Senior Advisor - Healthcare Economics (CMS)

General Information

• Job Code: SHR-EC-05T, -06T
• Location: Client Site - Remote
• Employee Type: Non-Exempt, Part-Time Regular
• Telework: Full-time – Remote
• Clearance: Public Trust
• Salary Range: $70.98 - $127.77 per hour (how we pay and promote) 

Do you like exploring how resources, incentives, and systems shape outcomes?

As a Senior Advisor of Healthcare Economics working with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI/CMS), you will play a pivotal role on the Ripple Effect support team! Your work will directly impact the development of new behavioral economics strategies for CMMI patient empowerment initiatives and model learning systems. You will advise CMMI on approaches to build learning systems and upskill staff to apply behavioral economics in ways that fit human-centered design, quality improvement, and value-base care.

While not an exhaustive list, the key duties for this position include:

Primary Responsibilities

• Communicate subject matter expertise about how people actually make decisions to design programs that support better health behaviors—e.g., reminders, incentives, defaults, that align to existing CMS payment/care models.
• Build and track systems of learning via A/B testing, continuous measurement, dashboard and metric development, and develop scaling plans to establish new standards of practice.
• Integrate key frameworks of human-centered design, quality improvement, and value-based care to improve patient care quality and lower costs.
• Lead data analysis efforts across behavioral economics projects relating to healthcare by selecting appropriate methodologies and translating findings into strategic recommendations aligned with CMMI goals.

Minimum Qualifications

• Master's degree (MA/MS) in field such as behavioral or health economics, psychology of decision-making, healthcare, or related;
• 10+ years of relevant professional experience, additional education may substitute for experience.

Basic Requirements

• Must demonstrate that you are free from conflicts of interest to serve as senior advisor.
• Advanced experience with applying behavioral science and choice architecture principles to achieve an economic goals through implementation of change management strategies for internal and external stakeholders, based in human-centered design.
• Experience researching and/or implementing CMMI/CMS pilots, health system innovation plans, and/or behavioral trainings with strong data literacy and attention to experimental design, dashboard creation, metric analyses and the ability to clearly and concisely communicate outcomes and next-steps to cross-functional, interdisciplinary teams.
• Intermediate experience with collaboration & knowledge management tools such as Microsoft Teams and Microsoft SharePoint. 

Skills That Set You Apart

• Doctoral degree (Ph.D.) preferred
• Prior experience supporting the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, including CMMI.
• Intermediate experience with AI tools, including their limitations and risks, and how they can be applied to support project management tasks.

About Ripple Effect

Ripple Effect is a woman-owned, 200-person company of communicators, scientists, researchers, and analysts. Established in 2003, and named as one of the “Best and Brightest Companies to Work For” in 2024 and 2025 by the NABR, Ripple Effect has earned acclaim for delivering unparalleled consulting services and top-tier talent across federal, private, and non-profit sectors.

At Ripple Effect, we reward our employees for their contributions to our mission. Our comprehensive total rewards package includes competitive pay, exceptional benefits, and a range of programs that support your work/life balance and personalized preferences.

Learn more about our benefits and culture here.