Contract Director Healthcare Strategy Jobs (NOW HIRING)

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Job Code: U826HF2

Reports To: Managing Director, Health Fund

FLSA Status: Exempt

Union Code: N/A

Management: Yes

Salary Range: $260,000.00 To $270,000.00 Annually

The Senior Director, Health Systems & Strategy is a senior strategic leader responsible for provider partnership development, healthcare strategy, and innovation. This role operates at the intersection of external relationship management and internal transformation, leading the development and stewardship of provider relationships that support the Health Fund’s direct contracting strategy while advancing initiatives designed to improve member experience, enhance quality, and reduce costs.

The Senior Director serves as strategic adviser to the Managing Director, Health Fund, providing expertise on provider operations, healthcare market trends, and emerging opportunities. This role is responsible for evaluating strategic initiatives, developing actionable recommendations, and facilitating the transition of approved initiatives from planning through implementation. The position maintains a strong focus on member outcomes while supporting the Fund’s long-term operational, financial, and strategic objectives.

This role reports directly to the Managing Director, Health Fund and serves as a key strategic partner in shaping the Fund’s provider engagement strategy, innovation agenda, and long-term healthcare delivery model.

• Leads the development, execution, and ongoing evolution of the Health Fund's provider partnership and direct contracting strategy, ensuring alignment with organizational goals related to member experience, quality, access, and cost management.
• Develops, manages, and strengthens strategic relationships with healthcare providers, health systems, physician groups, and other key partners to support the Fund's long-term healthcare delivery and purchasing objectives.
• Leads negotiations, governance, and performance oversight of direct contracting arrangements, ensuring agreements are structured to deliver measurable value for members and the Fund.
• Establishes and oversees governance structures, including Joint Operating Committees and other collaborative forums, to promote accountability, strategic alignment, issue resolution, and continuous improvement across provider partnerships.
• Develops and implements performance frameworks, metrics, and reporting processes to evaluate provider partnerships, monitor outcomes, identify opportunities, and support data‑driven decision‑making.
• Serves as the primary executive relationship manager for key provider organizations, maintaining ongoing engagement with senior healthcare executives and representing the Fund in strategic discussions, partnership development, and contract‑related matters.
• Ensures member experience and access considerations are incorporated into provider partnership management, performance evaluations, and strategic decision‑making, and collaborates with operational teams to address areas of member friction or service concerns.
• Leads the Health Fund's strategy and innovation function, including the identification, evaluation, prioritization, and advancement of initiatives designed to improve member outcomes, enhance operational effectiveness, and reduce healthcare costs.
• Oversees the assessment of healthcare market trends, regulatory developments, emerging care delivery models, payment innovations, and other strategic opportunities relevant to the Fund's mission and long‑term objectives.
• Establishes and maintains a structured process for evaluating strategic initiatives, business cases, and organizational change proposals, ensuring recommendations are supported by appropriate analysis, stakeholder input, financial considerations, and member impact assessments.
• Serves as a strategic advisor and thought partner to the Managing Director, Health Fund, providing insights, recommendations, and expertise regarding provider partnerships, healthcare trends, innovation opportunities, and organizational strategy.
• Leads, develops, and mentors staff responsible for provider partnership management, strategic planning, and implementation activities, fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Collaborates with internal departments, external partners, consultants, and stakeholders to support strategic initiatives, operational priorities, and organizational transformation efforts.
• Provides leadership and oversight for the successful implementation and transition of approved strategic initiatives, ensuring alignment between planning, operational execution, and organizational objectives.
• Performs other duties and special projects as assigned.

• Bachelor's degree in Healthcare Administration, Public Health, Business Administration, or a related field required; Master's degree preferred;
• Significant experience in provider relations, network strategy, managed care contracting, healthcare operations, or a related healthcare leadership role required;
• Demonstrated success building and managing executive‑level relationships with health systems, provider organizations, physician groups, or other healthcare stakeholders, including engagement with senior executive leadership required;
• Deep knowledge of value‑based care and alternative payment models, including shared savings, bundled payments, capitation, and other risk‑based arrangements, with experience evaluating, negotiating, and managing strategic provider partnerships required;
• Demonstrated ability to serve as a strategic advisor to senior leadership and contribute to organizational planning, innovation, and decision‑making beyond a single functional area required;
• Exceptional communication, negotiation, relationship management, and executive presence skills, with the ability to represent the organization effectively in complex internal and external environments required;
• Experience leading, supporting, or contributing to healthcare strategy, innovation, business planning, or organizational transformation initiatives in a complex, multi‑stakeholder environment required;
• Strong analytical, problem‑solving, and business judgment skills, with the ability to evaluate opportunities, assess risks, and develop actionable recommendations required;
• Experience working with self‑funded health plans, Taft‑Hartley funds, union benefit funds, or other mission‑driven healthcare organizations preferred;
• Direct experience within a provider organization, health system, physician group, managed care organization, or related healthcare delivery environment preferred;
• Familiarity with healthcare price transparency requirements, the No Surprises Act, and other regulatory considerations affecting provider contracting, reimbursement, and healthcare purchasing strategies preferred;
• Demonstrated ability to balance strategic thinking with operational execution, lead cross‑functional initiatives, manage competing priorities, and drive organizational change;
• Proven leadership skills with the ability to build collaborative relationships, influence stakeholders, foster accountability, and develop high‑performing teams; and
• Demonstrated commitment to improving member outcomes, enhancing value, and supporting the Fund's long‑term strategic objectives.

• The ideal candidate is at once a relationship‑builder, a strategic thinker, and an execution‑oriented leader. They understand provider organizations from the inside, how major health systems make decisions, what they value in direct relationships, and what creates the conditions for a partnership to deepen over time. They bring that understanding into every engagement with health system and medical group leadership, operating as a peer rather than a counterparty. Strategically, they think like an executive: able to connect the day‑to‑day texture of provider relationships to long‑term questions about the Fund’s care delivery model, cost trajectory, and member outcomes. They lead a Strategy function with rigor and discipline, ensuring that every idea entering the pipeline, independent of source, is evaluated honestly financially, against member needs, and what the Fund can realistically execute. They know how to run a structured vetting process that earns the trust of both the people submitting ideas and the leaders making decisions. They are a trusted sounding board for the Executive Director, comfortable challenging assumptions, surfacing emerging risks and opportunities, and offering candid counsel across all three dimensions of the role. They hold partners, vendors, and their own team to high standards, but they do so with the credibility and relational intelligence that makes people want to do better, not just comply.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals to perform the essential functions.

Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.