Vice President of Strategy

Job Description

Organizational Summary

Contraceptive care is basic healthcare. Yet too many patients in the U.S. struggle to access the care they need, when they need it. Founded in 2014, Upstream USA is a national, nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to ensuring that equitable, patient-centered contraceptive care is available to everyone.

Our Mission and Impact

Upstream works to ensure individuals can make fully informed, autonomous decisions about the contraceptive methods that are best for them. We are currently the largest contraceptive organization in the country improving contraceptive care in primary care settings, operating in 37 states and Washington, D.C.

While our foundational work focuses on partnering with healthcare organizations offering primary care, such as federally qualified healthcare centers (FQHC) and health systems, we are always evolving. We are actively pursuing additional, innovative paths to ensure every patient has streamlined access to the contraceptive service of their choice, where and when it is most convenient for them.

A Different Kind of Nonprofit

Supported entirely by venture philanthropy, Upstream operates with a culture of aggressive growth and a laser focus on measurable outcomes. To maintain our independence and nonpartisan stance, we do not accept funding from the government or pharmaceutical companies.

• Our 2030 Goal: We are on a mission to partner with organizations that collectively reach 5 million patients of reproductive age.
• Recognition: We are a 2023 Audacious Project recipient, with our work featured in publications like Harvard Public Health, Bloomberg, and MedPage Today.

We welcome individuals who are driven by impact and scale to join us in making equitable contraceptive access a reality for all.

Position Summary

The Vice President of Strategy is a key strategic leader responsible for guiding Upstream’s long-term organizational direction, leading early stage innovation from ideation to decisions to pilot, driving enterprise-wide planning, and advancing priorities that position the organization for sustainable growth and impact. Reporting to the President & COO, the VP of Strategy oversees organizational strategy development, innovation planning and sourcing, strategic performance cycles, and cross-functional alignment.

This leader will partner closely with senior executives and vertical leaders to translate mission, vision and organizational priorities into actionable strategies, ensure data-informed decision-making, and support the operationalization of strategic initiatives across teams and prioritization of where and how to innovate to remain responsive to what patients want and need. The VP of Strategy plays a central role in shaping Upstream’s future, evaluating new opportunities and recommending what innovations to pilot, providing data and insights on patient and market changes to inform recruitment and partnership approaches, and will lead a team of talented strategy professionals. This leader is responsible for codifying our multi-year organizational strategy including market sizing, patient trends, competitive positioning and innovation priorities taking into account patient research, desk research, internal expertise, CEO vision and providing direction to vendors or consultants in this work.

This is a highly visible role that requires exceptional strategic thinking, analytical rigor, organizational leadership, and the ability to influence across a complex, matrixed environment.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Strategic Planning & Organizational Alignment

• Owns the development of Upstream’s multi-year strategic vision and future state, including vetting new ideas, scenario planning, sequencing, and identification of strategic inflection points required to achieve the organization’s long-term impact and scale goals.
• Leads Upstream’s annual strategic planning process, working closely with senior leaders to define organizational priorities, annual goals and long-term objectives.
• Facilitates monitoring of progress against pre-determined timelines, and flags areas that are off-track, at risk, or may require additional support.
• Partners with Finance to ensure strategic priorities are accurately reflected in budget planning and resource allocation.
• Provides executive-level thought partnership to the CEO, President & COO and senior leadership team on enterprise strategy, organizational evolution, and future growth and impact pathways.
• Develops frameworks and tools that support leaders in prioritization, decision-making, and execution against mission, vision and strategic goals.
• Serves as the lead driver of scope, objectives and deliverables with external strategic plan development partners with whom Upstream contracts.
• As needed, contributes to Board related processes and Board facing materials.

