Policy Strategist

About Nava

Nava is a consultancy and public benefit corporation working to make government services simple and effective. Since 2015, federal, state, and local agencies have trusted Nava to help solve highly scrutinized technology modernization challenges.

As a client services company, we guide agencies constrained by legacy systems to a future with sharp user experiences built on secure, reliable, fault-tolerant cloud infrastructure. We bill for our time, offering our expertise and problem-solving approach to help our government partners enhance their digital products and services. People are at the heart of our work, from members of the public who rely on benefit programs to government agency staff.

Through human-centered design and modern engineering best practices, we help our government partners understand user needs and deliver on their missions more effectively. This focus gives everyone at Nava the opportunity to do work that is meaningful, impactful, and deeply connected to public good.

Please note: the level of the role will be determined by Nava leadership based on experience and skillset.

Position Summary

Nava is at the forefront of reimagining how our government serves its people, and we’re looking for a Policy Strategist to help us increase our impact within government. Policy Strategists at Nava help teams navigate complex policy environments by turning policy into decisions, tradeoffs, and actionable direction. We work across disciplines—including product, design, and engineering—to ensure systems are compliant, effective, and grounded in real-world policy and program operations.

For this position, you will support an integrated eligibility platform, with work spanning application intake, notices, eligibility decisions, and case management.

You bring experience analyzing Medicaid policy and can translate that analysis into practical recommendations. You can independently research federal and state requirements, explain what is required and where choices exist, and help colleagues decide how to proceed. You are comfortable identifying needed policy work and agreeing on priorities with a team that may not have worked with a policy strategist before.

You have the ability to develop research plans, and synthesize analyses into concrete recommendations that positively impact service experience outcomes. You stay up to date about technology, legislation, and policy trends, and care deeply about improving the way government programs operate.

What we're looking for:

• Skilled at interpreting policy and using the findings to improve program processes, operations, or technology
• An adaptive, empathetic, collaborative, and positive mindset
• Highly resourceful, reliable, and detail-oriented
• Comfortable identifying policy questions, proposing an approach, and making progress when the work is not fully defined

What you’ll do

• Policy Translation & Implementation
• Partner with cross-functional teams to translate policy into system behavior, workflows, and user experiences
• Identify regulatory constraints, risks, and ambiguities — including edge cases, eligibility requirements, and business rules — and propose solutions that balance compliance, user experience, and delivery needs
• Create artifacts (e.g., policy briefs, decision frameworks, process flows) to support decision-making and prioritization
• Support testing and validation of policy implementation (e.g., scenario and edge case testing)
• Research, Strategy & Advocacy
• Conduct landscape and cross-jurisdictional research to monitor evolving policies and translate them into implications for implementation, technology, and engagement opportunities
• Synthesize research into clear written and verbal communication for a range of different internal and external audiences
• Build relationships with external partners to exchange implementation lessons, develop joint work, and create opportunities to share Nava’s policy expertise.
• Contribute to advocacy strategy development and execution
• Required skills
• At least 3 years of experience in policy analysis, or a combination of relevant graduate-level education and experience
• Hands-on experience independently researching and interpreting policy using statutes, regulations, or authoritative agency guidance, and applying that analysis to program or implementation decisions
• Strong ability to build and nurture relationships with both internal teams and external partners
• Self-directed and comfortable working independently with minimal supervision
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including technical and policy contexts
• Understanding of public programs, ideally at multiple levels of government
• Ability to document research processes, findings, and recommendations clearly, concisely, and in an organized manner
• Desired skills
• Experience with Medicaid eligibility and enrollment policy, such as applications, verification, renewals, eligibility decisions, notices, or appeals
• Experience with integrated eligibility systems or coordinating requirements across public benefit programs
• Experience working within agile delivery and human-centered design processes (sprint ceremonies, design reviews, user research)
• Experience working on government technology modernization, civic tech, or large-scale systems change
• Graduate degree in public policy, public administration, or related field
• Available to work regular business hours Pacific Standard Time
• This position is represented by
• Nava United