What is a Project Manager at Availity?

As a Project Manager (specifically operating as a Program Manager for Prior Authorization) at Availity, you are at the forefront of reshaping the future of healthcare. Availity is the nation's leading healthcare engagement platform, connecting over 2 million providers to health plans and processing more than 12 billion transactions annually. In this role, your primary mission is to ensure that healthcare professionals can shift their focus away from administrative friction and back to what truly matters: patient care.

This position is highly visible and critical to Availity’s revenue stream. You will lead complex, post-sales healthcare implementations, acting as the bridge between contract signature and final delivery. This is not a standard, internal-only project management role; you will be delivering "white-glove" service to Availity’s premiere clients. You will navigate shifting timelines, coordinate cross-functional dependencies across product and engineering, and ensure that strategic Health Plan rollouts are executed flawlessly.

Expect a fast-paced, dynamic environment where your technical acumen and political awareness are tested daily. Because you are dealing with critical revenue cycle solutions and prior authorization workflows, the stakes are high. You will be expected to balance business, operational, and technical constraints while maintaining productive, high-trust relationships with everyone from internal engineers to external C-level executives.

Common Interview Questions

While the exact questions will vary based on your interviewers and the specific track of the conversation, the following examples represent the core themes you will face. Use these to identify patterns and structure your STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) stories.

Healthcare Domain & Technical Acumen

These questions test your mandatory knowledge of healthcare interoperability and your ability to navigate the technical aspects of the Availity platform.

• Explain your experience with FHIR. How does it differ from traditional X12 transactions in a practical implementation?
• Walk me through a prior authorization workflow. What are the common technical challenges a provider faces?
• How do you ensure that technical delivery plans align strictly with complex healthcare compliance and business requirements?
• Describe a time you had to learn a new technical concept quickly to successfully deliver a healthcare project.

Complex Implementation & Delivery

These questions evaluate your project management mechanics, specifically your ability to drive post-sales delivery in a fast-paced environment.

• Tell me about the most complex software implementation you have managed. What made it complex, and how did you ensure its success?
• How do you manage shifting timelines and capacity constraints when overseeing multiple concurrent projects?
• What metrics or KPIs do you use to measure the health and success of a client implementation?
• Describe a time when a project was falling behind schedule. What steps did you take to get it back on track?

Stakeholder Management & Diplomacy

These questions focus on your "political awareness," communication skills, and ability to provide "white-glove" service to premier clients.

• Tell me about a time you had to push back on a client’s request diplomatically.
• How do you prepare for a kick-off meeting with a new strategic Health Plan client?
• Describe a situation where internal teams (e.g., product and engineering) were misaligned on a customer deliverable. How did you resolve it?
• Give an example of how you tailor your presentation style when updating a C-level executive versus a technical project team.

Getting Ready for Your Interviews

To succeed in the Availity interview process, you need to approach your preparation strategically. Interviewers will look for a blend of deep healthcare domain knowledge, technical fluency, and exceptional stakeholder management.

Focus your preparation on the following key evaluation criteria:

Healthcare Technology Acumen – Availity operates in a highly specialized domain. Interviewers will evaluate your hands-on experience with healthcare interoperability standards, specifically FHIR and X12, as well as your understanding of prior authorization workflows. You can demonstrate strength here by speaking fluently about the end-to-end lifecycle of healthcare transactions.

Implementation Execution – This role requires managing multiple concurrent, complex implementations. You will be assessed on your ability to drive a project from contract signature to technical delivery. Show your strength by detailing how you build operational project plans, manage capacity constraints, and keep cross-functional teams aligned on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

Executive Communication and Diplomacy – You will be a client-facing representative handling sensitive situations. Interviewers will look for "political awareness" and your ability to diplomatically manage expectations. Demonstrate this by sharing examples of how you have tailored your communication style for different audiences, from technical architects to C-suite stakeholders.

Cross-Functional Leadership – You must influence teams that do not report directly to you, including product, engineering, and Solutions Engineering. You will be evaluated on your collaborative approach and your ability to resolve bottlenecks. Highlight your track record of bridging the gap between business requirements and technical deployment plans.

Interview Process Overview

The interview process for a Project Manager at Availity is designed to rigorously test both your domain expertise and your cultural alignment with their mission-driven environment. You will typically begin with a recruiter phone screen that focuses heavily on validating your core qualifications, particularly your healthcare background and technical prerequisites like FHIR experience.