Innovation Sourcing

• Guides cross-functional teams in the early exploration and planning of new opportunities before transitioning execution to operational owners.
• Identifies new ideas, models and approaches through internal idea sourcing (e.g., CEO, Upstreamer ATC ideas, etc.), desk research and internal knowledge on the landscape and shifts in the external environment, external interviews, market research, etc.
• Evaluates and prioritizes new ideas, models, approaches and  concepts through rigorous strategic fit assessments, organizational readiness, opportunity cost analysis and development of executive-ready business cases and process, for decision-making.
• Prioritizes opportunities that advance organizational impact, sustainability and patient reach  in partnership with organizational leaders, leveraging and partnering internally where internal expertise is an asset or internal leaders hold expected ownership of execution.
• Integrates innovation planning with long-range organizational strategic planning and prioritization.

Enterprise Strategy & Insights

• Proactively identifies external trends, market forces (e.g., consolidation or diversification of healthcare access points, anticipated impact of funding and policy changes, shifted positioning of other key players in contraceptive access), and patient preference changes (primary and secondary market research and desk research) to inform strategic and innovative priorities and potential.
• Gathers and synthesizes Upstream’s insights from internal team members and data sources in complement to market research
• Lead relationship and drive direction and priorities of external vendors for market research and strategy development.
• Assess new markets, partnership opportunities, and operational models; lead peer benchmarking, monitor sector trends, evaluate adjacent models;  identify strategic risks, value drivers, and implications.
• Facilitate understanding and visibility of market trends and findings across functions to ensure shared understanding and to identify implications, risks and opportunities and develop actionable strategies.

Cross-Functional Leadership & Organizational Effectiveness

• Serve as a central strategic resource and thought partner to internal teams, helping anticipate interdependencies, translate strategy into implementation, and navigate complexity.
• Provides data and insights on patient and market dynamics to inform strategic planning and execution, including expansion, recruitment, and partnership approaches.
• Support the organization to scope and leverage leadership groups and forums to best position the organization to achieve its strategic vision efficiently and effectively.
• As needed, support individual teams with setting annual priorities and assessing strengths, weaknesses, risks and opportunities in achieving their annual goals aligned with organizational goals.

Leadership

• Manage and develop a high-performing Strategy team, fostering a culture of analytical rigor, creativity, fast past of deliverables and work completion, strategic clarity and collaboration.
• Lead key strategic meetings, executive work sessions, and cross-functional strategy forums including support of the Senior Leadership Team priorities
• Represent the Strategy function at the senior leadership table and across the organization, modeling Upstream’s values and leadership competencies.
• Build organizational understanding of strategy processes and shared accountability to completed strategy plans and associated implementation steps, time frames and measures of success
• Additional projects and duties as assigned.

Required Education, Experience, Knowledge, Skills and Ability

Upstream fosters a mission-oriented workplace and welcomes applicants of all backgrounds. The ideal candidate upholds our mission of accessible, patient-centered contraceptive care, builds trust through empathy and honesty, and contributes to a collaborative culture. They bring enthusiasm to their work, creating opportunities for connection and celebration.

• Demonstrated senior-level experience leading strategy related to domestic healthcare and patient impact , ideally within a complex, multi-stakeholder environment. 12-15 years experience required
• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree is strongly preferred (MBA, HeathCare Mngt).
• Experience driving innovation from ideation to business case with demonstrated success diversifying an organization’s approaches to quantifiable impact.
• Proven ability to lead enterprise-level multi-year strategic planning, including original market research and desk research, sourcing and building business cases for innovation ideas, assessing opportunities, recommending priorities, modeling costs and building budgets, and translating strategy into clear operational plans.
• Strong preference for previous experience in management consulting (e.g., top-tier or boutique firm) or in a strategic role overseeing a team of strategy consultants that required structured problem-solving, project leadership, and stakeholder engagement in a fast-paced environment in healthcare, preferably healthcare organizations serving at-risk populations.
• Experience leading market research, both original research and desk research, and leveraging insights to develop a point of view on key market trends and changes to drive strategy and innovation.
• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills, with the ability to synthesize complex data, develop insights, and translate findings into actionable recommendations.
• Proven track record of leading, mentoring, and elevating teams; able to build capability, set direction, and inspire high performance.
• Exceptional relationship-building and cross-functional leadership capabilities, including a track record of influencing and aligning senior leaders without direct authority.
• Experience managing and advancing large, multi-workstream initiatives, including prioritization, scoping, resourcing, and operational execution.
• Superior communication skills, with the ability to craft and deliver clear, compelling narratives for executive audiences.
• Demonstrated ability to thrive in fast-paced, high-growth, and highly collaborative environments, with comfort navigating ambiguity and shifting priorities.
• Commitment to Upstream’s mission, equity goals, and values, including the ability to bring an inclusive lens to strategic decision-making and organizational planning.
• Experience with nonprofit organizations, or mission-driven environments.
• Experience working closely with executive teams, boards, or senior decision-makers.
• Demonstrates the ability to remain focused, adaptable, and solution-oriented in the face of challenges, setbacks, or ambiguity. Approaches obstacles with a growth mindset and maintains a steady commitment to goals, even under pressure or changing circumstances; resilient.
• While we are a remotely based organization, we maintain an on-camera culture during meetings to support connection, engagement, teaming and collaboration. Must be comfortable and able to participate in this environment

