Vice President, Payor Relations (RCA)

Cencora•Remote, KY

About The Position

The VP, Payer Relations will define and lead the enterprise payor relations and market access strategy, developing executive-level insights on payor trends, reimbursement, coverage policies, and contracting opportunities. The position will build senior relationships with payors and managed care stakeholders, oversee negotiations, and partner cross-functionally with Legal, Compliance, Finance, Operations, Commercial, and Technology teams to ensure strategies are compliant, financially sound, and operationally executable. It will also drive payor analytics, KPI development, governance rhythms, and performance management to support strategic planning, growth initiatives, and improved reimbursement outcomes. Additionally, the role will help create and scale a Clinically Integrated Network strategy, lead regional payor value proposition deployment, and build team capabilities, processes, and tools to support long-term market access success.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree (MBA, MHA, MPH) preferred. Will consider candidates with work experience in lieu of education.
12 years of progressive experience in payor relations, managed care, market access, reimbursement strategy, healthcare contracting, or related fields; significant leadership experience required.
Demonstrated track record of senior-level payor engagement and complex negotiation experience with measurable business impact.
Strong understanding of reimbursement and managed care dynamics; ability to connect policy/contract terms to operational and financial outcomes.
Exceptional executive communication skills with the ability to synthesize complex topics into clear recommendations.
Proven ability to lead cross-functional programs in matrixed environments.

Responsibilities

Define and lead the enterprise payor relations and market access strategy, aligning priorities to the company’s strategic plan.
Establish a comprehensive view of the payor landscape (commercial, Medicare, Medicaid, and managed care as applicable) including coverage policy trends, reimbursement methodologies, and emerging management practices.
Own the development of executive-ready payor intelligence (insights, scenarios, implications, and recommendations) to support strategic planning, service line decisions, and growth initiatives.
Build and maintain senior-level relationships with key payors, health plans, and other managed care stakeholders.
Lead or oversee negotiations on coverage policies, reimbursement terms, and contract provisions, ensuring alignment with enterprise objectives and risk posture.
Partner with Legal, Compliance, Finance, and relevant business leaders to ensure payor contracting approaches are compliant, financially sound, and operationally executable.
Serve as the primary payor strategy partner to internal stakeholders across Commercial, Finance, Operations, Product/Services, and Data/Technology.
Translate payor requirements and policy changes into business impacts and coordinated action plans (commercial messaging, operational readiness, provider/customer support, etc.).
Establish governance and operating rhythms (QBRs, payor reviews, escalation pathways) to ensure alignment, prioritization, and follow-through.
Leverage RCA’s capabilities to build and continuously improve payor analytics (reimbursement performance, denial drivers, policy impacts, contract economics, access barriers, and opportunity sizing).
Define KPIs and dashboards to measure outcomes such as coverage gains, reimbursement performance, contract value realization, and cycle-time improvements.
Monitor regulatory and policy developments and provide proactive POVs and “so-what” implications for leadership.
Forge the creation and rollout of the CIN structure in collaboration with the Cencora MSO platform team (governance, participation standards, quality measures, performance management).
Partner with Legal/Compliance on CIN design and documentation (antitrust and contracting considerations).
Develop the CIN payor value proposition and lead regional deployment in select markets.
Establish dashboards/scorecards to demonstrate improvement and strengthen the “value story” that RCA brings to its patients
Lead, coach, and develop a team of payor relations leaders and/or supporting analysts; build scalable processes, playbooks, and knowledge management.
Manage budgets and external vendors/partners supporting market access analytics, policy intelligence, or contracting support as needed.