Authorizations Specialist
Role Overview
As an Authorization Specialist at Tellos, you will manage the end-to-end authorization lifecycle for ABA services, ensuring timely and accurate approvals from Medicaid and commercial payers. This mid-level role requires strong organizational skills as you will proactively resolve delays and denials while collaborating with clinical teams to enhance documentation quality. Your work directly impacts families and providers by minimizing service interruptions and streamlining authorization processes.
Perks & Benefits
Tellos offers a remote work setup, allowing flexibility in your work environment. The company is mission-driven and values real ownership, encouraging employees to take initiative in solving operational challenges. While specific benefits are not detailed, you can expect a supportive culture focused on meaningful outcomes for families and clinicians, along with opportunities for professional growth as the company scales.
Full Job Description
Authorization Specialist (ABA)
Tellos
Tellos helps BCBAs run independent, high-quality ABA practices without getting buried in insurance and operations. Authorizations are one of the most critical points in that system — when they’re slow or wrong, kids wait and providers stall.
This role exists to make sure that never happens.
As our Authorization Specialist, you will own ABA authorizations end-to-end — from initial auth to re-auth to resolution — across Medicaid and commercial payers. You are the single point of accountability for making sure services are authorized accurately, on time, and without unnecessary back-and-forth.
What You’ll Own
End-to-End Authorizations
You own the full authorization lifecycle:
Initial authorizations, re-authorizations, extensions, and updates
Medicaid and commercial payers across multiple states
High-volume workflows without sacrificing accuracy
If a case is delayed due to authorization, you own finding out why and fixing it — permanently.
Denials, Delays, and Escalations
Proactively identify and resolve denials, delays, and payer discrepancies
Communicate clearly with payers, clinicians, and internal teams to unblock care
Minimize service interruptions for families and providers
Your job is to make authorizations predictable, not reactive.
Clinical & Documentation Alignment
Ensure clinical documentation meets payer standards before submission
Work closely with BCBAs and clinical leadership to request missing or unclear information
Help improve documentation quality upstream so auths don’t bounce back downstream
You’re not policing clinicians — you’re enabling them.
Process Improvement & Scale
Continuously improve authorization workflows to reduce turnaround time
Identify patterns (payer issues, state issues, documentation gaps) and fix them at the system level
Help transition authorizations into more scalable, in-house processes as Tellos grows
If something breaks twice, you redesign it.
Visibility & Accountability
Track and report core metrics (turnaround time, approval rates, denials, rework)
Surface risks early before they impact treatment starts
Give leadership clear, actionable visibility into authorization health
What Success Looks Like
Families start care on time
Providers aren’t blocked waiting on paperwork
Denials decrease because systems improve
Authorizations stop being a bottleneck as we scale across states
Who This Role Is For
You’re a strong fit if you:
Have 3+ years managing high-volume ABA authorizations and re-authorizations
Know Medicaid and commercial payer rules cold
Are calm, precise, and persistent with insurance companies
Take ownership end-to-end instead of handing things off
Care about outcomes for families and clinicians, not just clean paperwork
Why Tellos
Tellos is self-funded, mission-driven, and operator-led. We care deeply about families and providers, and we expect real ownership. If you like fixing hard operational problems that actually matter, you’ll thrive here.
We believe in hiring people, not resumes. If you’re excited by Tellos’s mission but unsure if you meet every requirement, we still encourage you to apply, we’d love to learn what you’d bring to the team.
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