Head of Payer Strategy and Partnerships

Alpaca Health; New York (NY); On-site; USD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Meaningful equity

Health benefits

Flexible PTO

Dinner when working late

Job summary

Alpaca Health is seeking a Head of Payer Partnerships based in New York City to enhance payer relationships within the autism therapy sector. In this full-time role, you will lead negotiations with health insurance payers, improve reimbursement strategies, and create referral pathways to provide better services. Your experience in stakeholder management and healthcare strategy will be crucial in navigating complex discussions. The position offers competitive salary, equity, health benefits, and flexible vacation.

Qualifications

• 4-6 years of experience in payer partnerships or healthcare strategy.
• Experience leading complex stakeholder conversations.
• Ability to thrive in unstructured environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead payer contracting and reimbursement negotiations.
• Improve fee schedules and contract terms.
• Create and operationalize referral pathway partnerships.
• Support value-based care initiatives.

Skills

Experience with health insurance payers

Senior-level stakeholder management

Systems thinking

Negotiation skills

Job description

This role is full-time. We’re looking for candidates based in NYC or open to relocating who are open to 5 days a week in the office.

Role: Head of Payer Partnerships

We are hiring a Head of Payer Partnerships to expand and strengthen Alpaca Health’s payer ecosystem.

This role sits at the intersection of healthcare strategy, contracting, operations, and market expansion. You will help independent autism therapy practices access better reimbursement, faster growth, and stronger payer relationships through Alpaca’s platform.

You will own the strategic relationships and operational systems that power payer access across the country, from negotiating rates and opening new markets to building referral pathways and laying the groundwork for value-based care models.

What You’ll Do

• Lead payer contracting and reimbursement negotiations across commercial and, where possible, government payers
• Improve fee schedules, contract terms, and network positioning for Alpaca Health and partner practices
• Create and operationalize referral pathway partnerships with health insurance payers
• Partner closely with operations, credentialing, clinical quality, and product teams to improve payer readiness and network performance
• Support long-term value-based care initiatives, including outcomes tracking, quality measurement, and payer reporting infrastructure
• Help position Alpaca as the preferred independent-provider network for autism care
• Build repeatable internal systems for contract tracking, payer communications, escalation management, and market launch readiness
• Work cross-functionally with leadership on expansion strategy, payer mix optimization, and network strategy

Who You Are

• You have 4-6 years of experience, with a GTM experience with health insurance payers
• You have experience leading senior-level, complex stakeholder conversations and can represent the company externally
• You are extremely ambitious and want to build something meaningful at high velocity.
• You thrive in environments with little structure and high accountability.
• You are a systems thinker who instinctively turns chaos into repeatable processes.
• You value the ability to experiment quickly and pivot as needed, over executing pre-defined checklists.

Why Join

• Direct exposure to company-building at an early stage.
• Real ownership of critical initiatives from day one.
• The opportunity to materially impact families and clinicians.
• A fast learning curve that few roles can match.
• Strong compensation package

Competitive salary
Meaningful equity
Health benefits
Flexible PTO
Dinner when working late