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Molina Healthcare
Des Moines, Iowa

Senior Medical Director (Based in IA)

General MedicineFull-Time

Listed compensation

$214k-$418k

The week · per this posting · weekdays assumed

Ask the employer about the work setting, call expectations, weekend coverage and time off.

Posted 29m ago · Verified live

Job Description

JOB DESCRIPTION Job Summary

Provides deep subject matter expertise and leadership for health plan or shared services advanced clinical managed care/clinical performance.

Leverages specialty expertise (transplant, genetics, etc.) to support prior authorization, inpatient concurrent review, discharge planning, and clinical care management activities.

May lead a team of medical directors - delivering oversight and expertise in appropriateness and medical necessity of services provided to members, and ensuring members receive the most appropriate care in the most effective setting. Contributes to overarching strategy to provide quality and cost-effective member care.

Essential Job Duties

  • Leverages expertise to deliver advanced clinical performance for prior authorization, inpatient concurrent review, discharge planning, care management and interdisciplinary care team (ICT) activities.
  • Ensures that authorization decisions are rendered by qualified medical personnel and without hindrance due to fiscal or administrative incentives.
  • Analyzes data and identifies medical cost-savings and quality improvement opportunities.
  • Accounts for regulatory and accreditation performance of assigned team and responds to inquiries, issues and complaints from government and accreditation regulators.
  • Develops medical policies and procedures as needed.
  • Conducts peer review processes.
  • May lead a team of medical directors responsible for assessing appropriateness and medical necessity of health care services provided to plan members.
  • As applicable, hires, trains, develops and manages team demonstrates accountability for team performance and achievement of department-specific goals.
  • As applicable, develops and sustains a high-performance team, dedicated to best-in-class solutions responsible for attracting, developing and retaining top-tier talent to support strategy and long-term business objectives.

Required Qualifications

  • At least 10 years of relevant experience, including clinical practice experience, and at least 2 years as a medical director in managed care setting supporting utilization management/quality management initiatives, or equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.
  • At least 5 years of management/leadership experience.
  • Doctor of Medicine (MD) or Doctor of Osteopathy (DO). License must be active and unrestricted in state of practice.
  • Board Certification.
  • Working knowledge of applicable national, state, and local laws and regulatory requirements affecting medical and clinical staff.
  • Demonstrated ability to make strategic decisions.
  • Knowledge of health care regulatory and legislative processes, including ability to read and interpret legislation.
  • Business and financial acumen.
  • Evidence-based clinical criteria competency.
  • Peer review, medical policy/procedure development, and provider contracting experience.
  • Experience influencing and gaining consensus across stakeholders.
  • Ability to work cross-collaboratively in a highly matrixed organization.
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
  • Microsoft Office suite/applicable software program(s) proficiency, and electronic medical record (EMR) proficiency.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Certified Professional in Healthcare Management (CPHM), Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ), Commission for Case Manager Certification (CCMC), Case Management Society of America (CMSA) or other health care or management certification.

To all current Molina employees: If you are interested in applying for this position, please apply through the Internal Job Board.

Molina Healthcare offers a competitive benefits and compensation package. Molina Healthcare is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE) M/F/D/V

Key Responsibilities

Provides clinical leadership and subject matter expertise for health plan managed care activities, including prior authorization and inpatient concurrent review. Leads a team of medical directors to ensure the delivery of quality, cost-effective care while maintaining regulatory and accreditation standards.

Requirements

Requires a Doctor of Medicine (MD) or Doctor of Osteopathy (DO) degree with an active, unrestricted license and board certification. Candidates must have at least 10 years of relevant clinical experience and 5 years of management or leadership experience.

Qualifications

Education
Doctoral or professional degree (postgraduate degree)
Experience
10+ years of experience

Key Skills

Medical policy developmentStrategic decision makingRegulatory complianceData analysis

General Medicine — Physician Career Context

The cost-of-living index for Iowa is 87.8 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)), so the posted ~$316k midpoint carries the purchasing power of roughly $360k in an average-cost state. 59.8% of Iowa clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).

Physician pay on WeekdayDoc is up 1.7% vs. the prior quarter (through Sep 2026).

What does the Physician market look like in Iowa?
MeasureThis jobMarket
Listed pay$214k–$418kPhysician median $285k (middle half $274k–$298k)30 comparable listings, Oct 2026
Cost-of-living adjusted pay~$360k in purchasing powerIowa index 87.8 (US = 100)BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)
Physician listings in Iowa261 active22,638 nationallylive on WeekdayDoc, Oct 2026
Physician pay trend+1.7% vs prior quarter—through Sep 2026
Sources: WeekdayDoc live listing index, BEA Regional Price Parities (2024); as of Oct 2026. Same values as the Weekday Verdict and Market Insights on this page.

Top General Medicine Jobs

2 matches · ranked by pay
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Work-life snapshot

median 6.1this job 1.5
Below most General Medicine listings for work-life

Listing-based score, 0–10, across 156 comparable listings. Shaded area = the share scoring below this one.

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About Molina Healthcare

Hospitals and Health Care
Long Beach, California
10,000+ employees

Benefits & Perks

Competitive benefits and compensation package

Living in Des Moines

Typical 3-bedroom home value
$227k≈ 1.1× annual pay
Typical market rent
$1,126/mo≈ 6% of gross pay
Residents’ average commute
20 min
Metro price indexU.S. average = 100
91.7
State income tax
Up to 6%
Sources & methodology

Sources: Zillow home values (Aug 2026), Zillow market rents (Aug 2026), U.S. Census ACS 2024 five-year.

BEA 2024 · Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA metro prices. Housing figures are city-level.

Ratios use this listing’s gross annual pay. Not a cost-of-living guarantee.