Senior Director, R&D Venture Delivery

Vizient, Inc; United States; Remote; USD 135,000 - 237,000; Full time

Job summary

Vizient seeks a builder-minded product and execution leader to turn ambiguity into progress across early-stage ventures. You’ll partner with venture leadership to move ideas from concept to validated product direction and early build execution.

You’ll translate strategy into priorities, roadmaps, and measurable outcomes, lead cross-functional teams, and drive client-facing workstreams from discovery to launch readiness.

Responsibilities

• Lead cross-functional execution across early-stage ventures with engineering, data science, commercial, legal, privacy, compliance and operations.
• Prepare and facilitate client working sessions, discovery conversations, pilot reviews and executive touchpoints.
• Translate venture strategy and customer insight into clear priorities, roadmaps and measurable outcomes.
• Clarify problems, test assumptions, define MVPs and keep teams focused on user and business value.
• Design venture operating systems with planning rhythms, build reviews and milestone tracking.
• Create clarity in ambiguity and surface the right questions to move decisions forward.
• Promote modern ways of working: discovery, rapid learning, agile delivery, experimentation and continuous improvement.
• Identify risks and dependencies early and drive practical solutions.

Skills

Product operations

Cross-functional leadership

Strategic planning

Client-facing leadership

Discovery strategy

Executive presence

Stakeholder influence

Healthcare domain

Job description

When you’re the best, we’re the best. We instill an environment where employees feel engaged, satisfied and able to contribute their unique skills and talents while living and working as their authentic selves. We provide extensive opportunities for personal and professional development, building both employee competence and organizational capability to fuel exceptional performance through an inclusive environment both now and in the future. Vizient R&D is building new ventures that help healthcare organizations solve complex, high-impact problems. These ventures often begin with ambiguity: emerging client needs, early ideas, evolving business models, and cross-functional teams working quickly to determine what should exist and how to bring it to market responsibly.

We’re looking for a builder-minded product and execution leader to help turn that ambiguity into progress. In this role, you’ll partner with venture leadership to move ideas from concept to validated product direction to early build execution. You’ll bring strong judgment, design awareness, client orientation, and operating discipline. You’ll also play a key role in structuring and driving client-facing workstreams, ensuring that client discovery, feedback, pilots, implementation planning, and executive touchpoints are tightly connected to venture strategy, product development, and our internal milestones. This is a role for someone who can shape how early-stage ventures are discovered, designed, built, piloted, launched, and prepared to scale.

What you’ll do

• Lead cross-functional execution across early-stage ventures, partnering with engineering, data science, commercial, legal, privacy, compliance, and operations teams.
• Prepare and facilitate client working sessions, discovery conversations, pilot reviews, and executive touchpoints that build trust, alignment, and momentum.
• Translate venture strategy, customer insight, and vision into clear priorities, roadmaps, operating plans, and measurable outcomes.
• Clarify customer problems, pressure-test assumptions, define MVPs, shape discovery plans, and keep teams focused on user, customer, and business value.
• Design and run lightweight venture operating systems, including planning rhythms, build reviews, milestone tracking, launch readiness, risk reviews, and executive reporting.
• Create clarity in ambiguous environments by surfacing the right questions, structuring decisions, and helping teams move forward without unnecessary process.
• Help teams adopt modern ways of working, including customer discovery, rapid learning loops, agile delivery, disciplined experimentation, prototyping, and continuous improvement.
• Identify risks, dependencies, resourcing constraints, and unclear ownership early, then drive practical solutions.

You may be a good fit if you

• Have 10 or more years of experience leading complex work in product-led, technology-enabled, consulting, innovation, or venture-building environments.
• Have operated as a product operations leader, product strategy lead, chief of staff, strategic program leader, venture operator, business operations leader, or senior cross-functional execution lead.
• Have led client-facing workstreams and can translate client input into product, pilot, and go-to-market decisions.
• Bring strong fluency across discovery, strategy, design tradeoffs, prioritization, MVP definition, launch readiness, experimentation, and success metrics.
• Can bring structure to ambiguity without creating bureaucracy, moving easily between strategy and detail.
• Have executive presence, low ego, and the ability to influence senior stakeholders without needing to own every decision.
• Strong candidates may also have Experience in healthcare, healthcare technology, data, analytics, AI, enterprise software, consulting, or other regulated environments.
• Experience supporting zero-to-one or one-to-scale product development.
• Experience introducing new tools, AI-enabled workflows, automation, prototyping methods, or knowledge management practices.
• Experience partnering with commercial teams on market validation, customer feedback, launch planning, pricing, packaging, or go-to-market readiness.
• A track record of improving how teams learn from customers, make product decisions, manage dependencies, communicate, and hold themselves accountable.

Estimated Hiring Range:

At Vizient, we consider skills, experience, and organizational needs in our compensation approach. Geographic factors may adjust the range estimate and hires typically fall below the top range. Compensation decisions are tailored to individual circumstances. The current salary range for this role is $135,200.00 to $236,600.00. This position is also incentive eligible.

Vizient has a comprehensive benefits plan! Please view our benefits here: http://www.vizientinc.com/about-us/careers

Equal Opportunity Employer: Females/Minorities/Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

The Company is committed to equal employment opportunity to all employees and applicants without regard to race, religion, color, gender identity, ethnicity, age, national origin, sexual orientation, disability status, veteran status or any other category protected by applicable law.

Working at Vizient means shaping the future of healthcare, every day. Alongside our clients, we're building a healthier, more human healthcare system. We connect people, data, and solutions to enable healthcare organizations to improve financial sustainability, enhance system performance, and deliver better care.

Headquartered in Irving, Texas, with 11 offices across the United States, Vizient has more than 5,000 employees who bring deep expertise and a shared commitment to transforming healthcare. Together, we're solving some of the industry's most complex challenges while creating opportunities to learn, grow, and drive lasting change for healthcare organizations and the communities they serve.

Through our enterprise of companies, we deliver meaningful impact across the continuum of care: Apexus - The exclusive contractor for 340B Drug Pricing Program, managed by the Health Resources and Services Administration. aptitude - The industry's first online direct contracting market, supporting self-contracting activity between hospitals and suppliers. Kaufman Hall - Leading healthcare advisory services to support our clients in achieving financial, clinical, and operational excellence. Provista - Proven supply chain partner specializing in extended, diagnostic, and preventive care facilities, including surgery centers, home health, and senior living.