Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Director of Healthcare Strategy

🎯 Role Definition

We are seeking an experienced Director of Healthcare Strategy to lead the design and execution of strategic initiatives across payer-provider partnerships, value-based care models, population health programs, and digital health transformation. The Director of Healthcare Strategy will partner with clinical, operational, financial, and technology leaders to translate market insights into actionable strategic plans that improve clinical outcomes, reduce total cost of care, and expand revenue streams. This role requires a strategic thinker with deep healthcare industry knowledge, strong analytical capability, and proven experience influencing senior executives and cross‑functional teams.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Senior Manager / Principal, Healthcare Strategy or Corporate Strategy
Director, Population Health / Director, Value-Based Programs
Management Consultant (healthcare strategy or life sciences practice)

Advancement To:

Vice President, Healthcare Strategy or Chief Strategy Officer
SVP, Growth and Strategic Partnerships
Head of Population Health / Head of Clinical Transformation

Lateral Moves:

Director, Care Delivery Innovation
Director, Payer Partnerships / Provider Contracting

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead development of multi-year enterprise strategy for healthcare delivery, payer-provider collaborations, and value-based care, including market assessment, competitive analysis, and prioritized roadmap for execution.
Design and operationalize population health strategies that align clinical pathways, care management programs, and social determinants of health initiatives to improve outcomes and lower total cost of care.
Develop and negotiate complex value-based contracts with payers, health systems, and risk-bearing entities, including downside risk arrangements, shared savings, and bundled payment models.
Build detailed financial models and business cases to evaluate strategic opportunities, forecast revenue and cost impacts, quantify ROI, and support executive investment decisions.
Partner with clinical leaders to co-create care model redesigns that standardize evidence-based care pathways, optimize resource utilization, and integrate primary, specialty, and post-acute care.
Lead market expansion initiatives, including service line launches, joint ventures, and M&A diligence support, identifying target markets and go-to-market strategies to capture growth.
Drive data‑driven decision making by defining KPIs, establishing reporting frameworks, and translating analytics into actionable insights for clinical and operational leaders.
Oversee pilot design, implementation, and evaluation for innovative care delivery models, digital health solutions, and remote monitoring programs to validate impact and scale successful pilots.
Advise on pricing, reimbursement strategy, and contract performance monitoring to ensure alignment with financial goals and regulatory compliance (Medicare, Medicaid, commercial).
Serve as the strategic interface to executive leadership, board committees, and external stakeholders to communicate strategy, progress, risks, and outcomes.
Manage and mentor a cross-functional team of strategy managers, analysts, and program leads, setting priorities, driving accountability, and cultivating strategic capabilities.
Lead stakeholder engagement and change management for enterprise initiatives, including clinical adoption, operations integration, and provider network engagement.
Coordinate with product and technology teams to prioritize digital health investments, interoperability initiatives, and EHR/clinical workflow integrations that support strategic objectives.
Conduct competitive landscaping, payer and provider market segmentation, and provider network analysis to inform strategic positioning and partnership opportunities.
Develop strategic communications and playbooks for new program rollouts, partnership announcements, and contract transitions to ensure coordinated internal and external messaging.
Facilitate cross-functional governance, steering committee meetings, and executive reviews to maintain alignment, de-risk implementation, and accelerate decision cycles.
Identify and quantify strategic risks and mitigation plans related to regulatory changes, reimbursement shifts, and market dynamics, keeping leadership informed and proactive.
Lead population segmentation and risk stratification efforts leveraging claims and clinical data to prioritize high-impact interventions and allocate care management resources effectively.
Oversee vendor selection and management for external partners, consultants, analytics vendors, and digital health vendors to ensure value delivery and contract performance.
Drive continuous improvement by capturing lessons learned, codifying best practices, and iterating on strategy execution frameworks to increase speed and effectiveness.
Champion equity, access, and patient-centered approaches in strategic planning to ensure programs address disparities and improve health outcomes across populations.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
Provide subject matter expertise for grant proposals, pilot funding requests, and public-private partnership initiatives.
Assist in preparing board materials, investor updates, and external thought leadership content (white papers, presentations) to amplify organizational strategy.
Support compliance and audit readiness activities related to contracts and quality reporting requirements.
Mentor junior strategy and analytics team members on healthcare business acumen and strategic methodologies.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Strategic planning and enterprise strategy development for healthcare systems and payers.
Financial modeling, sensitivity analysis, and full P&L ownership for strategic initiatives.
Deep understanding of value-based care programs, shared savings models, bundled payments, and downside risk contracting.
Population health management, care coordination models, risk stratification, and utilization management.
Experience with healthcare data sources (claims, EHR, HIE) and proficiency translating analytics into business actions.
Contract negotiation experience with payers, provider networks, and risk-bearing entities.
Familiarity with regulatory frameworks and payer rules (Medicare Advantage, Medicare FFS, Medicaid, commercial).
Competence with analytics and visualization tools (Tableau, Power BI), and basic comfort with SQL, Python, or R for analytic collaboration.
Experience with digital health evaluation, remote patient monitoring, telehealth program implementation, and vendor management.
M&A and partnership diligence experience, including commercial due diligence and integration planning.
Ability to develop KPIs, dashboards, and outcomes measurement frameworks to monitor program performance.
Project and program management skills, including agile methodologies, milestone tracking, and resource planning.

Soft Skills

Executive presence and exceptional written/verbal communication for presenting to C-suite and board-level stakeholders.
Cross-functional influence and stakeholder management across clinical, operational, financial, and IT domains.
Strategic thinking with the ability to synthesize complex data into clear recommendations and prioritized action plans.
Strong leadership and people development skills; proven ability to hire, coach, and retain high-performing teams.
Change management capability to drive adoption and sustainment of new care models and contractual arrangements.
Negotiation and conflict resolution skills to manage complex partner relationships and internal trade-offs.
High emotional intelligence, empathy, and cultural competency to partner effectively with clinicians and community stakeholders.
Analytical curiosity and problem-solving orientation with comfort operating in ambiguity and rapid change.
Time management and prioritization skills to balance competing strategic initiatives and operational demands.
Results-oriented mindset with a focus on measurable outcomes, continuous improvement, and accountability.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Healthcare Administration, Public Health, Nursing, Medicine, Economics, or related field.

Preferred Education:

MBA, MHA, MPH, or advanced clinical degree (MD, NP, RN) with strong business and strategy experience.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Healthcare Administration
Public Health / Population Health
Business Administration / Finance
Health Informatics / Data Analytics

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

8–15+ years of progressive healthcare strategy, population health, payer, provider, or consulting experience.

Preferred:

10+ years leading strategy or population health programs with demonstrated success in value-based care contracting, leading cross-functional teams, and delivering measurable clinical and financial results. Prior experience in a health system, health plan, large provider organization, or healthcare consultancy is strongly preferred.