VP, Product Operations

We exist for workers and their employers -- who are the backbone of our economy.  That is where Centivo comes in -- our mission is to bring affordable, high-quality healthcare to the millions who struggle to pay their healthcare bills.

Summary of role:  

The VP of Product Operations is responsible for leading a centralized team that delivers shared services and operates as a Center of Excellence (CoE) across all product teams.  

This role oversees critical support functions-including Digital UX, Customer Experience, Product Marketing, Competitive Intelligence, and Product Analytics-to ensure consistent, high-quality execution and best practices across the product portfolio. The VP Product Operations partners closely with SVPs of Product, acting as an internal service provider to optimize processes, drive operational excellence, and enable product teams to achieve their strategic objectives. 

Duties & Responsibilities:

Center of Excellence Leadership 

• Lead and develop a high-performing team of experts in Digital UX, Customer Experience, Product Marketing, Competitive Intelligence, and Product Analytics. 

• Establish and maintain best practices, standardized processes, and frameworks to ensure consistency and quality across all product lines. 

• Serve as a hub for knowledge sharing, process optimization, and continuous improvement, fostering collaboration and eliminating silos among product teams. 

Shared Service Delivery 

• Oversee the delivery of shared services to all product teams, ensuring resources are allocated effectively and services are tailored to meet evolving product needs. 

• Ensure the consistent application of digital UX principles, delivering high-quality user experiences across all products. 

• Standardize and optimize customer (member, client, provider) interactions to enhance satisfaction and engagement. 

• Provide go-to-market support, messaging, and positioning through robust product marketing capabilities. 

• Supply market and competitor insights to inform product strategy and decision-making. 

• Deliver actionable data, dashboards, and insights to drive product performance and support data-driven decisions. 

Collaboration & Stakeholder Management 

• Partner with SVPs Product to understand product-specific priorities, requirements, and market contexts. 

• Facilitate regular alignment meetings with product leadership to ensure shared services are meeting business objectives. 

• Develop and manage service-level agreements (SLAs) or clear expectations for delivery timelines, quality, and outcomes. 

• Implement feedback loops to gather input from product teams, iterating on shared service offerings for continuous improvement. 

• Balance the autonomy and accountability of product owners with the efficiency and consistency of centralized support. 

Operational Excellence 

• Identify and implement opportunities to consolidate expertise, reduce redundancies, and optimize resource utilization. 

• Monitor and report on key performance indicators (KPIs) for shared services, driving accountability and transparency. 

• Champion a culture of operational excellence, innovation, and customer-centricity across the organization. 

Qualifications: 

• Bachelors degree required, advanced degree in appropriate discipline preferred  

• 5 years experience in a product, customer/user experience or marketing 

• 3 years of proven leadership experience managing, leading and coaching teams 

• 3 years of experience at a third-party administrator, regional or national health plan 

• Deep knowledge of self-funded health plans and compliance in the healthcare payer space 

• Demonstrated experience leading at least 2 of the operational departments (Digital UX, Customer Experience, Product Marketing, Competitive Intelligence, and Product Analytics) and proven aptitude and strong interest in leading the others 

• Demonstrated ability to drive operational improvement and the relevant performance metrics for the scope​ and to communicate operational needs to relevant internal product teams 

• Demonstrated aptitude for building consensus among stakeholders and cross-functional teams, while managing change in a dynamic environment 

• Familiarity and understanding of process management and continuous improvement principles 

Leadership Skills:​ 

Business Acumen – A keenness and quickness in understanding and dealing with a business situation (risks and opportunities) in a manner that is likely to lead to a good outcome.  Critical to this is an ability to think beyond their own function.​ 

Accountability & Execution – Taking ownership of actions, following through on commitments, actively carrying out tasks, monitoring progress, delivering results as promised, and being answerable for positive and negative outcomes.  

Strategist Mindset - The ability see and articulate the bigger picture, thinking proactively and anticipating both opportunities and obstacles in the context of setting direction and maintain alignment to long-term company goals. 

Systems Thinking – The ability to see and articulate the patterns, interconnections and interdependencies within a system  

Process Orientation – The ability to see and articulate the sequential flow of activities, including anticipating impacts upstream and downstream when processes are changed.  

Flexibility/Working through Ambiguity – Tendency to be energized by new experiences/perspectives, working with both data and fragmented information to arrive at practical, effective, actionable next steps.​ 

Leadership Behaviors:

Communicate – Managers discuss the company’s vision and strategies, the department’s direction and goals, and in times of crisis, what we know and don’t know to make sure team members know what they need to know.​ 

Clarify – As managers, it’s up to us to clarify what good looks like. What do we expect? What do our clients, customers or colleagues need? If our teams are not performing as expected, managers must clarify expectations and ensure understanding.​ 

Coach – Managers provide recognition and feedback; help team members find solutions to challenges; amplify good and filter weaker aspects of organizational culture and the work as they coach employees in their day-to-day performance and their growth and career development.​ 

Connect – Managers help our teams see their collective purpose and how their work connects to the greater whole. We connect people within our company and network.​ 

Centivo Values:​ 

Resilient – This is wicked hard. There is no easy button for healthcare affordability. Luckily, the mission makes it worth it and sustains us when things are tough. Being resilient ensures we don’t give up.​ 

Uncommon - The status quo stinks so we had to go out and build something better. We know the healthcare system. It isn't working for members, employers, and providers. So we're building it from scratch, from the ground up. Our focus is on making things better for them while also improving clinical results - which is bold and uncommon.​ 

Positive – We care about each other. It takes energy to do hard stuff, build something better and to be resilient and unconventional while doing it. Because of that, we make sure we give kudos freely and feedback with care. When our tank gets low, a team member is there to be a source of new energy. We celebrate together. We are supportive, generous, humble, and positive. ​ 

Work Location: 

• This position is remote

Who we are:

Centivo is an innovative health plan for self-funded employers on a mission to bring affordable, high-quality healthcare to the millions who struggle to pay their healthcare bills. Anchored around a primary care based ACO model, Centivo saves employers 15 to 30 percent compared to traditional insurance carriers. Employees also realize significant savings through our free primary care (including virtual), predictable copay and no-deductible benefit plan design. Centivo works with employers ranging in size from 51 employees to Fortune 500 companies. For more information, visit centivo.com.

Headquartered in Buffalo, NY with offices in New York City and Buffalo, Centivo is backed by leading healthcare and technology investors, including a recent round of investment from Morgan Health, a business unit of JPMorgan Chase & Co.