Lead, Payer Partnerships & Strategy

About the role

In this capacity, you will serve as a critical leader responsible for the long term stewardship of health plan partnerships that reach some of the largest health plans in the United States, ensuring their strategic alignment with Headway's mission. You will navigate complex contract strategy and renegotiations to optimize the structure and ongoing success of these vital agreements, always balancing value for both partners. The role requires you to build and grow deep, meaningful relationships with health plan teams and leadership that span multiple critical functions, including Network, Sales/Commercial, and Product teams. You will lead rigorous market analysis and own the healthcare research necessary to shape forward looking strategies that define our competitive position. By leveraging data to generate actionable insights, you will identify clear new opportunities for partnership growth and expansion into underserved segments. You will collaborate closely with cross functional, internal stakeholders to translate findings into insights that directly inform product and operations strategy. Ultimately, you will drive high impact initiatives that strengthen our platform and reinforce Headway's position as the central infrastructure for mental healthcare. This is an exceptional opportunity to own objectives that have significant influence on the future of access to care within a rapidly scaling, mission driven environment.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Assume ownership of long term management for health plan partnerships with several of the largest health plans in the US, ensuring strategic alignment and performance.
• Navigate contract strategy and renegotiations to optimize partnership structure, value, and success over time.
• Build and expand relationships with health plan teams and leadership across Network, Sales/Commercial, and Product functions to foster collaboration.
• Lead market analysis and own healthcare research to shape strategic direction and uncover emerging opportunities.
• Leverage data to generate insights and identify new avenues for partnership growth and product development.
• Collaborate with cross functional internal stakeholders to deliver insights that inform product and operations strategy.
• Drive initiatives that enhance the Headway platform and reinforce its role as the foundational infrastructure for mental healthcare delivery.
• Partner with internal teams to design and implement strategies that improve provider and patient outcomes within supported health plans.
• Act as a primary strategic advisor to internal leadership on payer partnership performance and future potential.
• Translate complex business and clinical concepts into clear narratives for diverse stakeholders across the organization.
• Monitor competitive landscape and industry trends to ensure partnership strategies remain innovative and effective.
• Own key performance indicators and metrics related to partnership success, reporting results and driving continuous improvement.
• Identify and prioritize new partnership opportunities that align with Headway's long term vision and growth objectives.
• Facilitate cross functional alignment to ensure seamless execution of partnership strategies and initiatives.

Requirements

• You have a minimum of 5+ years of experience in the healthcare space, with a strong background in roles within Customer Success, Business Development, or in Strategic customer-facing positions.
• You bring deep exposure to payer business models and economics, including an understanding of how health plans operate and generate value.
• You are a relationship builder who derives satisfaction from forging meaningful bonds across all levels of an organization, from executive sponsors to frontline partners.
• You thrive in ambiguity, actively seeking out unfamiliar challenges, driving towards outcomes, and shaping strategy even when direction is initially unclear.
• You are highly data-driven and a self starter, capable of driving complex analyses and translating ambiguous problems into key actionable insights.
• You are operationally excellent, able to manage multiple high impact customers and a large volume of moving parts without becoming overwhelmed.
• You seek an environment that fosters individual growth through open feedback and high autonomy, allowing you to take ownership of your development.
• You are motivated by the opportunity to face off against one of our generation's defining problems: access to mental healthcare for millions of people.

Nice to have

• Preferred experience working directly with or for health plans, payers, or large healthcare systems.
• Demonstrated success in managing complex, multi stakeholder relationships in a healthcare or SaaS environment.
• Background in mental health, behavioral health, or digital therapy platforms.
• Experience with healthcare data analytics and insights generation to inform strategic decisions.
• Familiarity with credentialing, claims, and payment reconciliation processes within mental health care.
• Track record of building and scaling partnerships that resulted in measurable growth and improved outcomes.
• Experience working in a Series D environment with significant funding and high growth expectations.

Practical notes

The expected base pay range for this position is $111,520-$164,000, based on a variety of factors including qualifications, experience, and geographic location. In addition to base salary, this role may be eligible for an equity grant, depending on the position and level. We are committed to offering a comprehensive and competitive total rewards package, including robust health and wellness benefits, retirement savings, and meaningful ownership opportunities through equity. Compensation decisions are made holistically, ensuring fairness and alignment with market benchmarks while recognizing individual contributions and potential. Benefits offered include equity compensation, Medical Dental and Vision coverage, HSA / FSA, 401K, Work-from-Home Stipend, Therapy Reimbursement, 16-week parental leave for eligible employees, Carrot Fertility annual reimbursement and membership, 13 paid holidays each year as well as a Holiday Break during the week between December 25th and December 31st, Flexible PTO, Employee Assistance Program (EAP), and Training and professional development. There are discretionary bonuses and or commission, with commission payments issued monthly. We believe a team's strength is in its people, and we cannot achieve this mission without a team that reflects the diversity of this problem across race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, age, national origin, religion, family status, disability, military status, and experience. Headway is committed to the fulfillment of this commitment.