Director, Ecosystem Partnerships

Verana Health•San Francisco, CA

9h•$176,000 - $220,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Verana Health is a digital health company that delivers quality drug lifecycle and medical practice insights from an exclusive real-world data network. The company recently secured a $150 million Series E funding round. Verana Health is driven to create quality real-world data in ophthalmology, neurology, urology, and oncology to accelerate quality insights across the drug lifecycle and within medical practices, ultimately aiming to advance the quality of care and quality of life for patients. The company's headquarters are in San Francisco, with additional offices in Knoxville, TN and New York City. Employees can work remotely in various states, and permanent residency in one of these states is required. Candidates willing to relocate are encouraged to apply. Priority consideration is given to candidates based in the Bay Area, New York City, and Knoxville, Tennessee, where the position follows a hybrid work model (3 days in office, remaining days remote). Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. and Verana Health is unable to sponsor employment visas at this time. Verana Health is revolutionizing patient care and clinical research by utilizing physician expertise and artificial intelligence to unlock the true potential of real-world data. With exclusive access to the world's largest patient data sources, Verana is powering real-world evidence generation to improve patient outcomes and accelerate the development of new therapies. The company is backed by industry leaders like Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc., Novo Growth, GV, Casdin Capital, and Merck Global Health Innovation Fund. Verana Health believes that diverse teams build better products and experiences and is committed to creating an inclusive environment. Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States, and visa sponsorship is not provided. While remote-friendly, there is a preference for candidates near the Bay Area or NYC office hubs.

Requirements

The Builder Mentality: You are comfortable in a fast-paced, scaling environment and have a "builder" mentality — you've stood up a partner program or operating model from scratch, not just run an existing one.
Collaborative Leadership: You've operated as a peer to another senior partnerships leader — dividing territory or coverage, aligning on strategy, and avoiding duplicated effort — without needing sole ownership of the function to be effective.
Therapeutic Fluency: You have a deep understanding of the RWD landscape, with specific familiarity in Oncology and at least one other Verana specialty (Ophthalmology, Urology, or Neurology).
The Rolodex: You bring existing, high-level relationships within the “Big 5” CROs and major Life Science consulting firms and data companies (e.g., ZS Associates, IQVIA, Komodo, AWS, Aetion/DataVant).
Technical Savvy: You understand the “plumbing” of health data — specifically tokenization, de-identification (HIPAA), and how data flows through clean rooms and APIs.
Strategic Storytelling: You can take complex, curated datasets and turn them into a compelling commercial narrative that resonates with executive-level stakeholders.
Program & Process Design: You have designed the scaffolding behind a partner ecosystem — segmentation models, onboarding playbooks, partner scorecards, or governance cadences — and can point to the operational discipline you put in place.
Professional Tenure: 12+ years of experience in Business Development, Strategic Partnerships/Alliances, or Channel Strategy within the HealthTech or Life Sciences data sectors, including experience operating at a senior/executive-facing level.
Proven Track Record: A demonstrated history of building and scaling partner ecosystems that deliver measurable company-sourced and partner-sourced bookings growth.
Industry Knowledge: Deep expertise in Real-World Data (RWD) & Real-World Evidence (RWE) and how it is utilized across the drug development lifecycle (from feasibility to post-market surveillance).
Education: Bachelor's degree in Business, Life Sciences, or a related field; MBA or advanced degree strongly preferred given the strategic scope of this role.
Travel: Ability to travel as needed (approx. 10-20%) to partner sites and industry conferences to represent the Verana Health brand and differentiated capabilities.

Responsibilities

Partner with Current Leadership to Set Ecosystem Strategy
Segment & Prioritize the Partner Landscape: Work alongside Verana's current partnerships leader to develop a shared framework that stratifies and prioritizes the partner ecosystem (CROs, consulting firms, data aggregators, and technology platforms) by strategic value, therapeutic fit, and revenue potential, and translate it into a multi-year ecosystem roadmap with clear ownership across the expanded team.
Divide & Expand Coverage: Help define how the partnerships team splits and scales coverage — by therapeutic area, partner type, or region — so Verana can pursue more relationships, deals, and bookings in parallel rather than sequentially through a single leader.
Architect the Ecosystem: Advance the company's partner programs to the next level, shaping a high-performance channel strategy that leverages Verana's full therapeutic breadth.
Establish Partner GTM Strategies: Drive new partner technology and data strategies, collaborating closely with Product, Data and Operations teams to fuel future revenue growth and inform the product roadmap.
Build the Operating Model
Design Partner Processes: Co-establish repeatable processes, governance, and working norms for partner onboarding, enablement, and ongoing relationship management — reducing time-to-productivity for new partners and creating a consistent cadence for pipeline building with key accounts across the growing team.
Enable Partner Success: Act as a co-evangelist (alongside the current partnerships leader) for Verana's data assets, creating "Partner-in-a-Box" resources and training programs that empower partners to sell Verana effectively.
Manage and Maintain: Own a dedicated portfolio of partner relationships, maintaining (and renewing) agreements as the business and its therapeutic priorities evolve, while ensuring consistent handoffs and coverage with the rest of the team.
Drive Incremental Bookings Through the Ecosystem
Recruit & Manage High-Value Partners: Identify, recruit, and manage your own portfolio of high-value partners that expand Verana's reach and add incremental company- and partner-sourced bookings on top of the existing book of business.
Extract More Value from Existing Partners: Work with the current partnerships leader to identify underleveraged relationships in the existing portfolio and build plans to deepen them — more deal flow, broader data usage, and expanded scope.
Navigate Complex Deals: Lead negotiations for data-sharing, white-labeling, and integrated service agreements with top-tier global CROs and data aggregators.
Collaborate Across the Business: Work closely with Product, Marketing, and Legal to ensure partners are trained on Verana's latest RWD assets, co-promote materials to life sciences customers, and maintain contractual relationships.
Monitor & Optimize: Track channel and partner performance metrics and pipeline health, providing the COO, SVP of Sales and executive leadership with clear visibility into ecosystem-led growth across the full partnerships team.