applications against the minimum and preferred qualifications of this position. Applications will be reviewed in comparison to all others in the applicant pool in order to identify a top group of candidates who may be invited for a final interview. Depending on the size of the applicant pool, additional selection processes may be utilized to identify a top group of candidates. Applicants will be notified of their status via email.

Failure to submit properly completed documents by the closing date will result in your application being rejected.

ADAAA Accommodations: The State of Colorado believes that equity, diversity, and inclusion drive our success, and we encourage candidates from all identities, backgrounds, and abilities to apply. The State of Colorado is an equal opportunity employer committed to building inclusive, innovative work environments with employees who reflect our communities and enthusiastically serve them. Therefore, in all aspects of the employment process, we provide employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, medical condition related to pregnancy, creed, ancestry, national origin, marital status, genetic information, or military status (with preference given to military veterans), or any other protected status in accordance with applicable law.

The Department of Health Care Policy & Financing is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, our agency will assist individuals who have a disability with any reasonable accommodation requests related to employment, including completing the application process, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, participating in the employee selection process, and/or to perform essential job functions where the requested accommodation does not impose an undue hardship. If you have a disability and require reasonable accommodation to ensure you have a positive experience applying or interviewing for this position, please direct your inquiries to our ADAAA Coordinator, Anupreet Kaur, at [email protected].

The Department of Health Care Policy & Financing does not offer sponsored visas for employment purposes.