Plan Advocate Consultant I

Under general direction, the Plan Advocate Consultant I role is accountable for supporting a variety of technical and business solutions related to NASCO’s Products and Services for a specific Plan customer.  This role will act as a Subject Matter Expert on multiple aspects of the NASCO Processing System. Provides support on issues impacting ongoing operations and production services associated with NASCO’s ability to meet and/or exceed our service level commitments to our customers. Responsibilities include evaluating critical business issues and associated system designs in order to verify the impact, risk and necessary corrective actions required to assure both business and technical solutions meet our customer’s needs. Oversees a specific NASCO Plan Customer and is accountable for service level performance within specific system areas, manages budgets associated with CSRs and help desk tickets and mentors both internal NCSC representatives (PAS & SCA roles) and customers on research techniques and tools associated with problem triage and resolution. Must possess cross functional knowledge on NASCO’s BlueCard, Claims, Membership and E-business product offerings; as well as NASCO service offerings such as the Business Effectiveness Unit, Customer Account Services and Account implementations. Takes the lead in communication with all levels of upper management and communicates initiatives regarding project status.

• Provides technical and business support to customers for complex issues related to multiple NASCO product and service offerings to determine the best solutions. SME in at least 2 product or service offerings and a working knowledge of at least 3 products or service offerings.
• Evaluates critical business issues for impact, risk and necessary corrective actions to appropriately scope production issues
• Works with Team Lead and Manager to validate provided technical solutions and/or identifies alternatives to solve customer production problems.
• Develops best practices for NCSC support processes and procedures including tools and   techniques to optimize performance.
• Participates in Product area releases, projects and workgroups to ensure successful project turnover to the NCSC.
• Creates and delivers CSRs associated with production support break/fix activity to correct problems, reviews NCSC CSRs for technical accuracy and makes recommendations for approval.
• Provides oversight for multiple NCSC system areas to manage problem intake
• Manages issues related to NASCO’s SLA with our customers (i.e. system availability) which includes triage, communication, corrective actions and/or recoveries to minimize impacts to ongoing operations.
• Works with Team Lead and Manager to conduct and verify sizing estimates for production support design solutions in collaboration with Plans and technical teams to determine problem scope.
• Works with Team Lead and Manager to develop and verify technical requirements for production support design solutions in collaboration with Plans and technical teams to ensure appropriate long-term corrective actions
• Reviews and evaluates technical help desk ticket resolutions for completeness and accuracy
• Collaborates with Plans and technical team members to test and verify current system performance versus intended outcome
• Establishes and reviews unit test plans and schedules for break fix CSRs to ensure solutions are properly tested.
• Responds to and documents customers’ issues using NCSC standards to accurately capture problem descriptions
• Serves as a liaison between the NCSC and NASCO’s Technical Level III support
• Analyzes root causes and documents recommended improvements to the NASCO processing system to correct problems
• Evaluates processes, procedures, and problem management, documents steps and posts updated and new documents to NCSC site on NShare.
• Participates in Production roll out activities  for NCSC (e.g., attending training, assisting with knowledge transfer and participation in project reviews)
• Identifies and communicates Plan-specific feedback to Plans, Account Executives, and Product Directors as appropriate
• Identifies and provides cross-training to less experienced members of the support team
• Implements improvements to the NCSC operations
• Defines and implements tools, techniques and processes to increase productivity and efficiencies of Analysts, resolves issues, optimizes NCSC ticket cost savings and improves the customers’ overall user experience with the NCSC
• Participates in the Duty Manager rotation including occasional weeknights and weekends

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Functional knowledge on company Servicing, Claims, Membership product offerings
• Functional knowledge of company service offerings 
• Strong analytical and organizational skills
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Excellent interpersonal and relationship building skills
• Must be a motivated, self-starter, with high initiative and sense of urgency, and have a high attention to detail
• Demonstrated ability as a problem solver with the ability to present alternative approaches consistent with customer needs
• Proven ability to manage multiple tasks, work well in a stressful environment, interact in a team environment and foster positive attitudes
• Familiar with healthcare membership, billing, provider, benefit, managed care, claims, financial and reporting systems
• High level understanding of telecommunication functions and diverse computer platform knowledge (ex., mid tier, mainframe)
• Proven proficiency in use of  MS Office applications
• Proven expertise using Project Management Methods
• Demonstrated project management experience supporting both the business and technical needs of customers using the NASCO Processing System

Required Experience:  

• 5 years minimum experience working on the NASCO Processing System researching processing issues
• Experience working in a customer service environment
• Experience providing training on the NASCO Processing System
• Experience coordinating testing with multiple customer
• Experience reading and interpreting business requirements and impact analysis
• Experience writing and performing unit test plans

Required Education:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Working Conditions:

• Location: Home office / Remote 
• Travel: Occasional overnight travel (up to 20%) by land and/or air for meetings to the office or other areas 
• May be required to work a flexible work schedule, including weekend and evening availability during outages, security incidents, deployment and maintenance-window-oriented events
• Must be able to use equipment at workstation for up to 8 hours daily

Benefits Overview

At NASCO, we trust our workforce to be fully remote, working from their home. This benefit offers significant, personalized outcomes for each associate including work/life balance, savings on commuting, work clothing, and increased time to spend on personal activities.

Our full benefit package is designed to support the physical, mental, and financial health of our associates. We offer:

Physical and Mental Health Benefits

• Choice of Blue Cross Blue Shield Medical, Dental, and Vision Plans
• Telehealthcare – for Medical and Behavioral visits
• Generous PTO with buy/sell options
• 9 Company holidays, a floating day off, and a day off for volunteering
• Employee Assistance Program
• Wellness program - earn insurance discounts or credit towards health-related items

Financial Health Benefits

• 401K Plan with employer matching contributions
• Company-funded spending/reimbursement accounts to help with out-of-pocket medical expenses
• Bonus and Recognition programs
• Tuition Assistance
• Consultation with financial planner
• Basic Life & AD&D Insurance, Short and Long-Term Disability Insurance provided, and Supplemental Term Life Insurance is available
• Group Discount programs - mobile, technology services, etc., to help you save money

Other Benefits

• E-Learning – Comprehensive and current library of e-learning and performance support assets, available on demand and at no cost

NASCO is an Equal Opportunity Employer/veterans/disability/race/color/religion/sex/sexual orientation/gender identity/national origin. Must have legal authority to work in the US.

We will not accept applicants that use AI when answering the screening questions. Applicants who use AI to answer any questions or to complete their application will not be considered for employment.