Director, Healthcare Economics

Director, Healthcare Economics:

Lantern is seeking a highly analytical, commercially-minded Director of Healthcare Economics to serve as the analytical engine behind our go-to-market strategy. This is a high-impact individual contributor role — embedded at the intersection of data science, commercial strategy, and external thought leadership — designed for someone who thrives on turning ambiguous business questions into clear, defensible answers.  

This person will own the most consequential analytical questions facing Lantern's business model, including the evolution of our fee structure, the construction of our value narrative for employers, benefits consultants, and health plans, and the creation of publishable research that strengthens Lantern's credibility and commercial position.  

Working directly with the President overseeing all commercial sales, this role will function as a strategic thought partner, analytical problem-solver, and relationship-builder with key external data and publication partners.  

Location: Dallas, Texas or New York, New York - Hybrid is ideal. Open to remote work if necessary.

Responsibilities:

• Lead end-to-end analytical workstreams to model, test, and refine Lantern's fee structure options, including performance-based, risk-sharing, and hybrid pricing approaches. 
• Synthesize claims data, utilization trends, and payer/employer contract structures to identify the revenue model most defensible at market. 
• Develop scenario models and sensitivity analyses to project financial outcomes under different pricing configurations and market conditions. 
• Proactively identify and answer the highest-priority questions surfaced by employers, benefits consultants, health plans, and broker channels — particularly those that challenge Lantern's value proposition.
• Build analytical counter-narratives and evidence packages that equip the commercial sales team to respond to objections with data-backed confidence.
• Partner directly with the President of Lantern's commercial division to align analytical outputs with active sales cycles and pipeline priorities.  
• Serve as Lantern's primary relationship manager with strategic data partners, including Merative (formerly IBM Watson Health) and Artemis Health.
• Identify, scope, and execute data collaboration opportunities that unlock novel benchmarks, comparative analyses, or validation datasets.
• Negotiate data access agreements and co-development arrangements in collaboration with legal and leadership teams in an effort to establish Lantern as a data-differentiated specialty care platform.  
• Independently develop and drive a publication roadmap targeting high-credibility outlets in the medical, healthcare, and benefits industries (e.g., Health Affairs, NEJM Catalyst, Employee Benefit News, JAMA Network Open).
• Author or co-author white papers, research briefs, and commentary pieces jointly with external entities — positioning Lantern as a leading voice in surgical benefits and value-based care.
• Own the full publication lifecycle: ideation, data analysis, manuscript development, peer review coordination, and dissemination strategy. 
• Defend analytical output as a market-facing leader in research and innovation at Lantern in partnership with the VP, Analytics, Marketing, and Commercial Sales Leadership.
• Translate complex, multi-stakeholder analytical questions into structured workplans with clear hypotheses, data requirements, and timelines.
• Present findings to executive leadership, commercial sales leadership, and external stakeholders with clarity and persuasion. 
• Identify gaps in Lantern's current data infrastructure and make recommendations to improve the analytical foundation for future work.  

Requirements:

•  8+ years of experience in healthcare analytics, health economics, actuarial science, or a closely related field. 
• Demonstrated expertise working with large, complex claims datasets (medical, pharmacy, surgical) — direct experience with healthcare data warehouses strongly preferred.  
• Track record of independently structuring and solving open-ended, high-stakes business questions with minimal guidance.  
• Experience developing pricing models, financial impact analyses, or ROI/value frameworks in a healthcare services or health plan context.  
• Proven ability to build and manage productive relationships with external data vendors, research partners, or publication outlets.  
• At least one first- or co-authored publication in a peer-reviewed or industry-recognized outlet.  
• Strong written and verbal communication skills — able to distill complex quantitative findings into executive-ready narratives.  
• Experience at a healthcare technology company, benefits consulting firm, or specialty surgical benefits manager.  
• Familiarity with employer-sponsored benefits economics, stop-loss insurance, or value-based care contracting structures.  
• Graduate degree (MBA, MPH, MS in Health Economics, Biostatistics, or related) preferred; exceptional candidates without advanced degrees will be considered.  
• Proficiency in SQL and at least one analytical or statistical programming language (R, Python, SAS).  
• Familiarity with AI-based enablement including Claude, ChatGPT, DBX Genie, etc

Strong Candidates will:

• Have at least one first- or co-authored publication in a peer-reviewed or industry-recognized healthcare or benefits outlet  
• Thrive in ambiguous, high-stakes analytical environments — independently scoping and executing complex projects with minimal direction 
• Bring an existing network of relationships with healthcare data vendors (e.g., Merative, Artemis Health) or academic research partners  
• Translate complex quantitative findings into clear, executive-ready narratives and confidently present to senior leadership and external stakeholders  
• Demonstrate active fluency with AI-based analytical tools and a proactive approach to integrating emerging technologies into their workflow  

Benefits

Compensation: Base salary range: $230,000 –$250,000 depending on relevant experience, location, and qualifications.