If you advance, you will meet with the hiring manager to dive deeper into your resume, your experience with post-sales implementations, and your approach to client management. The final stages usually involve a panel interview with cross-functional stakeholders, which may include representatives from product, engineering, and client services. During these rounds, expect highly behavioral and scenario-based questions that test how you handle shifting timelines, demanding clients, and complex technical dependencies.

Availity values collaboration and a forward-thinking mindset. Throughout the process, interviewers will gauge not just whether you can deliver a project, but whether you can do so while fostering innovation and maintaining a positive, energetic team culture.

This visual timeline outlines the typical stages of the Availity interview process, from the initial recruiter screen to the final cross-functional panel. Use this to pace your preparation, ensuring you are ready to discuss high-level cultural fit early on, and prepared for deep-dive technical and situational scenarios in the later rounds.

Deep Dive into Evaluation Areas

Healthcare Interoperability & Prior Authorization

Because Availity is a pioneer in healthcare technology, generic project management experience is not enough. Interviewers need to know that you understand the data standards that power the platform. You will be evaluated on your technical acumen regarding how data moves between providers and payers. Strong performance means you can confidently discuss the nuances of healthcare data exchange without needing a developer to translate for you.

Be ready to go over:

• FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) – How it is used to structure and exchange healthcare information electronically.
• X12 EDI Standards – Specifically transactions related to healthcare claims and prior authorizations (e.g., 278 transactions).
• Prior Authorization Workflows – The end-to-end process, pain points for providers, and how technology alleviates these bottlenecks.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – API integrations with Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems, real-time vs. batch processing in healthcare data.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Walk me through the end-to-end prior authorization process from the provider to the payer. Where do the biggest bottlenecks typically occur?"
• "Explain your experience working with FHIR and X12. How have you leveraged these standards in past implementations?"
• "How do you translate complex interoperability requirements into a technical delivery plan for your engineering team?"

Complex Client Implementations

This role is heavily focused on post-sales delivery. You are evaluated on your ability to take a signed contract and turn it into a live, functioning product for a client. Strong candidates will demonstrate a structured approach to managing concurrent projects, handling scope creep, and maintaining momentum when technical or operational hurdles arise.

Be ready to go over:

• Delivery Planning – Creating operational project plans, deployment plans, and managing technical requirements.
• Capacity Constraint Management – How you allocate resources when multiple high-priority implementations overlap.
• KPI Tracking – How you measure the success of an implementation for both the internal team and the customer.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Transitioning clients from legacy systems to modern platforms, managing data migration risks.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Tell me about a time you managed multiple concurrent implementations with shifting timelines. How did you prioritize?"
• "A strategic Health Plan client wants to significantly alter the scope of their implementation post-signature. How do you handle this?"
• "Describe your process for moving a customer efficiently from contract signature through to final delivery."

Executive Stakeholder Management

As a client-facing leader managing Availity’s premiere accounts, you must provide "white-glove" service. Interviewers will look for political awareness and your ability to navigate sensitive situations diplomatically. A strong performance in this area shows that you can build trust, deliver bad news gracefully, and align diverse stakeholders around a common goal.

Be ready to go over:

• C-Level Presentations – Preparing and leading kick-off meetings and program status updates for executives.
• Relationship Cultivation – Establishing productive partnerships with key stakeholders at multiple levels within a Health Plan.
• Conflict Resolution – Diplomatically handling sensitive situations or delivery delays with external clients.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Navigating highly matrixed client organizations to find the true decision-makers.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Describe a situation where you had to deliver difficult news about a project delay to a C-level executive. How did you prepare, and what was the outcome?"
• "How do you tailor your communication when speaking to an internal engineering lead versus an external client stakeholder?"
• "Tell me about a time you had to rely on your political awareness to save a strained customer relationship."

Key Responsibilities

As a Project Manager at Availity, your day-to-day work revolves around leading internal and external teams through the lifecycle of post-sales healthcare implementations. You will be the primary point of contact for strategic Health Plan clients, guiding them from the moment a contract is signed all the way through technical deployment and operational readiness. This involves translating complex business and technical requirements into actionable delivery plans.

You will spend a significant portion of your time working cross-functionally. You will coordinate with product, engineering, client services, and Solutions Engineering to ensure that dependencies are met and capacity constraints are managed. When timelines shift, you will be responsible for analyzing project and operational data to determine the optimal mix of resources, ensuring that Availity’s strategic goals are still achieved without compromising the "white-glove" client experience.

