Director, Industry Insights & Perspective

athenahealth•Boston, MA

3d•$136,000 - $230,000•Remote

About The Position

athenahealth is seeking a leader in healthcare research and thought leadership to establish an influential, data-informed perspective on the future of healthcare. The Director, Industry Insights & Perspectives will be responsible for athenahealth’s multi-year research and insights agenda, leading a team to execute it. Leveraging one of the largest connected data networks in ambulatory care, this leader will identify key questions, transform evidence into compelling industry perspectives, and build a body of work that grows in authority and influence. This role is both a research leadership position and a highly visible external-facing role, serving as the primary representative of athenaInstitute and athenahealth’s proprietary research to executives, healthcare leaders, policymakers, analysts, media, and other key audiences through various communication channels. The ideal candidate possesses deep healthcare expertise, intellectual curiosity, strong research judgment, exceptional communication skills, and a clear point of view. While an established public profile is not required, the candidate must be a seasoned, credible presenter ready to become a recognized voice for athenahealth’s industry perspectives. The Director will lead the Research & Thought Leadership team within Brand & Communications, reporting to the VP, Brand & Communications.

Requirements

10+ years of progressively responsible experience in healthcare research, insights, strategy, analytics, consulting, industry analysis, health policy, or a related field.
Deep knowledge of the U.S. healthcare ecosystem and sufficient experience with healthcare delivery, economics, policy, clinical operations, payer-provider dynamics, or adjacent areas to engage credibly with healthcare data and senior industry leaders from day one.
Demonstrated ability to shape meaningful perspectives from research and evidence — for example through research reports, publications, industry analysis, advisory work, executive presentations, or other substantive thought leadership.
Strong research judgment and the ability to frame important questions, evaluate analytic approaches, interpret results, challenge assumptions, and pressure-test conclusions. This role does not require the Director to personally perform advanced quantitative analysis.
Exceptional strategic and critical thinking, with a demonstrated ability to connect individual findings to larger industry forces, identify emerging questions and whitespace, and develop a clear point of view supported by evidence.
Exceptional writing and communication skills, with the ability to translate complex healthcare topics and analyses into clear, compelling perspectives for senior executives and external audiences.
Significant presentation experience and strong executive presence, with the credibility and confidence to represent research in settings such as executive meetings, conference stages, panels, analyst discussions, and media interviews.
Experience leading and developing people, setting direction for a team, and creating clarity and accountability around priorities and outcomes.
Proven ability to lead complex cross-functional work through influence, judgment, and credibility.
Familiarity with healthcare data and the privacy, governance, methodological, and reputational considerations involved in using healthcare data for external research.
Willingness to travel to high-value conferences, speaking engagements, customer meetings, media opportunities, and other forums where athenahealth’s research can influence priority audiences.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree in public health, health policy, health economics, health services research, medicine, business, or a related discipline; MPH, MD, PhD, MBA, or comparable graduate degree preferred.
Experience developing research or thought leadership using large-scale healthcare, clinical, operational, claims, financial, or other real-world datasets.
Experience in healthcare technology or at the intersection of healthcare delivery, technology, research, and market strategy.
Experience working within or closely alongside a communications, corporate affairs, marketing, or brand organization and an understanding of how rigorous research can build reputation and influence.

Responsibilities

Lead athenahealth’s research and insights agenda by defining and evolving a multi-year portfolio of research and thought leadership that establishes a coherent point of view on the forces shaping healthcare and builds authority over time.
Identify emerging issues, unanswered questions, and industry whitespace where athenahealth’s network data, customer relationships, and healthcare expertise can produce differentiated insight.
Guide and pressure-test the interpretation of quantitative and qualitative research, connecting individual findings to larger healthcare trends and ensuring that athenahealth’s conclusions are credible, differentiated, and supported by evidence.
Lead a high-performing research and thought leadership team, setting direction, developing talent, establishing priorities, and shaping the team’s capabilities to deliver an ambitious research agenda.
Serve as the primary external voice of athenaInstitute research, representing athenahealth’s research and perspectives in keynotes, panels, press interviews, analyst conversations, customer forums, and other high-value industry settings.
Author and guide major research reports, perspectives, articles, presentations, and other publications that make complex findings accessible, memorable, and useful to influential healthcare audiences.
Build an integrated perspective on healthcare’s future by establishing and sequencing priority areas of inquiry across healthcare delivery and system performance, including patient access, AI and technology, value-based care, financial performance, payer-provider dynamics, interoperability, and emerging issues.
Own the impact of the work, using quantitative and qualitative signals such as engagement by priority audiences, media and analyst interest, speaking opportunities, stakeholder feedback, and pull-through across athenahealth channels to continuously sharpen the agenda.
Develop strong relationships with healthcare executives, customers, subject-matter experts, researchers, policymakers, analysts, media, and industry organizations to bring outside perspectives into athenahealth’s research agenda and extend the reach of the work.
Stay deeply connected to healthcare market, policy, regulatory, technology, and delivery-system developments and translate meaningful shifts into new questions and perspectives for athenahealth.
Partner with Brand & Communications and the broader Marketing team to translate research into the broader athenahealth corporate narrative and extend insights across relevant channels.
Develop compelling abstracts, narratives, presentations, and supporting materials for external speaking opportunities and contribute research-driven programming to athenahealth’s speakers bureau.
Identify the conferences, forums, media opportunities, analyst conversations, and other external platforms most important to athenahealth’s priority audiences, and actively take the research into those venues.