Channel Partnerships Manager
- Role
- Business Development
- Experience
- Lead
- Employment
- Full-time
- Company size
- Startup
Open to US only. Set where you work from to check your eligibility.
No BS summary
Channel partnerships/business development manager with 7-12+ years in digital health, benefits technology, or health plan/PBM-adjacent partnerships. Must have owned partnerships end-to-end from negotiation and contracting through co-selling setup and first revenue. Remote US role with 10-20% travel.
Core skills
ABOUT WELLTHEORY
WellTheory is a digital health company helping people with autoimmune conditions take control of their health through personalized care, nutrition guidance, and ongoing coaching. We're a team of 60+ passionate people who care deeply about helping our members reduce symptoms, feel better, and live fuller lives — while helping employers and payors reduce their spend.
ABOUT THE ROLE
WellTheory is scaling through channel partnerships with major health plan, PBM, and care navigation organizations. As these partnerships grow, we need a dedicated owner of the partner relationship and co-selling motion.
We're looking for a Channel Partnerships Manager to activate and manage these partnerships end-to-end: building the co-selling infrastructure, running joint pipeline reviews, and ensuring every partnership delivers real value on both sides — for our partners, their clients, and our shared members. You'll work alongside our employer and health plan sales team, keeping joint opportunities moving and making WellTheory the easiest partner our partners work with. You'll report to our CEO initially, then to our Head of Commercial.
This is a hands-on, high-ownership individual contributor role. You'll step into in-flight deals on day one, operationalize upcoming partner launches, and build the playbook as you go.
WHAT YOU'LL DO
- Activate in-flight channel partnerships — owning each one from signed contract through first joint deal to steady-state co-selling
- Build the co-selling infrastructure: joint pipeline reviews, opportunity assessment processes, and partner-facing playbooks
- Manage ongoing partner relationships — meeting cadences, executive relationships, and escalation handling
- Drive new channel partnership negotiations from initial conversation through contracting
- Partner with AEs and Sales Ops to ensure channel-sourced leads are properly routed, tracked, and followed up in Salesforce
- Represent WellTheory independently in executive-level partner conversations — running meetings, presenting our model, and earning credibility with senior health plan and PBM stakeholders
YOU MIGHT BE A GREAT FIT IF YOU...
- Have activated partnerships end-to-end — with 7-12+ years in channel partnerships, partner management, or business development in digital health, benefits technology, or health plan/PBM adjacencies. You've taken a partnership from first conversation through negotiation, contracting, co-selling setup, and first revenue — not just managed relationships someone else built
Here are some of the attributes that make a strong candidate for this opportunity:
- Experience building a category, not just selling in one. You’ve worked in environments where the solution didn’t fit neatly into an existing box—and you know how to educate the market, not just compete in it. You’re comfortable introducing new models of care, creating urgency where there isn’t yet awareness, and getting decision-makers to see problems—and possibilities—in a new light. You thrive on pioneering a category that doesn’t yet exist, and you’re as energized by shaping the narrative as you are by closing the deal.
- Strong verbal and written communicator. You're a storyteller at heart with strong presentation skills, and you know how to craft effective written communication (i.e., emails, proposals, partner-facing materials). Diligent is your middle name. You’re thoughtful about word choice and comfortable with others editing important external communications you send out.
- Roll-up-your-sleeves mentality. In partnerships, you understand that activation is where partnerships succeed or fail, and there’s no job that’s too small and you’re excited to get into the weeds to figure it out—even the most unsexy or complex. You thrive in a fast-paced, high-growth startup environment—you know when to move fast, when to get scrappy, and when showing up in person can make all the difference.
- Consultative approach. You treat partnerships as exactly that, not transactions: asking thoughtful questions, uncovering unspoken needs, and guiding partners toward new perspectives. You know how to read the room, meet partners where they're at, and figure out when to push and when not to.
- Win-win mindset. You're a strong collaborator across stakeholders—both internally and externally. You know how to build tight feedback loops with a sales team, make referrals actionable, and create mutual accountability so joint commitments turn into joint wins.
- Realist at heart. You're honest about which deals and partnerships are actually likely to close, qualify hard rather than chase every opportunity, and keep the pipeline rooted in reality — not wishful thinking. You believe hope is not a strategy, and that teams win when everyone operates with clarity, honesty, and alignment.
✈️ Travel: Spending time in person is a key part of building relationships, so this position will require travel. The ideal candidate should be willing to travel 10-20% of the time depending on time of year.
THIS ROLE MIGHT NOT BE A GOOD FIT FOR YOU IF:
This role might not be a good fit for you if:
- You want to own just one piece of the partnership lifecycle. This role is the whole arc — negotiating the deal, doing the unglamorous work of activation, tracking, and follow-through, and growing the relationship over time. Whether your comfort zone is closing or relationship maintenance, this isn't a role where you get to stay in it.
- You expect to step into a mature, fully built sales engine. We’re still in build-and-learn model—refining our product, pitch, and positioning based on real-time feedback from employers. There isn’t yet a large sales ops team, polished enablement library, or steady inbound funnel. You’ll be creating the playbook as much as executing it, helping us shape what “great” looks like as we grow.
