Job Description

This INTERNAL posting is open to current MSF employees and is scheduled to close on Tuesday, Nov 4th at 11:59pm.
Montana State Fund (MSF) is looking for a dynamic leader to anchor our claims strategy - a cornerstone of our commitment to Montana's injured workers and employers. This role is not just about managing claims; it's about leading a transformation. You'll be instrumental in shaping a future where empathy meets efficiency, driving a culture of continuous learning and advocacy that directly impacts MSF's success and reputation. As a Claims Program Manager, you will be on the leading edge of MSF's mission, translating our strategic vision into exceptional, real-world outcomes.
About the job:
The Claims Program Manager leads with a strong focus on customer advocacy, cultivating a claims culture rooted in empathy, accountability, and continuous learning. This role drives staff engagement and development, building a high-performing team committed to proactive, empathetic, and outcome-based service. As a change agent, the Program Manager champions innovation and agility, implementing best practices and technologies to improve outcomes across the claims lifecycle. Through strategic leadership and cross-functional collaboration, this position ensures the claims function evolves to meet the needs of injured workers, policyholders, and the broader organization.
Required Skills
What you will do:

• Provide Leadership and Cultivate Claims Culture: This position requires providing influential leadership to claims managers and staff, promoting a culture of accountability, continuous learning, and customer advocacy. The Claims Program Manager drives talent management, mentoring, engagement, and development of staff to build a deep bench of technically strong and empathetic claims professionals. Crucially, they must champion a customer-centric culture within the claims organization, ensuring interactions and outcomes are fair and timely.

• Execute Claims Strategy & Project Portfolio: This role is responsible leading the execution of the strategic vision for the claims department, ensuring alignment with overall business objectives and customer needs. This involves leading the design, implementation, and oversight of key claims programs and initiatives (e.g., litigation management, complex claims units) to optimize performance and results. The Claims Program Manager champions a culture of agility and continuous improvement, driving the adoption of best practices, emerging technologies, and innovative processes to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and customer experience across the claims lifecycle. As a change agent, the Program Manager proactively identifies opportunities, adapts to evolving needs, and leads teams through transformation with resilience and strategic focus.

• Ensure Claims Quality and Operational Excellence: The Claims Program Manager must participate in establishing, monitoring, and reporting on key performance indicators (KPIs) and operational metrics for the claims department, focusing on timeliness, accuracy, severity, and customer satisfaction. Furthermore, the role involves collaborating with Actuarial, Finance, and Underwriting teams to manage claim reserve adequacy, analyze loss trends, and inform pricing/product strategies. The manager is also expected to foster strong relationships with policyholders by promoting transparency, responsiveness, and trust throughout the claims process

• Manage Compliance and Risk: The Claims Program Manager ensures compliance with Montana statute and MSF claims best practices. The manager is also responsible for identifying and mitigating emerging claims risks and exposures by implementing proactive controls and process adjustments and must lead or support other corporate initiatives or enterprise priorities as needed.

Required Experience
What you will need (minimum qualifications):
Required:

• Bachelor's degree in business, management, or related field and 7 years of progressively responsible work experience in operations, finance, or other corporate administration roles (or an equivalent combination of education and experience) OR demonstrated proficiency to be able to carry out the essential functions of the role.
• 3 years of leadership experience OR demonstrated proficiency to be able to carry out the essential functions of the role.
• Excellent analytical, communication, and organizational skills.

Preferred:

• Program or project leadership experience
• Previous leadership experience which included leading cross-functional projects with measurable business impact.

Job location: This position requires regular on-site presence in the Helena, MT office.
Compensation and Benefits: The salary range for this exempt MGR position is $93,700-$140,400 per year.
Montana State Fund offers excellent benefits, paid time off, and a competitive compensation program, including:

• Excellent health insurance with dental, vision, life, long-term disability and more, with optional dependent coverage.
• Flexible spending accounts for dependent care and medical expenses.
• Public employees' retirement plan tax-deferred contributions with a generous employer match.
• Optional 457(b) deferred compensation to further increase retirement savings.
• Higher education reimbursement and other training and development programs.
• Robust personal leave, paid holidays, and extended leave.

Are you a change leader looking to make a real impact? Apply today!
What you will do:

• Provide Leadership and Cultivate Claims Culture: This position requires providing influential leadership to claims managers and staff, promoting a culture of accountability, continuous learning, and customer advocacy. The Claims Program Manager drives talent management, mentoring, engagement, and development of staff to build a deep bench of technically strong and empathetic claims professionals. Crucially, they must champion a customer-centric culture within the claims organization, ensuring interactions and outcomes are fair and timely.

• Execute Claims Strategy & Project Portfolio: This role is responsible leading the execution of the strategic vision for the claims department, ensuring alignment with overall business objectives and customer needs. This involves leading the design, implementation, and oversight of key claims programs and initiatives (e.g., litigation management, complex claims units) to optimize performance and results. The Claims Program Manager champions a culture of agility and continuous improvement, driving the adoption of best practices, emerging technologies, and innovative processes to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and customer experience across the claims lifecycle. As a change agent, the Program Manager proactively identifies opportunities, adapts to evolving needs, and leads teams through transformation with resilience and strategic focus.

• Ensure Claims Quality and Operational Excellence: The Claims Program Manager must participate in establishing, monitoring, and reporting on key performance indicators (KPIs) and operational metrics for the claims department, focusing on timeliness, accuracy, severity, and customer satisfaction. Furthermore, the role involves collaborating with Actuarial, Finance, and Underwriting teams to manage claim reserve adequacy, analyze loss trends, and inform pricing/product strategies. The manager is also expected to foster strong relationships with policyholders by promoting transparency, responsiveness, and trust throughout the claims process

• Manage Compliance and Risk: The Claims Program Manager ensures compliance with Montana statute and MSF claims best practices. The manager is also responsible for identifying and mitigating emerging claims risks and exposures by implementing proactive controls and process adjustments and must lead or support other corporate initiatives or enterprise priorities as needed.

What you will need (minimum qualifications):
Required:

• Bachelor's degree in business, management, or related field and 7 years of progressively responsible work experience in operations, finance, or other corporate administration roles (or an equivalent combination of education and experience) OR demonstrated proficiency to be able to carry out the essential functions of the role.
• 3 years of leadership experience OR demonstrated proficiency to be able to carry out the essential functions of the role.
• Excellent analytical, communication, and organizational skills.

Preferred:

• Program or project leadership experience
• Previous leadership experience which included leading cross-functional projects with measurable business impact.

Job location: This position requires regular on-site presence in the Helena, MT office.
Compensation and Benefits: The salary range for this exempt MGR position is $93,700-$140,400 per year.
Montana State Fund offers excellent benefits, paid time off, and a competitive compensation program, including:

• Excellent health insurance with dental, vision, life, long-term disability and more, with optional dependent coverage.
• Flexible spending accounts for dependent care and medical expenses.
• Public employees' retirement plan tax-deferred contributions with a generous employer match.
• Optional 457(b) deferred compensation to further increase retirement savings.
• Higher education reimbursement and other training and development programs.
• Robust personal leave, paid holidays, and extended leave.

Are you a change leader looking to make a real impact? Apply today!

Skills Required