Director, Industry Insights & Perspective

Director, Industry Insights & Perspectives 

Remote – U.S.  |  Reports to: VP, Brand &  Communications  |  Travel as business needs require 

Position Summary 

athenahealth is looking for a healthcare research and thought leadership leader to shape an influential, data-informed point of view on where healthcare is going—and why. 

The Director, Industry Insights & Perspectives owns athenahealth’s multi-year research and insights agenda and leads the team responsible for bringing it to life. Drawing on one of the largest connected data networks in ambulatory care, representing more than 170,000 physicians and clinicians, this leader will identify the questions athenahealth is uniquely positioned to answer, turn evidence into compelling industry perspectives, and build a body of work that compounds in authority and influence over time. 

This is both a research leadership role and a highly visible external role. The Director will serve as the primary face of athenaInstitute and athenahealth’s proprietary research, bringing its findings and perspectives to executives, healthcare leaders, policymakers, analysts, media, and other priority audiences through publications, keynotes, panels, interviews, and industry conversations. 

The ideal candidate combines deep healthcare expertise, intellectual curiosity, research judgment, exceptional communication skills, and a strong point of view. They do not need to arrive with an established public profile, but they must be a seasoned, credible presenter who is eager and able to become a recognized voice for athenahealth’s industry perspectives. 

The Director leads the Research & Thought Leadership team within Brand & Communications and reports directly to the VP, Brand & Communications. 

About the Team 

The Brand & Communications team builds and protects the reputation of athenahealth and its leaders through strategic communications that support business goals across internal, external, and executive channels. The Industry Insights & Perspectives center of excellence sits within this team and serves as athenahealth's center of gravity for research and evidence-based thought leadership. The team defines long-term industry perspectives, develops proprietary research and insights using athenahealth’s network data and other evidence, and translates those findings into influential content and conversations. 

Essential Job Responsibilities 

• Lead Set athenahealth’s research and insights agenda by defining and evolving a multi-year portfolio of research and thought leadership that establishes a coherent point of view on the forces shaping healthcare and builds authority over time. 

• Find the questions athenahealth is uniquely positioned to answer by identify emerging issues, unanswered questions, and industry whitespace where athenahealth’s network data, customer relationships, and healthcare expertise can produce differentiated insight. 

• Turn evidence into perspective by guiding and pressure-testing the interpretation of quantitative and qualitative research, connecting individual findings to larger healthcare trends and ensuring that athenahealth’s conclusions are credible, differentiated, and supported by evidence. 

• Lead a high-performing research and thought leadership team. Set direction, develop talent, establish priorities, and shape the team’s capabilities to deliver an ambitious research agenda. 

• Be the primary external voice of athenaInstitute research by representing athenahealth’s research and perspectives in keynotes, panels, press interviews, analyst conversations, customer forums, and other high-value industry settings. 

• Author and guide major research reports, perspectives, articles, presentations, and other publications that make complex findings accessible, memorable, and useful to influential healthcare audiences. 

• Build an integrated perspective on healthcare’s future. Establish and sequence priority areas of inquiry across healthcare delivery and system performance—including patient access, AI and technology, value-based care, financial performance, payer-provider dynamics, interoperability, and emerging issues—rather than treating research topics as disconnected projects. 

• Own the impact of the work, using quantitative and qualitative signals such as engagement by priority audiences, media and analyst interest, speaking opportunities, stakeholder feedback, and pull-through across athenahealth channels to continuously sharpen the agenda. 

Additional Job Responsibilities 

• Develop strong relationships with healthcare executives, customers, subject-matter experts, researchers, policymakers, analysts, media, and industry organizations to bring outside perspectives into athenahealth’s research agenda and extend the reach of the work. 

• Stay deeply connected to healthcare market, policy, regulatory, technology, and delivery-system developments and translate meaningful shifts into new questions and perspectives for athenahealth. 

• Partner with Brand & Communications and the broader Marketing team to translate research into the broader athenahealth corporate narrative and extend insights across relevant channels. 

• Develop compelling abstracts, narratives, presentations, and supporting materials for external speaking opportunities and contribute research-driven programming to athenahealth’s speakers bureau. 

• Identify the conferences, forums, media opportunities, analyst conversations, and other external platforms most important to athenahealth’s priority audiences, and actively take the research into those venues.. 

Expected Education & Experience 

Required 

• 10+ years of progressively responsible experience in healthcare research, insights, strategy, analytics, consulting, industry analysis, health policy, or a related field. 

• Deep knowledge of the U.S. healthcare ecosystem and enough experience with healthcare delivery, economics, policy, clinical operations, payer-provider dynamics, or adjacent areas to engage credibly with healthcare data and senior industry leaders from day one. 

• Demonstrated ability to shape meaningful perspectives from research and evidence — for example through research reports, publications, industry analysis, advisory work, executive presentations, or other substantive thought leadership. 

• Strong research judgment and the ability to frame important questions, evaluate analytic approaches, interpret results, challenge assumptions, and pressure-test conclusions. This role does not require the Director to personally perform advanced quantitative analysis. 

• Exceptional strategic and critical thinking, with a demonstrated ability to connect individual findings to larger industry forces, identify emerging questions and whitespace, and develop a clear point of view supported by evidence. 

• Exceptional writing and communication skills, with the ability to translate complex healthcare topics and analyses into clear, compelling perspectives for senior executives and external audiences. 

• Significant presentation experience and strong executive presence, with the credibility and confidence to represent research in settings such as executive meetings, conference stages, panels, analyst discussions, and media interviews. 

• Experience leading and developing people, setting direction for a team, and creating clarity and accountability around priorities and outcomes. 

• Proven ability to lead complex cross-functional work through influence, judgment, and credibility. 

• Familiarity with healthcare data and the privacy, governance, methodological, and reputational considerations involved in using healthcare data for external research. 

• Willingness to travel to high-value conferences, speaking engagements, customer meetings, media opportunities, and other forums where athenahealth’s research can influence priority audiences. 

Preferred 

• Advanced degree in public health, health policy, health economics, health services research, medicine, business, or a related discipline; MPH, MD, PhD, MBA, or comparable graduate degree preferred. 

• Experience developing research or thought leadership using large-scale healthcare, clinical, operational, claims, financial, or other real-world datasets. 

• Experience in healthcare technology or at the intersection of healthcare delivery, technology, research, and market strategy. 

• Experience working within or closely alongside a communications, corporate affairs, marketing, or brand organization and an understanding of how rigorous research can build reputation and influence..