Consultant, Vendor Strategy & Management - Group Health

Are you passionate about being part of a team at a Fortune 100 company with nearly $70 billion in annual sales that delivers extraordinary care to help individuals and businesses prepare for and protect their future? If so, then Nationwide Financial could be the place for you! At Nationwide®, “on your side” goes beyond just words. Our customers and partners are at the center of everything we do and we’re looking for associates who are passionate about delivering extraordinary care.

The Consultant, Vendor Strategy & Management – Group Health owns the strategy, oversight, and performance of the vendor ecosystem that supports Nationwide’s Group Health (stop‑loss and self‑funded medical) business. This role organizes a complex vendor landscape, evaluates and implements new solutions, and uses data and strong relationships to ensure vendors deliver meaningful value for members, clients, and the business.

Key responsibilities

• Build and maintain a central vendor data hub for Group Health vendors (value‑add solutions and network partners), including contracts, pricing, guarantees, capabilities, and performance.
• Lead or support vendor selection and due diligence (RFI/RFP, evaluations, recommendations) and coordinate cross‑functionally on implementation and operational readiness.
• Serve as primary relationship manager for assigned vendors by establishing governance routines, monitoring SLAs and guarantees, and driving remediation or improvement plans.
• Partner with analytics to define and maintain vendor dashboards and reporting (engagement, utilization, outcomes, financial impact) and translate insights into clear recommendations.
• Collaborate with product, operations, marketing, actuarial, underwriting, and sales to ensure vendor solutions are integrated into offerings, easily implemented, and understood by internal and external stakeholders.
• Support member and client engagement by informing campaigns and communications that drive adoption and effective use of high‑value programs.

Ideal Background

• Experience in group health or group benefits, ideally stop‑loss or self‑funded medical.
• Demonstrated vendor management experience (selection, onboarding, performance/governance).
• Strong project/program management and organizational skills.
• Proven relationship and influencing skills with both vendors and internal partners.
• Comfort working with data and dashboards to interpret trends and recommend actions.
• Clear, concise verbal and written communication skills.
• Exposure to BI/visualization tools (e.g., Power BI, Tableau) and healthcare/benefits economics.

Work environment

• This role is open to fully remote work. 
• Ability to travel periodically (e.g., vendor meetings, conferences, internal sessions) as needed.

This role does not qualify for employer-sponsored work authorization. Nationwide does not participate in the Stem OPT Extension program.

#LI-LP1

Job Description Summary

Our work is essential to helping Nationwide build future capabilities to serve customer needs. Keeping existing products relevant and marketable and building new products takes research, critical thinking, practicality, and collaboration. If you enjoy gathering input and information, working independently and on a team and creating innovative solutions for customers, we want to know more about you!

As a Consultant, you'll lead the initiation, development, and maintenance of products with respect to design, profitability, and growth. We'll count on you to collect information and make recommendations regarding overall corporate objectives, field operations and staff services.

Job Description

Key Responsibilities:

• Serves as a technical professional in the analysis of pricing and design features, product, and profitability.

• Actively finds opportunities for improvement and makes solution recommendations. 

• Provides support and guidance related to product design and management.

• Provides high level, strategic input on key initiatives addressing product strategy and profitability objectives.

• Participates and may lead new business development and implementation projects.

• Works with Product Directors to predict needs and issues. Acts as a resource to Product Directors. Reacts appropriately to market conditions.

• Identifies and evaluates business opportunities. Partners with leadership to provide a regular assessment of financial results and recommendations to increase future profitability. 

• Investigates and assists in development of new tools and technology to improve product performance.

• Reviews and analyzes highly technical and sophisticated market information on benchmark competitors. Identifies options to keep products market-competitive.

May perform other responsibilities as assigned.

Reporting Relationships: Reports to Director or Officer

Typical Skills and Experiences:

Education: Undergraduate degree in finance, economics, marketing, or related field preferred. Graduate degree desired.  

License/Certification/Designation: Industry designations (e.g., CPCU, ARM, CLU, FLMI, ChFC, CFP, NASD, etc.) preferred. 

Experience: Typically, eight years of relevant experience in a related industry.

Knowledge, Abilities and Skills: Demonstrated strategic decision making. Proficiency in the use of analytic tools, plans pricing and products. Ability to drive for results, navigate ambiguity and to understand strategic objectives. Ability to lead high profile projects. Ability to creatively present ideas in written form and through presentations. Effective verbal and written communication skills. 

Other criteria, including leadership skills, competencies and experiences may take precedence. 

Staffing exceptions to the above must be approved by the hiring manager’s leader and HR Business Partner.
 

Values: Regularly and consistently demonstrates Nationwide Values.

Job Conditions:

Overtime Eligibility: Not Eligible (Exempt)

Working Conditions: Normal office environment. May require moderate to frequent travel.

ADA: The above statements cover what are generally believed to be principal and essential functions of this job. Specific circumstances may allow or require some people assigned to the job to perform a somewhat different combination of duties.

We currently anticipate accepting applications until 05/04/2026. However, we encourage early submissions, as the posting may close sooner if a strong candidate slate is identified before the deadline.

Benefits

We have an array of benefits to fit your needs, including: medical/dental/vision, life insurance, short and long term disability coverage, paid time off with newly hired associates receiving a minimum of 18 days paid time off each full calendar year pro-rated quarterly based on hire date, nine paid holidays, 8 hours of Lifetime paid time off, 8 hours of Unity Day paid time off, 401(k) with company match, company-paid pension plan, business casual attire, and more. To learn more about the benefits we offer, click here.

Nationwide is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive culture where everyone feels challenged, appreciated, respected and engaged. Nationwide prohibits discrimination and harassment and affords equal employment opportunities to employees and applicants without regard to any characteristic (or classification) protected by applicable law.

This position could be filled within any of the lower 48 U.S. states.

About nationwide