Managing Director, Medicaid

AIR’s Healthcare Transformation Program is seeking an experienced Managing Director (MD) to lead and advance a portfolio of Medicaid policy and data analytics initiatives policy priorities, with a focus on strategic growth and innovation. The MD will provide executive leadership across multi-year projects involving Medicaid program analysis, data infrastructure development, and policy-relevant insights derived from administrative and claims data, while identifying emerging analytic needs, shaping new methodological approaches, and expanding AIR’s Medicaid analytics portfolio in response to evolving federal and state policy priorities.

In this role, the MD will set the technical and strategic direction for Medicaid data analytics work—overseeing analytic design and implementation, data acquisition and management, performance monitoring, and technical assistance (TA)—and will partner with senior leadership to pursue new opportunities and strengthen AIR’s position as a leader in federal and state Medicaid analytics.

Candidates hired for the position may work remotely within the United States (U.S.) or from one of our U.S. office locations. This does not include U.S. territories.

About AIR:

Established in 1946, with headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, AIR is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit institution that conducts behavioral and social science research and delivers technical assistance to solve some of the most urgent challenges in the U.S. and around the world. We generate evidence and apply data-driven solutions that expand opportunities and improve lives for all.

Responsibilities:

Project Leadership & Oversight

Set the strategic direction for a portfolio of federal and state Medicaid policy and data analytics initiatives, spanning analytic design, data infrastructure, performance monitoring, and reporting, and ensure alignment with evolving Medicaid program priorities and regulatory requirements.

Provide executive oversight across the full analytics lifecycle, guiding multidisciplinary teams on analytic conceptualization, data specification, methodology, validation, and policy-relevant reporting, while ensuring methodological rigor and consistency across projects.

Serve as a senior strategic advisor to federal and state clients, particularly CMS/CMCS and state Medicaid agencies, shaping analytic approaches, anticipating data and policy risks, and strengthening long-term partnerships.

Strategic Direction & Business Growth

Work with AIR’s program area and functional leadership to create a business development strategy for established areas and specific new areas of growth and identify new opportunities, including:

Coordinating pursuit plans and pipelines for opportunities.

Supporting bid/no-bid decisions and ensuring alignment with AIR capabilities and priorities.

Leading or contributing to proposal pursuits: conceptualizing bid strategies, developing analytic and monitoring approaches, drafting proposal content, and conducting technical reviews

Cultivating and maintaining relationships with potential partners, funders, and clients.

Monitoring ongoing projects to understand client expectations, anticipate needs, and identify opportunities and challenges across the portfolio.

Assessing staff capacity and helping align resources to support both project delivery and new business pursuits.

Team Leadership, Staff Development & Collaboration

Supervise and mentor task leads, analysts, researchers, TA specialists, and operational staff to build strong, high-performing project teams.

Foster cross-functional collaboration across analytics, communications, data management, TA, and operations teams to ensure integrated, high-quality project delivery.

Provide coaching and support to rising project leaders in effective project management, quality assurance, client communication, and staff supervision.

Thought Leadership & External Engagement

Represent AIR in stakeholder meetings, technical discussions, and conferences related to Medicaid data, policy, and program analytics.

Collaborate with AIR’s communications teams to translate Medicaid analytic findings into publications, briefs, and presentations for policy and technical audiences.

Contribute to AIR’s visibility and reputation in Medicaid data analytics, federal health program monitoring, and TA.

Qualifications:

Education, Knowledge, and Experience

PhD or MA in health economics, public health, public policy, biostatistics, or a related social science or quantitative discipline.

10–15 years of leadership or management experience in Medicaid policy, health data analytics, or federal health program work.

Successful experience serving as a Managing Director or equivalent on complex contracts involving Medicaid data analysis, program evaluation, performance monitoring, TA, and/or policy research.

Experience working with or for CMS/CMCS, state Medicaid agencies, or similar federal and state health agencies.

Demonstrated success leading federal proposal development and contributing to winning bids in Medicaid or related health policy domains.

Expert knowledge of Medicaid program structures, financing, policy priorities, and federal-state partnership requirements, including managed care, fee-for-service, waiver programs (1115), and value-based payment models.

Experience overseeing large, complex contracts and portfolios, including fiscal stewardship, risk management, staffing strategies, and operational systems consistent with federal contracting requirements.

Proven record leading large-scale Medicaid analytics or applied policy research initiatives, including authorship and review of technical deliverables and presentation of findings to policy and technical audiences.

Demonstrated success leading multidisciplinary, mission-driven teams, including staff, subcontractors, and consultants, and aligning technical work with broader Medicaid program objectives.

Skills

Deep technical expertise in Medicaid data systems and analytics, including T-MSIS (Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System), MAX data, encounter data, and state-level administrative data—with the ability to design and oversee complex analytic workflows, data linkages, and quality assurance processes.

Proficiency in analytic methods applicable to Medicaid populations and programs, such as risk adjustment, propensity scoring, difference-in-differences, interrupted time series, and predictive modeling, with the ability to set methodological standards across a portfolio.

Ability to provide executive-level technical leadership, translating complex data and analytic methodologies into clear strategic guidance for federal and state clients, senior stakeholders, and internal leadership

Strategic, forward-looking thinker with the ability to identify emerging Medicaid data and analytic needs, shape new approaches, and maintain a long-term view of portfolio growth and sustainability.

Strong organizational and leadership skills, with experience managing multiple workstreams and setting priorities across complex, interrelated analytics efforts.

Collaborative leadership style and commitment to mentorship and talent development, building depth, continuity, and excellence in Medicaid data analytics capabilities.

Disclosures: Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the U.S. on a full-time basis. Employment-based visa sponsorship (including H-1B sponsorship) is not available for this position. Depending on project work, qualified candidates may need to meet certain residency requirements.

American Institutes for Research is an equal employment opportunity/affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without discrimination on the basis of any characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local law, including, but not limited to, actual or perceived race (including traits hi