Director of Strategic Partnerships — Frontera Health

Frontera is reimagining how children with autism and other behavioral health needs get the care they deserve. We bring together world-class clinicians, technologists, and autism specialists to build cutting-edge AI tools that help care teams work smarter and spend more time with the children and families who need them most.

Our platform is HIPAA-compliant and designed for the real-world needs of behavioral health teams - from psychologists to ABA therapists. By combining evidence-based care with powerful technology, we’re expanding access to high-quality services for families everywhere.

Our Mission

Frontera exists to close the care gap: every child, no matter where they live, should be able to access effective behavioral healthcare.

About Frontera

Frontera is building the AI infrastructure for pediatric behavioral health. We combine technology with real clinical operations to help providers, health systems, and payers expand access, increase clinical capacity, improve care coordination, and deliver better outcomes for children and families. Our technology is embedded directly into our own clinical operations, allowing us to build, deploy, and refine products against real workflows, real patient journeys, and real operating constraints.

That puts Frontera at an unusual intersection: we are an AI technology company with technology deeply embedded in clinical care delivery. We can engage a children’s hospital on clinical capacity, an MCO on access and total cost of care, a provider organization on operating leverage, and a state Medicaid program on network adequacy and access, often as part of the same partnership. This role is designed to turn that position into durable strategic relationships, scaled distribution, and meaningful revenue.

The role

You will build and own Frontera’s strategic partnership portfolio across interconnected channels, including integrated pediatric behavioral health organizations, children’s hospitals and academic medical centers, Managed Care Organizations (MCOs), and state and local government. These are not siloed partnership tracks. The highest value opportunities often sit at the intersection of multiple stakeholders and require someone who can navigate clinical, operational, payer, and government conversations simultaneously.

This is a senior individual contributor role with the expectation of building a small team over time. You will spend the majority of your time in the market, developing relationships with health system executives, Medicaid leaders, government stakeholders, and CMOs and other senior leaders within managed care organizations. You will translate those relationships into signed agreements, pilots, and scalable commercial partnerships, and then help operationalize them into revenue generating programs, referral pipelines, and expanded deployment of Frontera’s AI enabled technology and services.

What you will own

1. Integrated Pediatric Behavioral Health Organizations: Develop and expand enterprise partnerships with scaled pediatric behavioral health, autism care, and integrated care delivery organizations. Structure partnerships that combine Frontera’s AI-enabled technology, clinical services, referral pathways, and operating capabilities to create meaningful revenue and strategic distribution.
2. Children’s Hospitals & Academic Medical Centers: Build partnerships with children’s hospitals, academic medical centers, and pediatric health systems around diagnostic coordination, outpatient referrals, care navigation, clinical capacity, and technology deployment. These are complex, multi-stakeholder negotiations requiring you to navigate clinical leadership, service-line executives, care coordination teams, innovation leaders, and contracting functions to move from initial relationship to signed agreement and operational launch.
3. Managed Care Organizations (MCOs): Structure and negotiate pilots, network partnerships, preferred provider arrangements, value-based models, and other strategic agreements with Medicaid managed care organizations and commercial health plans. Translate Frontera’s clinical outcomes, access improvements, AI enabled efficiency, and network capabilities into a compelling economic and clinical value proposition for payer partners.
4. State & Local Government: Develop partnerships with state Medicaid agencies, early intervention programs, Developmental Disabilities authorities, counties, municipalities, and other relevant government entities. Navigate public sector contracting, procurement, waiver programs, grants, and state-specific reimbursement structures to create scalable pathways for Frontera’s technology and services.
5. Cross Channel Partnership Development: Identify and develop opportunities that sit at the intersection of health systems, managed care, provider organizations, and government. The strongest partnerships may involve multiple stakeholders and you will be expected to hold those conversations simultaneously and structure a unified partnership model.
6. Partnership Pipeline & Commercialization: Own the partnership lifecycle from initial relationship through signed agreement, pilot launch, operationalization, and expansion. Maintain a disciplined pipeline in HubSpot and work cross functionally with clinical operations, product, finance, and customer teams to ensure partnerships move beyond signing into revenue-generating programs, durable referral pipelines, and expanded deployment of Frontera’s AI-enabled services. Report partnership sourced revenue, referral volume, pipeline value, conversion, and expansion metrics to the CCO and executive team on a regular cadence.