Travel Requirements

This role will require up to 20% business travel. This leader can expect to travel once or twice per month for multiple days. Travel will support innovation, strategy execution, leadership meetings, team retreats and org-wide gatherings.

Hiring Range

$250,000—$275,000 USD

Pay Transparency

Final offers for this position will be based upon several factors including the scope of the role, market compensation analysis, position requirements, candidate’s experience level and capabilities, fairness in internal pay considerations and will be made within the parameters of Upstream USA’s compensation framework and philosophy.

Other Upstream Staff Expectations

• All Upstreamers must be able to attend work-related in-person meetings and functions as needed.
• In our hybrid work environments, there is a basic expectation that our Upstreamers will ensure that their work from home setups will have reliable access to phone and Internet to ensure connectivity to their teams.
• At Upstream we gather for moments that matter for training, teaming and connection. Our teams come together for occasional in person meetings and organizational retreats. As part of our hybrid work practices, this travel expectation will be applicable for all Upstreamers, even those based remotely.
• Engage in organization-sponsored  learning & development

Upstream Benefits

Upstream USA offers a comprehensive benefit package including medical, dental, vision, life insurance, long and short term disability, 401K with a match, generous vacation, personal, sick and holiday time off, parental leave, professional development, a fitness and cell phone allowance for all full time employees and part time employees who work a minimum of 24 hours per week. Intern positions and contingent worker roles are not eligible for benefits.

Hiring Process

Candidates who advance in our preliminary review process will have an opportunity to discuss the position, their employment background and lived experience with a member of our talent acquisition team by telephone. Those who advance to subsequent steps in our interview process may participate in up to three rounds of meetings by Zoom or in person and in a thought exercise/case study assignment. Each round could consist of multiple meetings with various Upstreamers. If you need anything in advance of your interviews, please reach out to your recruiter.

Our Culture

We are dedicated to fostering a fair and accessible talent lifecycle, ensuring that every individual has the opportunity to thrive. From recruitment to career development, we strive to create a workplace where talent is recognized, supported, and empowered to contribute meaningfully. Building a strong, representative workforce is essential to our success, and we prioritize collaboration, transparency, and shared leadership to cultivate an environment where all voices are heard and valued.

Our commitment extends beyond hiring—we invest in professional growth, mentorship, and inclusive workplace practices to support long-term success for our employees. You can learn more about our organization on our career site.

Upstream Careers

Our goal is to attract, develop and retain exceptional people, and to create a work environment that is dynamic, rewarding and enables each of us to realize our potential.  Upstream is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, genetic information, gender identity or Veteran status. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know. Upstream USA participates in E-Verify.

Upstream Headquarters

2 Oliver Street, Suite 402, Boston, MA 02109

www.upstream.org

No phone calls please.

Be advised that we do not ever conduct hiring interviews via text or email. Please protect yourself by learning more about our hiring practices and common red flags to look out for.