Vice President of Partnerships and Community Engagement (Reproductive Healthcare)

Position Summary

The Vice President of Partnerships & Community Engagement (VP of PCE) is a senior leader, reporting to the President & Chief Operating Officer. The VP of PCE is the key accountable party for setting and achieving the organization’s growth targets, ensuring Upstream realizes its mission of reaching 5 million patients of reproductive age by 2030. 

This VP of PCE designs a national strategy that leverages the highest-yield tactics within a cost envelope.  Tactics include, but are not limited to growing, formalizing, and sustaining external partnerships with healthcare organizations (FQHCs, health systems), key government officials, healthcare associations and membership bodies, payors and government entities, and community stakeholders to expand our programmatic reach to amplify our mission and impact across current and new geographies.

This VP of PCE acts as a guide and key collaborator to the Regional Executive Directors who are charged with adapting the national strategy for their regional context. This role also provides critical input to inform the Marketing and Communications team on how to position Upstream’s value proposition and program to diverse audiences.

The VP of PCE will oversee three regional teams (each of whom has a leader with a dotted line relationship with a Regional Executive Director) and a centralized national team to drive an integrated approach to partnership recruitment, business development and relationship management. This role will directly lead health system recruitment, manage relationships with healthcare associations, supervise team operations and enablement functions, and support cross-regional collaboration and learning. This role is also responsible for building and leading a high-performing team that is focused on pipeline development, partner engagement, and conversion. Bringing a disciplined, data-driven and individualized approach to growth, the VP will foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, and inclusivity across a geographically dispersed team, while ensuring consistency and standardization across the regions.

This position is ideal for a mission-driven, strategic leader with deep experience in selling to healthcare audiences, setting a national growth strategy, business development, and stakeholder engagement, with a track record of building partnerships that deliver both mission and organizational value.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Vision

• Develop and articulate a compelling national vision for partnerships and expansion, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and long-term sustainability.
• Has a systems lens and a refined understanding of how Upstream’s offerings fit within the landscape of contraceptive care funding and policy in order to craft and drive outreach strategies that are responsive to stakeholder and prospective partner priorities.
• Establish strategic pathways for partnerships in new and existing markets, maximizing organizational value and community impact.
• Establish clarity on the value proposition for various partner types of working with Upstream the demonstrates understanding of funding flows (e.g., Medicaid, ACA, grants) to our partners and data and measures to which they are held accountable
• Accelerate Upstream's strategic approach to partnering with health systems, (e.g., adjusting our research, analysis and presentation approach, use of grant resources) to convey a compelling value proposition to health system decision makers.
• Explore payor strategies and leverage regulatory changes to accelerate growth strategies partnering with the Policy team as appropriate.

Operationalize Partnerships Strategy

• Assess new market types for program fit and growth potential, using data to drive recommendations.
• Provide regular updates to executive leadership on pipeline health, emerging opportunities, and prioritization and tradeoffs to inform decision-making.
• Design scalable, operationally feasible partnerships that support efficient use of resources and sustainable growth.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with senior leaders, specifically the Regional Executive Directors, to shape and execute market entry, expansion strategies, and growth priorities.
• Develop and monitor KPIs related to partnership recruitment, regional expansion, and overall growth objectives.
• Build and optimize the team structure, as well as operations and enablement functions necessary to deliver on growth priorities and ensure long-term effectiveness.

Partnership Recruitment & Business Development

• Oversee partner recruitment and onboarding, ensuring successful engagement of healthcare institutions, hospital systems, public agencies, and other partners.
• Drive the progression of prospects through the partnership pipeline—from initial outreach to MOUs/contracts—ensuring timely, mission-aligned conversion.
• Act as the internal expert on funnel health, leveraging data such as conversion rates and cycle times to inform strategic recommendations and decisions.
• Set and implement business development strategy, leveraging data-driven market analysis to inform growth priorities.
• Oversee the development of high-impact proposals, presentations, and communications aligned with partner needs.
• Explore and implement innovative partnership models to support sustainable growth and deepen impact.

Stakeholder & Community Engagement

• Build and maintain relationships with healthcare executives, public health officials, and community stakeholders.
• Serve as a visible ambassador and thought leader, representing Upstream at national conferences, policy forums, webinars, and other high-profile engagements.
• Cultivate and steward senior-level relationships with healthcare leaders, public agencies, and cross-sector partners to unlock new opportunities and increase brand visibility.
• Collaborate with Marketing & Communications leadership to align stakeholder engagement with broader messaging, and brand strategies.
• Collect and share feedback from prospective and current healthcare organizations, as well as team members, to inform marketing and communications engagement approaches.
• Work closely with Creative Services to plan events and activities that support a warm recruitment environment and steward current and launched partners.
• Maintain executive engagement in key partnerships, serving as both a trusted external advisor and an internal champion for partner success.