- You’re uncomfortable with ambiguity or taking initiative without a roadmap. We’re building quickly, learning constantly, and evolving just as fast, which means there won’t always be clear direction or precedent to follow. You’ll need to be proactive, resourceful, and willing to make judgment calls rather than waiting for permission.
- You’re not excited about working for a company that values documentation and process. As a fully remote team, written communication is how we stay aligned through memos, pre-reads, and detailed meeting notes. We don’t rely on memory or hallway conversations. You’ll be expected to keep your CRM up to date, document deal progress clearly, and share written context so others can plug in without needing a meeting. If that level of organization feels tedious rather than empowering, this probably isn’t the right fit.
BONUS POINTS
- Existing relationships with health plan, PBM, or care navigation channel partners
- Experience with sales at a best-in-class digital health company (e.g., Maven, Carrot Fertility, Hinge Health, Progyny, Kindbody, Brightline, etc.) a plus.
Outside of the specific role, here are qualities that make someone successful at WellTheory:
- Empathy for the autoimmune experience. You don't need to have an autoimmune condition for this role but you need to have deep empathy for the lived experience of autoimmune patients and be able to effectively convey that to potential partners.
- Beginner's mindset. You have a love of learning and like to solve problems from the ground up. You're a curious person and embrace the opportunity to explore the unfamiliar aspects of your role, ask questions, and seek understanding without fear of judgment. You openly admit when you make mistakes and are open-minded when it comes to new approaches of problem-solving.
- Unreasonably relentless. You've been called a "force of nature" and have done something most people wouldn't (e.g., ran a marathon, started a company, got a degree while working full-time, and/or overcame difficult adversities). Persistence is your middle name and you don't give up easily.
There are very few moments in life where you can change the world at scale and out of those few moments, there are even fewer moments where it is the right combination of passion, impact, and personal growth. We'd be thrilled to have you join us.
WHAT WE OFFER
- A team that genuinely cares about each other and the members we serve
- A fully remote company that gathers every year for an annual retreat
- Compensation: $150-190K base salary and bonus, with the final amount depending on directly relevant skills and experience you bring to the role
- Additionally, you'll receive meaningful equity and benefits.
At WellTheory, we're committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic team — so if you're excited about this role but your experience doesn't check every box, we encourage you to apply anyway. You might be exactly who we're looking for.
WellTheory is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic.
If you require accommodations at any stage of our hiring process, please reach out to our hiring team. We're happy to work with you.
What you'll do
- Activate in-flight channel partnerships from signed contract through first joint deal to steady-state co-selling.
- Build co-selling infrastructure including joint pipeline reviews, opportunity assessment processes, and partner-facing playbooks.
- Manage ongoing partner relationships including meeting cadences, executive relationships, and escalation handling.
- Drive new channel partnership negotiations from initial conversation through contracting.
- Partner with AEs and Sales Ops to ensure channel-sourced leads are properly routed, tracked, and followed up in Salesforce.
- Represent WellTheory independently in executive-level partner conversations, including running meetings, presenting the model, and earning credibility with senior health plan and PBM stakeholders.
- Step into in-flight deals on day one.
- Operationalize upcoming partner launches.
- Build the channel partnerships playbook as the role evolves.
- Travel 10-20% of the time depending on time of year.
What they require
- 7-12+ years in channel partnerships, partner management, or business development in digital health, benefits technology, or health plan/PBM adjacencies.
- Experience activating partnerships end-to-end, from first conversation through negotiation, contracting, co-selling setup, and first revenue.
- Experience building a category, not just selling in one.
- Comfortable educating the market and introducing new models of care where awareness is low.
- Strong verbal and written communication skills.
- Strong presentation skills.
- Ability to craft effective written communication such as emails, proposals, and partner-facing materials.
- Comfortable with others editing important external communications.
- Roll-up-your-sleeves mentality and willingness to handle small, operational, complex, or unglamorous work.
- Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, high-growth startup environment.
- Consultative approach to partnerships, including asking thoughtful questions, uncovering needs, and guiding partners toward new perspectives.
- Strong collaboration skills across internal and external stakeholders.
- Ability to build feedback loops with sales, make referrals actionable, and create mutual accountability.
- Realistic approach to qualifying deals and keeping pipeline expectations grounded.
- Willing to travel 10-20% of the time depending on time of year.
- Comfortable owning the full partnership lifecycle, including negotiation, activation, tracking, follow-through, and relationship growth.
- Comfortable working in a build-and-learn sales environment without a mature sales engine, large sales ops team, polished enablement library, or steady inbound funnel.
- Comfortable with ambiguity and taking initiative without a roadmap.
- Comfortable working for a company that values documentation and process.
- Expected to keep CRM up to date, document deal progress clearly, and share written context.
- Empathy for the autoimmune patient experience.
- Beginner's mindset, curiosity, love of learning, and openness to unfamiliar work and new problem-solving approaches.
- Persistence and resilience.
Benefits
- A team that genuinely cares about each other and the members served.
- Fully remote company.
- Annual company retreat.
- $150-190K base salary and bonus, depending on relevant skills and experience.
- Meaningful equity.
- Benefits.
WellTheory is a digital health company helping people with autoimmune conditions take control of their health through personalized care, nutrition guidance, and ongoing coaching.