Senior Director, Research & Development – Commercial Growth Initiatives

• Lead early-stage growth work by deeply understanding healthcare problems and shaping solutions that take advantage of Vizient's unique assets, relationships, data, and market position
• Shape early product and business theses by connecting customer pain, market dynamics, operational reality, economic value, and Vizient's strategic position
• Bring an external market perspective to early-stage ideas, including how health systems make decisions, what buyers value, where budgets may sit, and how alternatives compete
• Lead senior-level conversations with internal stakeholders, health system leaders, operators, subject matter experts, and external market participants
• Build conviction around whether an opportunity is meaningful, fundable, differentiated, and credible enough to pursue
• Identify the critical assumptions, risks, and decision points that should determine whether an opportunity advances, changes direction, or stops
• Translate research, interviews, market analysis, and internal expertise into concise executive recommendations
• Create meticulous documentation of evidence, assumptions, stakeholder input, decisions, and open questions so recommendations can be reviewed, challenged, and handed off cleanly
• Influence cross-functional partners and senior stakeholders without relying on formal authority
• Help refine how the team evaluates, communicates, and prioritizes early-stage commercial growth opportunities as the function scales

Requirements

• Relevant degree preferred
• MBA or equivalent graduate business training is a plus
• 10 or more years of experience required
• Background in management consulting, venture analysis, health system operations, or product and growth strategy, ideally in health tech or AdTech; deep experience in any of these fields with a healthcare focus is a plus
• Strong healthcare fluency, ideally from provider operations, healthcare consulting, health tech, payer/provider strategy, or healthcare analytics
• Experience leading complex, ambiguous work as an individual contributor, influencing senior stakeholders, and making sound recommendations with incomplete information
• Prior experience evaluating early-stage ideas, new offerings, or investment cases before they enter formal build or delivery is a plus
• Comfort moving between market research, customer discovery, economic logic, operational reality, and executive synthesis
• A customer-centered mindset and skill in translating messy inputs into clear problem statements, decision memos, and executive-ready materials
• Ability to tell a compelling problem from an interesting idea and explain what evidence would make an opportunity worth further investment
• A track record of asking sharper questions, finding the weak assumption, and making the decision logic visible for senior leaders is a plus
• Self-direction, initiative, and sound judgment in anticipating issues and keeping work moving without waiting for perfect direction
• Practical judgment, intellectual honesty, and a collaborative approach to navigating ambiguity and differing perspectives
• Willingness to travel

Core Competencies

Demonstrates strong healthcare fluency and the ability to lead complex, ambiguous projects while influencing senior stakeholders. Capable of synthesizing market research and operational realities into actionable recommendations for early-stage growth opportunities.

Highest-signal resume keywords

• Healthcare Fluency
• Market Research
• Stakeholder Influence
• Decision-Making
• Product and Growth Strategy

ATS Optimization Keywords

Hard Skills

• Market Analysis
• Economic Logic
• Operational Reality
• Executive Synthesis
• Venture Analysis
• Health System Operations
• Product Strategy
• Growth Strategy
• Investment Evaluation
• Customer Discovery

Soft Skills

• Self-Direction
• Initiative
• Sound Judgment
• Collaborative Approach
• Problem-Solving

Certifications & Qualifications

• MBA

Industry Keywords

• Health Tech
• AdTech
• Healthcare Consulting
• Payer/Provider Strategy
• Healthcare Analytics
• Management Consulting