Program Manager (60415)

About the Role

Capitol Bridge is seeking an experienced Program Manager to lead a complex, high-volume federal healthcare program supporting the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

This role is responsible for the overall health, performance, compliance, and continued development of the program. The Program Manager will work closely with the project manager for each operational lane, all support leaders, cross-functional teams, external partners, and clients to ensure the program operates as one connected system.

We are looking for a leader who understands how to operate in a federal environment, translate regulatory and contractual requirements into execution, and lead teams through complexity and change. This person must be equally comfortable looking at the big picture and getting close enough to the work to understand where processes, systems, or teams are breaking down.

Direct experience with the No Surprises Act (NSA) and the Federal Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) process is preferred. Experience with arbitration, healthcare appeals, claims, or payment disputes is also valuable. Strong CMS, federal healthcare, or comparable federal program experience remains important, and the right leader will be expected to learn the program deeply and quickly.

This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who can build and maintain operational excellence while stabilizing, improving, and leading the program. The Program Manager must work with urgency, manage a fast pace, deliver quick turnarounds, maintain detailed tracking, and personally drive priorities, commitments, and follow-up through completion.

Key Responsibilities

Program Leadership & Operations

• Own performance and execution across all operational workstreams.

• Operate at a fast pace and deliver accurate, high-quality work within short turnaround times.

• Work directly in the details when needed rather than relying solely on delegation.

• Maintain clear trackers for priorities, deliverables, risks, decisions, dependencies, and follow-up actions.

• Drive assigned work from intake through completion, ensuring commitments do not stall or require repeated follow-up.

• Lead high-volume, deadline-driven operations under strict federal, contractual, quality, and service requirements.

• Translate contract requirements, CMS guidance, regulatory changes, and executive direction into operational plans.

• Set priorities, decision rights, accountability, and leadership operating rhythms.

• Monitor volume, inventory, aging, throughput, capacity, productivity, quality, and risk.

• Identify gaps and drive corrective actions through implementation.

• Build scalable processes that adapt to changing volume, regulations, and program needs.

• Maintain operational continuity and leadership coverage across critical functions.

CMS & Federal Program Management

• Serve as a senior program contact for CMS and other external stakeholders.

• Manage federal deliverables, performance standards, reporting, and contractual obligations.

• Evaluate, operationalize, document, train, implement, and monitor federal policy changes.

• Support client reviews, audits, readiness activities, corrective actions, and federal oversight.

• Identify and escalate risks before they become client or compliance concerns.

• Assign, track, complete, and validate client commitments.

Cross-Functional Integration

Lead an integrated operating model by partnering with the project manager for each lane, all support leaders, cross-functional teams, partners, and clients across:

• Operations and production

• Quality assurance and peer review

• Training and instructional design

• Compliance and regulatory implementation

• Reporting and analytics

• Technology and system enhancements

• Customer support and escalations

• Billing and finance

• Workforce planning and staffing

• Vendors, consultants, and strategic partners

Ensure these groups do not operate in silos by maintaining shared priorities, clear ownership, coordinated tracking, timely follow-up, and visibility into downstream impacts across the program.

Quality, Compliance & Regulatory Change

• Partner with Compliance, Quality, Training, and Operations to execute approved policies consistently.

• Translate regulatory and policy changes into operational requirements.

• Convert quality findings, audits, escalations, and recurring defects into corrective action.

• Maintain controls, documentation, version management, and implementation evidence.

• Embed quality and compliance into daily operations.

Data, Reporting & Systems

• Use data to assess performance, identify trends, anticipate risk, and guide decisions.

• Maintain reliable reporting on volume, aging, productivity, quality, timeliness, outcomes, backlog, escalations, and KPIs.

• Improve data integrity and reconciliation across internal and external systems.

• Hold operational leaders accountable for their metrics and results.

• Prioritize system enhancements based on operational and regulatory needs.

• Assign clear ownership for system issues, enhancements, UAT, defects, and implementation.

Partner & Stakeholder Management

• Build effective relationships with CMS, consultants, technology partners, vendors, and other stakeholders.

• Establish governance, meeting cadences, escalation paths, SLAs/KPIs, and ownership.

• Hold partners accountable while sustaining collaborative relationships.

• Communicate status, risks, decisions, dependencies, and needs to executive leadership.

• Balance competing internal, partner, and federal priorities while maintaining momentum.

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead and develop managers and program leaders.

• Set clear expectations and accountability within a sustainable operating environment.

• Coach leaders to decide, communicate, manage performance, and escalate effectively.

• Build organizational depth and reduce reliance on individuals or institutional knowledge.

• Ensure teams understand what is changing, why, and what is expected.

• Lead calmly through ambiguity, pressure, regulatory change, and competing priorities.