Team Leadership

• Lead and develop a high-performing Partnerships & Community Engagement team, fostering accountability, ownership, and continuous learning.
• Lead sales operations and enablement functions including data utilization, training tools and resources development, and messaging to strengthen partner engagement and consistency across regions.
• Collaborate closely with leaders across many Upstream verticals inclusive of Practice Transformation, MEL, Development/External Affairs, Strategy, Finance, Policy, and Marketing & Communications to ensure seamless integration and unified execution of organizational goals.
• Oversee the PCE budget, ensuring fiscal responsibility and alignment with strategic priorities.

Operational Alignment with Expected Impact & Internal Collaboration

• Ensure strong alignment between partnership development, program implementation and sustainable impact, supporting partner gap analysis and readiness and a clear understanding of partners’ accountabilities throughout active engagement.
• Provide guidance on project scope, planning, and resource allocation to ensure partnerships are positioned for long-term success.
• Contribute to enterprise-wide initiatives, demonstrating agility, strategic thinking, and commitment to shared organizational impact.
• Additional duties as assigned.

Required Education, Experience, Knowledge, Skills and Ability

Upstream fosters a mission-oriented workplace and welcomes applicants of all backgrounds. The ideal candidate upholds our mission of accessible, patient-centered contraceptive care, builds trust through empathy and honesty, and contributes to a collaborative culture. They bring enthusiasm to their work, creating opportunities for connection and celebration.

• 12-15+ years of progressive business-to-business experience in sales, business development, or strategic partnerships, with at least 6 years in a senior leadership role managing high-performing sales teams and driving organizational growth within healthcare or public health; complex sales cycle experience is highly desirable.
• Has a healthcare systems lens demonstrating experience with Medicaid and other federal funding streams and an understanding of how federal and state funding, policies and measures impact health centers and hospital systems
• Proven track record of meeting and exceeding ambitious sales targets, with experience owning goals and building strategies that translate into measurable, scalable results; capable of fostering team accountability.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and motivate teams to achieve stretch goals in fast-paced, mission-driven environments. Experience setting clear performance expectations, coaching for results, and fostering a high-accountability culture; any experience assuming leadership of well tenured, high performing teams is a plus.
• Strategic thinker with proven ability to craft a compelling value proposition to diverse stakeholders anchored on their priorities
• Strong execution skills—able to develop actionable plans, forecast accurately, manage pipelines, and adapt sales strategy based on market trends, performance data, and evolving priorities.
• Exceptional interpersonal and influencing skills, with the ability to engage C-suite decision-makers, navigate complex institutional sales cycles, and build long-term, trust-based relationships.
• Data-driven and outcome-oriented, with experience using CRM systems, performance dashboards, and KPIs to manage team performance and drive decision-making.
• Experience working cross-functionally teams to align go-to-market strategies and ensure organizational readiness.
• Experience navigating diverse political and cultural environments, including payor and Medicaid offices, with a demonstrated ability to build trusted relationships across progressive, moderate, and conservative landscapes. Familiarity with the South and/or Midwest US is highly desirable.
• Entrepreneurial and mission-driven mindset, with a strong sense of initiative, ownership, and creative problem-solving. Determined and adaptable in the face of challenges, with a commitment to finding multiple paths to success.
• Willingness and ability to travel up to 35% across the US for external engagements, internal meetings, and team collaboration.
• Demonstrates the ability to remain focused, adaptable, and solution-oriented in the face of challenges, setbacks, or ambiguity. Approaches obstacles with a growth mindset and maintains a steady commitment to goals, even under pressure or changing circumstances; resilient.
• While we are a remotely based organization, we maintain an on-camera culture during meetings to support connection, engagement, teaming and collaboration. Must be comfortable and able to participate in this environment
• Valid Driver's License required

Valued and Non-Essential Education, Experience, Knowledge, Skills and Ability

• Bachelor's degree is preferred; advanced degree in healthcare, business, marketing, or a related field highly desirable.

Travel Requirements

This role will require up to 35% business travel. All Upstreamers can expect a minimum of 8 days of business travel per year to attend 1 annual organizational retreat and 1 or 2 annual team/department meetings.