Director, Payer Marketing

About the role

The Director of Payer Marketing will own the strategic vision and execution of Headway's presence within the health plan ecosystem, establishing the company as the most credible and trusted voice in mental healthcare reimbursement. This role is responsible for defining the overarching narrative that translates complex platform capabilities into a compelling commercial story for payers. The hire will synthesize all platform activities into a single, powerful point of view that resonates across every health plan interaction. They will operate as a player-coach, building and leading a high-caliber team from the ground up while partnering tightly with commercial, clinical, and brand stakeholders. Ultimately, this role will own the commercial outcomes of payer relationships, driving deeper partnerships, stronger renewals, and expanded network opportunities.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Set the payer marketing strategy and define the overarching positioning, narrative, and go-to-market plan for Headway with health plans across the United States.
• Build the payer marketing function from the ground up, defining the operating model, team structure, cadences, and metrics that establish it as a core commercial lever for the organization.
• Author the category-defining story that positions Headway as the essential infrastructure for mental healthcare access, ensuring plans, providers, and partners orient around this point of view.
• Commercialize net-new payer solutions by partnering with Product and Payer/Commercial teams to bring new offerings to market, defining buyable value propositions, and orchestrating launch moments.
• Translate complex clinical and operational data into compelling evidence, producing benchmarks, outcome narratives, and data-driven insights that demonstrate Headway's impact on the payer ecosystem.
• Drive field marketing and enablement by building a comprehensive content library, pitch decks, RFP responses, case studies, and tools that empower Payer/Commercial teams to grow and deepen accounts.
• Plan and execute high-impact activation moments, including conference presence, customer events, executive briefings, partner co-presentations, and enablement sessions that connect the narrative to real-world payer workflows.
• Maintain a competitive advantage by tracking how rivals and adjacent players such as EAPs, telehealth providers, and MSOs position to payers, and arm leadership with sharp, current narratives.
• Define and measure success through relationship depth and commercial leverage, moving beyond funnel metrics to track renewals, expansion, and strategic partnerships.
• Build momentum in ambiguous, high-stakes situations by creating milestones without a predefined roadmap and demonstrating consistent execution under uncertainty.
• Partner with Clinical Strategy and Research to source evidence and translate intricate data into narratives that inform product development and market positioning.
• Ensure Payer/Commercial teams have the enablement and support needed to represent Headway effectively during open enrollment and annual election periods.

Requirements

• You are an enterprise B2B product marketing leader with a minimum of 10 years of experience, including at least 5 years managing teams, with a proven track record in positioning, messaging, go-to-market strategy, enablement, and competitive intelligence.
• You have experience in or adjacent to health plans, value-based care, or complex B2B healthcare environments, and you are known for rapidly acquiring deep knowledge of new audiences and their nuanced needs.
• You can point to a body of work where marketing moved the needle on commercial outcomes, demonstrating an ability to connect strategic narratives with measurable revenue and partnership impact.
• You are comfortable operating in enterprise-level, high-stakes scenarios where decisions have significant financial and regulatory implications for the business.
• You have a history of building repeatable processes and frameworks that turn qualitative insights into actionable commercial plays.
• You possess strong written and verbal communication skills, capable of translating technical platform details into clear, persuasive narratives for executive-level stakeholders.
• You are a collaborative leader who thrives in cross-functional environments, aligning product, sales, and clinical teams around a shared commercial vision.
• You are eligible to work in the United States and are authorized to work without sponsorship for this position.

Nice to have

• Experience with mental health benefits, insurance networks, or provider network dynamics within the U.S. healthcare system.
• Background in SaaS or technology product marketing within the healthcare or enterprise software sectors.
• Familiarity with behavioral health clinical workflows and reimbursement models.

Practical notes

This is a full-time remote role based on a U.S. employment model. The position requires eligibility to work in the United States without sponsorship. There is no specified travel requirement, and the role reports to the leadership team at Headway.bio.