Justin Schell

About Justin Schell

I help leaders make confident, high-quality decisions by removing the “fog of uncertainty” through quantitative insights.My career began in traditional risk management where I viewed the world through the lens of an auditor. Over time I began to question if the \"auditor view\" of risk management actually made a difference in decision-making. Through exposure to quantitative experts in fields like actuarial science & decision science, I have come to realize that I was trying to use risk governance tools as decisions tools. Not only does this not help in decision-making, it can lead organizations to make poor decisions. I have now devoted my career to relearning how decisions are made and to applying scientific methods to support leaders to make quality decisions in the face of uncertainty.My passion for healthcare began with my personal experiences through my mother who was an operating room nurse for over 40 years, and a childhood battle with non-Hodgkin\'s lymphoma. Through these experiences, I saw both the triumph and tragedy of illness. As a CPA, I continued my passion for health care through a specialization in auditing of hospitals while working for Ernst & Young, LLP. My career has continued a strong course in health care both in my volunteer work for several non-profits and my time at Highmark Health in numerous roles from auditor, to risk manager, to decision and capital analyst.I have been with Highmark Health for over 20-years working in both traditional and quantitative risk management roles. Currently, I am the leader of the Decision & Capital Analysis Team (DCAT) where I manage the Economic Capital Model, enterprise balance sheet & cash flow forecasting, and provide quantitative insight into uncertainty. I am also responsible for helping developing talent pipelines in finance through oversight of the finance internship program and a new financial analyst rotational program.My career path from traditional risk manager to quantitative risk manager has given me insight into the shortcomings of risk governance tools when they are used as decision-making tools. I have also been successful in bringing objective perspective to decisions in uncertain environments (risk transfer decisions, economic capital, and uncertainty modeling). Finally, I have become proficient at translating business owner perspective into the language of uncertainty necessary to connect decisions to objective outcomes.Be bold in the face of uncertainty. Resist gut decisions—embrace quantitative analysis to drive meaningful outcomes. …be a Risk \"Mad Scientist.\"

Experience

1. Director Decision & Capital Analysis

   Highmark Health

   Jul 2022 — Present · Pittsburgh, PA, US

   Leader of a team dedicated to helping the enterprise optimize its decisions in the face of uncertainty through objective measures. This includes developing insights through economic capital modeling, insurance & risk transfer modeling, and tools that evaluate uncertainty and risk for various business decisions.Plays a role in decision support and risk management efforts that span across Highmark Health’s business enterprise for key enterprise-wide projects, due diligence and integration activities.Responsible for supporting a link between Highmark Health’s strategic plan and its financial forecasting and capital allocation processes.

Education

• Penn State University

  BS, Accounting with Minor in MIS

  1997 — 2001

• Wilson High School

  High School Diploma, High School Diploma

  1994 — 1997

Skills

• Risk Management
• Sox
• IT Audit
• Accounting
• Financial Analysis
• Sarbanes-Oxley
• Internal Audit
• Financial Risk
• Management
• Financial Reporting
• Risk Assessment
• Sarbanes-Oxley Act
• Internal Controls
• IT Risk
• Business Process Improvement
• Due Diligence
• Auditing
• Finance
• Enterprise Risk Management
• Leadership
• Program Management
• Financial Accounting
• Insurance
• Audit
• Process Improvement
• Risk