Senior Associate, Health

Senior Associate, Health – Acumen America

Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Work Arrangement: Hybrid
Employment Type: Full-Time Equivalent; 30 hours per week
Contract Duration: Time-limited, 18-month position
Salary: $115,000–$125,000 full-time equivalent; prorated for fewer than 40 hours per week
Schedule: 30 hours per week; in-office two days per week

Job Summary

Acumen America is seeking a Senior Associate to help lead its health portfolio and manage execution of the Medicaid Innovation Collaborative (MIC). This initiative works with states, health plans, providers, and technology companies to identify, evaluate, pilot, and scale technology-enabled solutions that advance health equity and improve access to Medicaid services.

The Senior Associate will report to the Director of MIC and play a central role in launching a new program focused on reducing communication, administrative, and operational barriers that can cause eligible individuals to lose Medicaid and SNAP coverage. Responsibilities include program management, strategic research, stakeholder relationship development, operations, communications, and portfolio company evaluation and support.

The position is an 18-month, time-limited opportunity based in San Francisco, with a 30-hour workweek and hybrid schedule.

ABOUT ACUMEN AMERICA

We back entrepreneurs who are rewriting what's possible for low-income Americans — building market-based, technology-enabled solutions that expand access to opportunity, health, and economic mobility. Since 2015, we've built a portfolio of 51 companies across health, workforce development, and financial services, led by some of the most inspiring and diverse entrepreneurs in the country. We're a small, close-knit team based in San Francisco.

ABOUT THE MEDICAID INNOVATION COLLABORATIVE (MIC)

The MIC is where bold ideas in Medicaid become reality. We give states and managed care plans a structured, proven way to identify, pilot, and scale tech-enabled innovations that advance health equity. We build partnerships between health plans, providers, and companies, generating real-world evidence of impact, and feeding insights back into Acumen America's investment strategy and portfolio support. This is a chance to work at the intersection of policy, entrepreneurship, and impact investing, with a direct line to the people and systems shaping Medicaid's future.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

Millions of eligible people are at risk of losing their Medicaid and SNAP coverage, not because they no longer qualify, but because work requirements and redetermination are introducing new barriers to accessing these critical services. As Senior Associate, you'll report to the Director of MIC and play a central role in launching a new MIC program to address that. You will help health plans, providers, community-based organizations and states identify and evaluate technology-based solutions that remove the communication, administrative and operational barriers that cost people their benefits. Your work will help keep health care and food assistance within reach for families who depend on them. You will also help our investment team identify and evaluate potential new companies.

Program Management

• Own project plans and drive execution across the health team's priorities.

• Guide the Consumer Advisors group to keep MIC — and our portfolio companies — grounded in real community needs.

• Build and manage relationships with state Medicaid agencies, managed care organizations, health care providers, and MIC partners.

• Lead research and analysis that sharpens MIC's strategic focus areas.

• Develop high-impact deliverables that showcase MIC's work.

Operations

• Keep projects moving by allocating resources effectively.

• Run the team's events, webinars, and knowledge management systems.

• Support the team's day-to-day administrative and systems needs.

• Lead communications, including social media and website management.

• Build compelling decks, spreadsheets, and other materials that advance our work.

Portfolio Support

• Work with the Acumen America investment team to identify and evaluate potential new portfolio companies, and to design post-investment support that helps them thrive.

QUALIFICATIONS AND CHARACTERISTICS

• Minimum 3 years of experience in program management, operations, and/or consulting.

• Strong interest and experience working in health care.

• A bachelor’s degree.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

• A genuine passion for social impact and advancing health equity.

• A proactive mindset — you see problems before they become blockers, and you help to fill gaps.

• Comfort with ambiguity and a willingness to try new tools and approaches.

• Strong project management skills — you deliver projects independently, under pressure, and against timelines.

• Self-awareness and alignment with Acumen values.

• Permanently authorized to work in the U.S. Must be based in San Francisco or open to relocating at your own expense.

COMPENSATION

The full-time equivalent salary range for this role is $115,000–$125,000. Compensation will be prorated if less than 40 hours per week.

LOCATION AND TIMELINE

San Francisco, CA. We review applications on a rolling basis, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible.