Principal, Payer & Risk Bearer Strategy and Stakeholder Intelligence

Thought Leadership & Market Intelligence

Develop and demonstrate deep expertise on trends impacting the payer market, including PBM reform, the shift to value-based care, evolution of government payment models, and risk bearers' data utilization behaviors. Maintain a contemporary view of key payer and health tech ecosystem innovators in the context of McKesson's strategy. Form and lead knowledge-sharing forums across the company focused on risk bearers to speed better-informed decision-making and elevate the enterprise's understanding of market dynamics, opportunities, and risks.

Payer Value Proposition Development

• Drive an aligned point of view on the near- and long-term role McKesson's business units and enterprise could and should play in enabling payers and participating in value-based care.
• Identify and prioritize new ways McKesson can create value for payers, PBMs, government agencies, employers, and other risk bearers as the market changes.
• Define and prioritize capability roadmap options (build/buy/partner) and contribute to shaping a holistic, long-range enterprise payer and digital health strategy.

CMS Health Tech Ecosystem Evaluation & Business Development

• Identify, evaluate, and advance partnership, acquisition, and investment opportunities among participants in the CMS Health Tech Ecosystem and adjacent digital health players.
• Maintain an ongoing pipeline of targets, develop business cases, market sizing analyses, and financial models to assess viability and strategic fit, and manage stakeholder relationships through the evaluation process.
• Assess opportunities that address populations that are indigent, use cash pay, are insured or underinsured, and that address social determinants of health.

Inform McKesson Strategy & Solution Development

• Partner with Business Unit teams (CSI, CMM, USON, Ontada, HealthMart) to support the exploration and execution of initiatives involving benefit carveouts (e.g., GLP-1s, weight loss), alternative PBM models, and value-based care contracting.
• Advise the McKesson Benefits team on payer/PBM market landscape, strategy, and offerings of key players, including support for PBM consultant selection, RFP development, and PBM/Payer selection decisions.
• Support McKesson Canada on the emergence of health plans and PBMs in Canada.

Strategic Project Leadership

• Identify, scope, and manage strategic projects end-to-end; maintain responsibility for deliverables and timelines, shifting priorities as needed.
• Facilitate business problem-solving through establishing strategic context, developing structured hypotheses, performing detailed analyses, synthesizing insights, and aligning execution plans that lead to recommendations to senior management.

Stakeholder Engagement & Executive Communication

• Build trust and productive relationships with team members and stakeholders across the organization.
• Influence and gain stakeholder acceptance and conviction around ideas through effective communication, relevant and insightful analyses, and creative thinking.
• Prepare and deliver clear, persuasive executive presentations, investment memos, and strategic recommendations for senior leadership, ensuring analytical rigor, clarity of narrative, and defensible conclusions.
• Act as thought partner in strategic discussions outside of own projects.

Team Leadership

• Capacity to manage direct or indirect (business unit) reports as needs arise, including mentoring junior team members and developing talent within the Payer & Risk Bearing Strategy function.

Minimum Job Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in corporate strategy, business development, product development, or equivalent experience in payer/PBM/plan sponsor services
• Demonstrated ability to lead complex, cross-functional strategic initiatives from concept through execution
• Track record of identifying, evaluating, and advancing partnership, acquisition, or investment opportunities
• Attention to detail is crucial for ensuring the accuracy of all data, models, and reports
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with proven ability to present to and influence senior executives
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment, manage multiple priorities, and navigate ambiguity with confidence
• Familiarity with data visualization tools and database querying languages (Tableau, Power BI, SQL, etc.)

Critical Skills

• Strong, Relevant Network: Well-versed and well-connected among payers, PBMs, government agencies, and up-and-coming digital health and health tech ecosystem players, with the ability to identify characteristics that drive sustaining growth in these companies
• Strategic Thinking: Set strategic context based on industry trends; evaluate patterns emerging in the payer, PBM, and risk bearer markets (including markets adjacent to McKesson's core business); develop long-term implications and recommend pragmatic strategies for new business opportunities
• Analytical Rigor: Bring structure to ill-defined problems and intellectual leadership to problem-solving; synthesize insights from analysis and ensure credible, actionable recommendations
• Financial Acumen: Understanding of financial modeling and experience with financial planning, budgeting, and capital allocation in the context of strategic planning to maximize shareholder value; ability to develop sophisticated business cases and scenario analyses
• Communication Skills: Ability to develop rapport and credibility across the organization, and use that rapport to drive conviction among the CEO, President, and key executive leaders that a given strategy, partnership, or initiative merits investment
• Business Acumen: Deep understanding of payer/PBM economics, value-based care models, drug pricing and distribution dynamics, regulatory impacts on coverage and reimbursement, and how different business functions create value across the healthcare ecosystem
• Technology & Innovation Orientation: Proficiency in AI, automation, and emerging technologies to elevate the quality and efficiency of strategic work; ability to evaluate health tech solutions and digital health platforms

Education

• 4-year Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Health Administration, Economics, or related field, or equivalent experience
• MBA or equivalent strongly preferred