Director of Payer Strategy and Connectivity

McKesson is an impact-driven, Fortune 10 company that touches virtually every aspect of healthcare. We are known for delivering insights, products, and services that make quality care more accessible and affordable. Here, we focus on the health, happiness, and well-being of you and those we serve – we care.

What you do at McKesson matters. We foster a culture where you can grow, make an impact, and are empowered to bring new ideas. Together, we thrive as we shape the future of health for patients, our communities, and our people. If you want to be part of tomorrow’s health today, we want to hear from you.

As the Director of Payer Strategy & Connectivity, you will serve as the senior member of our Payer Strategy and Connectivity team. While this is an individual contributor position, you will play a pivotal leadership role—coaching peers, influencing cross-functional teams, and driving strategic initiatives that shape our payer partnerships and connectivity strategy.

You will be responsible for evaluating and refining existing assets within CoverMyMeds and McKesson while also scouting external solutions and investment opportunities. Your in-depth knowledge of traditional Payers and PBMs will guide you in identifying the value levers that encourage Payers to connect with CoverMyMeds. In addition, this role may flex to include new strategic focuses, whether in analytics or other emerging opportunities, based on evolving business needs. Collaboration, comfort with ambiguity, decisive leadership, and strong executive presence will be critical to your success.

Develop and Execute a Payer Connectivity Strategy

• Build and refine a strategic vision for payer connectivity that drives measurable value for our payer and PBM partners.
• Evaluate existing internal assets and identify market gaps or external solutions to enhance CoverMyMeds’ capabilities.
• Work closely with BD and CSBD teams to assess potential partnerships, investments, or acquisitions that strengthen our payer value proposition.
• Remain open to shifting focus as business needs evolve, potentially supporting analytics, data-driven initiatives, or other strategic capabilities.

Lead Cross-Functional Initiatives (Without Direct Staff Management)

• Serve as a “player-coach” by guiding product and engineering teams in designing and executing solutions that align with payer needs.
• Influence and coordinate with teams across the organization to ensure timely, high-quality delivery on strategic initiatives.
• Foster a collaborative environment, encouraging debate, aligning on decisions, and committing to execution.

Collaborate with Internal Stakeholders to Drive Innovation

• Partner with internal teams (e.g., Product, Engineering, Marketing, Core Network) to shape and refine capabilities for the payer market.
• Identify and prioritize opportunities that balance short-term business needs with long-term strategic objectives.
• Continuously monitor KPI performance and industry trends to adjust roadmaps and optimize solutions.

Engage Directly with Payer Executives

• Represent CoverMyMeds in high-stakes discussions and presentations with senior payer and PBM executives.
• Clearly articulate the business case, value proposition, and strategic partnership opportunities to industry leaders.
• Demonstrate executive presence when pitching partnerships and solutions, instilling confidence in our capabilities.

Drive Thought Leadership and Market Insight

• Maintain a deep understanding of payer and PBM market dynamics, including regulatory changes, competitive trends, and emerging technologies.
• Act as a subject matter expert and trusted advisor on payer connectivity both internally and externally.
• Gather customer and market feedback to inform product development and strategy updates.

Influence Culture & Mentor Others

• While not a people manager, serve as a coach and mentor to colleagues across teams, sharing best practices and industry insights.
• Champion collaboration, proactive problem-solving, and a bias for action to help teams navigate ambiguity.
• Model “debate-decide-commit” behaviors to drive clarity and accountability in decision-making.

About You

• Extensive Healthcare Expertise: Deep understanding of the health plan and PBM landscape, including payer priorities and market drivers.
• Product Management Acumen: 10+ years of experience in product development or product management, ideally in an agile software environment.
• Strategic Mindset: Proven ability to develop holistic strategies that account for market dynamics, regulatory landscapes, and business objectives.
• Business Development & M&A Awareness: Comfortable assessing partnership and acquisition opportunities, collaborating with BD/CSBD teams, and shaping investment strategies.
• Executive Presence: Confident communicator with the ability to present complex concepts to C-level executives, negotiate effectively, and secure stakeholder buy-in.
• Comfort with Ambiguity: Skilled at navigating gray areas, making informed decisions quickly, and adapting to evolving priorities.
• Influential Leadership: Demonstrated experience leading and motivating cross-functional or matrixed teams without direct authority.
• Bias for Action: Self-starter who proactively seeks ways to add value, remove roadblocks, and accelerate progress on strategic goals.
• Collaboration & Relationship-Building: Natural collaborator who can bring diverse stakeholders together, foster healthy debate, and drive consensus.
• Bonus Skills:
  • Familiarity with the medical prior authorization process or broader healthcare workflows.
  • Demonstrated ability to pivot quickly and excel in new product or strategic focus areas as business needs evolve.
  • Deep product expertise and a proven track record of switching contexts and domains with agility.
• Travel: Able to travel up to 20% for customer visits and industry events.

This role offers an exciting opportunity to shape CoverMyMeds’ payer connectivity strategy and directly impact how patients access their medications. If you’re a self-driven, strategic thinker who thrives in a fast-paced, innovative environment, we’d love to meet you.

We are proud to offer a competitive compensation package at McKesson as part of our Total Rewards. This is determined by several factors, including performance, experience and skills, equity, regular job market evaluations, and geographical markets. The pay range shown below is aligned with McKesson's pay philosophy, and pay will always be compliant with any applicable regulations. In addition to base pay, other compensation, such as an annual bonus or long-term incentive opportunities may be offered. For more information regarding benefits at McKesson, please click here.

Our Base Pay Range for this position

McKesson is an Equal Opportunity Employer

McKesson provides equal employment opportunities to applicants and employees and is committed to a diverse and inclusive environment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, age or genetic information. For additional information on McKesson’s full Equal Employment Opportunity policies, visit our Equal Employment Opportunity page.

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