Manager, Product Development - Delta Dental of MA

Delta Dental of MA advances oral health for a healthier tomorrow. Our vision is to enable a future where optimal oral health is the cornerstone of overall well-being. We strive to create optimal oral health experience for our members and providers, and to lead the market in health outcomes and plan value.

Manager, Product Development is primarily responsible for developing and bringing new products and solutions to market to advance Delta Dental of MA’s business and mission. The Manager regularly designs and assesses new product concepts against customer needs creating a robust Product Development pipeline, and supports sales and business development to grow Delta Dental of MA’s business, elevate member and provider outcomes, and achieve desired financial goals. The Manager plans and leads near-in, adjacent, and transformational innovation and Product Development efforts for new and existing markets by performing the following duties personally or through subordinates, vendors, or cross-functional project teams.

PRIMARY JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

Develop New Solutions

• Lead new product design, development, testing, launch, and improvement by harnessing internal and external resources to establish Delta Dental of MA as an oral health market leader.
• Collaborate across diverse internal and external stakeholders to ensure completed products achieve desired customer results, meet Delta Dental of MA’s business, financial, and cost objectives, enhance Delta Dental of MA brand, and mitigate market and other risks.
• Leverage dashboards, project plans, risk management tools, communications plans, and budgets to launch new products within budget and timing constraints.
• Inspire, educate, and train impacted stakeholders and users to maximize product understanding, adoption, usage, and growth.

Assess New Product Concepts

• Identify and assess the needs of specific market segments and synthesize customer needs into product descriptions with clear value propositions, product features, technical requirements, customer experience, and ROI analysis.
• Facilitate cross-functional input across Sales, Underwriting, Provider Relations, Clinical, Operations, Marketing, and Technology areas to assess and down-select highest value offerings for future development.
• Present new product recommendations to ELT/SLT to secure go/no-go decisions, funding, resourcing, and timing commitments.
• Conduct regular reviews of new ideas brought to the organization to ensure appropriate input is obtained.

Support Sales and Business Development

• Participate in client acquisition and retention-related activities, such as RFPs, Sales meetings, broker education, and industry conferences, by positioning and deploying innovations that meet client-specific needs.
• Represent Delta Dental of MA in meetings with existing and potential partners to advance company, business, and Product Development goals and capabilities.

Assist Business Strategy

• Research, analyze, and monitor technology, clinical, market, industry, and competitive trends to create first-to-market opportunities.
• Partner with internal cross-functional teams to assess industry trends, customer needs, competitive threats, expansion opportunities, and internal performance to identify product gaps and opportunities.
• Contribute strategic insights about near-in, adjacent, and transformational innovation opportunities that can help to realize the Enterprise Business Strategy, achieve Sales and Retention results, elevate the Delta Dental of MA brand, and create positive culture change.
• Support VP, Product Strategy and Transformation, to develop an annual Product Development Plan, which identifies priority Product Development opportunities against market segment and key stakeholder-specific goals and needs, using sound market research, ROI analysis, and cross-functional input.

General / Management

• Manage and report on the new Product Development portfolio projects across the lifecycle.
• Lead and collaborate with a matrixed environment to ensure buy-in and support from key stakeholders, and to provide value-added product and innovation input to other functional areas and initiatives.

JOB QUALIFICATIONS:

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, healthcare, or equivalent field of study.
• High degree of proficiency in Product Development and Innovation with 7-10 years experience and leadership in the discipline with demonstrated results and progressive levels of responsibility.
• Dental, medical, or ancillary product experience, and deep knowledge of commercial group, individual, Medicaid, and Medicare markets from a payer or provider perspective.
• Data-driven leader skillful at driving results through powerful storytelling to executive audiences, partners, and customers.
• Natural collaborator, team player, and relationship-builder with high emotional IQ and ability to work effectively with internal and external customers and partners.
• Skillful communicator and influencer with excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Self-starter, who aligns independent judgment with customers and management, and enjoys working in a fast-paced, results-driven environment.
• Positive person with passion for lifting people up, engagement, connectedness, change management, and high-performance teams.

Preferred

• MBA desirable.
• Experience recruiting, training, managing, and developing staff.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

• Desire to work remotely and in a professional office setting.
• Ability to operate personal computer and related technologies.
• Ability to travel by air as required by company and business.

** In accordance with Delta Dental of Massachusetts’ Compliance Plan, all employees must conduct Delta Dental of Massachusetts business and activities in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, professional standards, and ethical standards and report potential compliance or ethical issues to Delta Dental of Massachusetts’ designated Compliance Officer. **

Delta Dental of Massachusetts’ Affirmative Action Program affirms our commitment to make reasonable accommodations for known physical or mental limitations of otherwise qualified individuals with disabilities or special disabled veterans unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of our business and activities. Please see Human Resources for additional information regarding this program.