What you will deliver in the first 90 days

• A partnership market map for each channel tied to H2 goals and 2027 AOP expansion targets
• Active conversations with at least twenty (20) prospects in the market
• Partner playbook development covering procurement pathway and key stakeholder maps
• A partnership revenue forecast tied to the commercial AOP, with leading indicators the CCO can track weekly
• Fully executed enterprise partnership in H2 and pipeline to cover Q1 2027 revenue targets

Who you are

You have closed complex, multi-stakeholder deals in healthcare.You are comfortable in a boardroom with a health system CMO and on a call with a Medicaid contract administrator the same week. You understand that these channels move slowly and that the work is relationship capital built over quarters, not sprints, and you have the patience and the follow-through to close anyway.

Must haves:

• Willingness to travel approximately 60% of the time, including frequent travel to New Mexico and other priority strategic markets
• 6+ years of experience in strategic partnerships, business development, enterprise sales, or market development, with at least 3 years focused on health systems, managed care organizations, government, or other complex healthcare accounts
• Demonstrated track record of closing and operationalizing complex enterprise partnerships, including referral agreements, pilot programs, value based arrangements, strategic partnerships, or public sector contracts
• Deep familiarity with Medicaid managed care, including how MCOs evaluate provider partners, assess access and network needs, structure pilots, and contract with behavioral health organizations
• Strong understanding of health system decision making and organizational structures, with the ability to navigate clinical, operational, population health, strategy, finance, and contracting stakeholders
• Experience developing relationships with senior healthcare leaders, including health system executives, Medicaid leaders, MCO CMOs, clinical leaders, and government stakeholders
• Ability to manage long, complex sales and partnership cycles involving multiple stakeholders, competing priorities, and cross functional internal teams
• Experience with state or local government healthcare programs, including Medicaid, early intervention, Developmental Disabilities authorities, waiver programs, or other public sector health initiatives
• Commercial orientation with a track record of turning strategic relationships into signed agreements, revenue, referral volume, market expansion, or measurable business outcomes
• Ability to operate as a senior individual contributor today while building the systems, playbooks, and foundation for a small partnerships team over time

Bonus:

• Experience in healthcare services or broader behavioral health
• Existing relationships with MCO contracting or value based care teams at regional Medicaid focused plans
• Familiarity with EHR integration and interoperability technology partnership structures
• Experience with state or federal grant programs that fund behavioral health access

How we work

Clinician-first, evidence-led, and direct. We do not oversell what the AI does, we do not paper over outcomes with buzzwords, and we take the trust of the families and clinicians we serve seriously. Partnership agreements go through clinical and legal review — you will work alongside our clinical team to ensure every deal reflects what Frontera actually delivers.

You will work closely with the CCO, Head of Clinical, Head of Finance, and our VP of Product. You will represent Frontera in the market with the full backing of the executive team.

We have determined a salary range for this position that takes into account several factors including experience, knowledge, education, skills, and abilities. Please note that the salary information is a general guideline and the exact salary will be determined based on the individual’s qualifications and experience, with consideration given to the factors listed above. All full-time employee benefits include a stake in shared success through stock options, health benefits, 401(k) plan, and 4 weeks of PTO per year.

Expected Salary Range in Denver: $150,000 to $180,00, plus competitive variable compensation based on partnership outcomes.

Expected Salary Range in San Francisco: $170,000 to $200,000, plus competitive variable compensation based on partnership outcomes.

Why Frontera?

• Opportunity to be at the forefront of innovation in pediatric healthcare.
• Work on challenging and impactful projects that leverage cutting-edge technologies.
• Collaborate with a talented and passionate team in a fast-paced and dynamic environment.
• Make a real difference in the lives of children and families in rural communities.
• Competitive salary and benefits package.

Our Denver Office & Perks

• Dog-friendly office.
• Catered lunch from local Denver restaurants five days a week, plus occasional breakfasts and dinners.
• Robust snack program and great coffee options (including cappuccino machine and cold brew cans).
• Regular team events and low-key socials.
• Up to $150/month commuter stipend, discounted nearby parking, and a discounted Colorado Athletic Club membership.
• Thoughtfully designed space for focus, collaboration, and connection.
• Competitive health benefits, stock options, 401(k), and generous PTO.

Join us in building the future of behavioral healthcare!