Additionally, you will be heavily involved in stakeholder communication. You will prepare and present comprehensive materials—ranging from initial kick-off decks to regular program status updates—tailoring your message for audiences that range from technical project managers to C-level executives. You will also be accountable for tracking Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure the success of each implementation.

Role Requirements & Qualifications

To be competitive for this position, you must possess a highly specific blend of healthcare domain expertise and project management rigor. Availity is explicit about its prerequisites, and candidates lacking the core technical background will not advance.

• Must-have skills – A strong background in healthcare technology is strictly required. You must have hands-on experience and technical acumen with FHIR and X12 standards, as well as a clear understanding of prior authorization workflows. You also need a proven track record of managing complex, client-facing implementations and influencing cross-functional teams (both business and technology).
• Nice-to-have skills – An in-depth, end-to-end understanding of the prior authorization process from the provider to the payer will set you apart. Experience specifically managing strategic Health Plan implementations is also highly advantageous.
• Experience level – The role requires a seasoned professional who is comfortable working directly with multiple levels of customers, up to C-Level Executives. You must demonstrate the political awareness necessary to diplomatically handle sensitive situations.
• Soft skills – Exceptional written and oral communication skills are non-negotiable. You must be able to seamlessly pivot your communication style depending on whether you are speaking with an engineer or a client executive.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How technical do I really need to be for this Project Manager role? You need a strong technical foundation specifically in healthcare interoperability. While you won't be writing code, you must intimately understand X12, FHIR, and prior authorization workflows to effectively manage engineering dependencies and communicate with technical stakeholders.

Q: What makes a candidate stand out in the Availity interview process? Candidates who stand out do more than just manage timelines; they demonstrate deep "political awareness." Showing that you can navigate complex client relationships, deliver "white-glove" service, and align external expectations with internal engineering realities will set you apart.

Q: What is the work culture like at Availity? Availity is a certified "Great Place to Work" with a highly collaborative, mission-driven culture. They focus heavily on improving patient care by removing administrative burdens. You can expect an energetic, forward-thinking environment where innovation and cross-functional teamwork are celebrated.

Q: Is this role fully remote, and will I need to travel? Availity has a strong remote workforce across the United States, but this client-facing role does require some travel. You should expect to travel to client sites as needed, though it is generally kept to less than 25% of your time.

Other General Tips

• Highlight Your Mission Alignment: Availity is deeply mission-driven, focusing on returning the industry's focus to patient care. Whenever possible, frame the outcomes of your past projects in terms of how they ultimately improved the healthcare ecosystem or reduced friction for providers.
• Master the STAR Method for Implementations: When discussing past projects, be highly specific about your operational project plans. Don't just say you "managed the project"; explain exactly how you coordinated dependencies between product, engineering, and the client.

• Demonstrate Diplomatic Pushback: Interviewers want to see that you can protect internal engineering capacity while still making the client feel valued. Prepare stories that highlight your ability to negotiate scope and timelines gracefully.

• Speak the Language of KPIs: Be prepared to discuss how you measure success. Talk about specific team and customer Key Performance Indicators you have tracked in the past to ensure implementations were delivered efficiently and effectively.

Summary & Next Steps

Stepping into the Project Manager role at Availity means taking on a pivotal position at the intersection of healthcare technology, complex delivery, and strategic client partnership. You will be instrumental in driving revenue and ensuring that powerful tools reach the medical businesses that need them most. By managing these critical prior authorization implementations, you directly contribute to a more efficient healthcare system.

To succeed in your interviews, ensure your technical foundation in FHIR and X12 is rock solid, and practice articulating your experience with complex, concurrent implementations. Lean into your ability to navigate high-stakes stakeholder relationships with diplomacy and political awareness. Remember that Availity is looking for leaders who can provide premium service while maintaining internal alignment and operational rigor.

The compensation data provided above offers a baseline look at the salary expectations for this position. Keep in mind that total compensation packages may include additional benefits, and you should use this data to inform your discussions with the recruiting team.

Approach your preparation with confidence. You have the foundational skills required; now it is about framing your experience to match Availity’s specific needs and mission. For more insights, practice scenarios, and detailed peer experiences, continue exploring resources on Dataford. Good luck—you are well-equipped to showcase your value and secure this role!