VP, Payer Partnerships (Medicaid Managed Care/MCO) California

Samaritan

California$90k–$190kPosted Jul 8, 2026

Title: VP, Payer Partnerships (Medicaid Managed Care/MCO)Location: Remote-first (US-based)Travel: ~20% for key meetings and closingsComp: $90k base / $190k OTE (uncapped) About samaritansamaritan is the support platform health plans, providers, and community partners use to help unstably housed members overcome the barriers that keep them from using the care, benefits, and services already available to them, so they can make progress toward health, housing, and economic stability.Our model equips the community-based organizations and care teams already serving these members to make follow-through possible: co-created next steps, targeted member capital to remove practical barriers, relational encouragement between touchpoints, and clear visibility into what members complete. For customers investing in this population, that means measurable gains in engagement, retention, quality performance, utilization, and cost stability. The RoleWe’re hiring a Market Vice President to lead revenue growth and strategic payer partnerships across California. This is a senior, externally facing sales role for a high-performing seller who builds trust quickly, navigates complex buyer environments with credibility, and maintains rigorous control over pipeline quality, timing, and close. You’ll partner directly with the CEO on executive-level selling, late-stage negotiations, and priority payer relationships, particularly with national and multi-state plans. You will own the full sales cycle, from sourcing and qualifying opportunities through negotiation, contracting, and expansion, while partnering closely with internal delivery teams to ensure what we sell can scale and succeed. Beyond individual deals, you'll shape our California regional strategy: deepening our presence with existing buyers, responsibly opening adjacent opportunities, and exploring the full range of funding mechanisms available in California, including health plan vendor contracts, grant-funded programs, and county or state-level partnerships. You'll also build our visibility and credibility directly with state-level stakeholders, not just health plan buyers, since state policy and funding decisions shape what's possible across every plan relationship in California. Responsibilities<ul><li>Own the full sales lifecycle, from initial outreach through contracting, launch coordination, and expansion, in close partnership with the CEO, Customer Success, Product, and Operations to ensure deals are built for successful delivery and future scale</li><li>Maintain rigorous control over pipeline quality, CRM hygiene, deal sequencing, and timing, ensuring forecasts are grounded, assumptions are explicit, and next steps are always clear</li><li>Lead complex, multi-stakeholder sales processes, navigating procurement, legal, compliance, and executive decision-makers with credibility and discipline</li><li>Develop and execute regional strategies that deepen existing relationships, unlock adjacent opportunities across payer, county, and state-funded channels, and create durable, diversified revenue over time</li><li>Build direct relationships and visibility with California state-level stakeholders (e.g., DHCS and other relevant state agencies), independent of individual health plan relationships, to strengthen samaritan's standing, surface new funding pathways, and reduce friction in state-level contract or regulatory review</li><li>Build tailored proposals, pricing structures, and pitch materials that reflect customer priorities and samaritan’s differentiated value</li><li>Frame samaritan’s value in ways that resonate with health plan quality, population health, and care management teams, including how engagement, activation, and member-level outcomes support quality improvement and performance goals</li><li>Contribute to the evolution of samaritan’s sales playbooks, tools, and operating rhythms as we scale</li></ul> Desired Qualifications<ul><li>7+ years of experience in enterprise or strategic sales, payer partnerships, or business development, ideally within Medicaid/Medi-Cal, Duals (D-SNP/Medi-Medi), or adjacent public-sector health environments in California</li><li>Based in California strongly preferred, ideally in or near Los Angeles, Sacramento, Inland Empire, or Orange County</li><li>Experience working with or selling into health plan quality, population health, care management, or clinical operations teams; familiarity with HEDIS, quality improvement initiatives, value-based performance frameworks, or D-SNP risk adjustment/RAF accuracy is a strong plus</li><li>Experience navigating state Medicaid agencies, county health or behavioral health departments, or public-sector/grant-funded program structures is a strong plus</li><li>Demonstrated success selling into complex, multi-stakeholder buyer environments, especially in California, with a proven track record of navigating procurement, compliance, legal, and executive approvals to close and expand six- and seven-figure partnerships</li><li>Proven ability to maintain pipeline integrity through rigorous qualification and realistic forecasting, supported by fluency in CRM systems (HubSpot preferred) and strong habits around documentation, follow-ups, and buyer-journey tracking</li><li>Experience developing geographic or account-based strategies that create repeatable momentum within priority markets</li><li>Skilled at positioning value with precision, aligning use cases, outcomes, and economics to each buyer’s priorities and decision criteria</li><li>High emotional intelligence, empathy, and humility, paired with the confidence to lead difficult conversations, surface risk early, and hold a firm line on deal quality</li><li>Experience working in disciplined growth environments where structure is evolving, ownership is clear, and execution quality matters more than hierarchy.</li></ul> samaritan is an equal opportunity employer. We don't discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable law. We're building a team that reflects the communities we serve, and we welcome applicants from all backgrounds.