Director, Health Systems

About Karius

Karius is a life science, venture-backed clinical metagenomics company, focused on elevating patient care through microbial insights. We are committed to advancing diagnostic science and technology to optimize the diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases. Through the use of genomics and AI, we are driven to improve the diagnostic landscape for infectious diseases. Karius delivers unprecedented diagnostic insight detecting microbial cell-free DNA circulating in the body to assist physicians to make rapid treatment decisions.

Position Summary

The Director, Health Systems owns a dedicated portfolio of named enterprise health system and IDN accounts, serving as the single-threaded leader responsible for driving system-wide adoption of the Karius Test. This role builds executive-level relationships, establishes Centers of Excellence, and cultivates Clinical Champions across each assigned account, taking full accountability from initial expansion through system-wide scale. The Director coordinates across Sales, Medical, Legal, Marketing, and Customer Success to ensure alignment and delivery within their accounts, strengthening Karius’s position as a trusted partner to leading healthcare organizations. This role is structured around named account ownership, not territory or region. Each Director carries a portfolio of enterprise health systems and is accountable end-to-end for relationship depth, contract health, and expansion within those systems.

Why Should You Join Us?

Karius aims to conquer infectious diseases through innovations around genomic sequencing and machine learning. The company’s platform is already delivering unprecedented insights into the microbial landscape, providing clinicians with a comprehensive test capable of identifying more than a thousand pathogens directly from blood, and helping industry accelerate the development of therapeutic solutions. The products Karius offers today are some of the most advanced solutions available to physicians who aim to deliver better care to many otherwise ineffectively treated patients. Our tests are the result of some incredible work done by our scientists, statisticians, engineers, and physicians, all driven by the same mission. You, as part of the Karius team, will be able to see how directly your work has a life-changing impact on people, and at scale. Reports to: VP, Commercial Strategy and Health Systems Location: Remote

Primary Responsibilities

Account Growth & Expansion

• Consistently exceed performance expectations, driving measurable growth in test volume and account value across the assigned health system portfolio.
• Build trusted, long-term strategic relationships with executive leaders, administrators, and clinical stakeholders to drive enterprise-level integration of the Karius Test.
• Lead Business and Utilization Reviews with system executives, demonstrating clinical, operational, and financial ROI.
• Identify and prioritize expansion opportunities within assigned health systems, including additional sites, service lines, and affiliated networks.
• Establish Centers of Excellence and cultivate Clinical Champions to accelerate adoption and advocacy.
• Identify and pursue outpatient and private payor opportunities within assigned health systems where appropriate, expanding Karius’s footprint beyond inpatient use cases.

Contracting & Renewals

• Secure and manage enterprise agreements, contracts, and renewals in collaboration with Legal, ensuring alignment with company goals and compliance requirements.
• Support forecasting, pipeline reviews, and account planning with system-level insights.

Cross-Functional Orchestration

• Serve as the primary point of coordination across Sales, Medical Affairs, Marketing, Legal, and Customer Success for assigned accounts, ensuring coordinated execution, test volume growth, new account generation, and consistent system-level messaging.
• Partner with field leaders to align execution with strategic account priorities.
• Provide insights from health system engagements to refine commercial strategy, product positioning, and evidence generation.
• Promote partnership successes and expand advocacy across Health Systems and IDNs to drive broader adoption.
• Ensure account activities and strategies are documented in Salesforce and tracked against commercial KPIs.
• Maintain accountability for execution while ensuring scalability and sustainability of health system strategies.

External Partnerships & Market Presence

• Foster and maintain strategic relationships with external partners, including industry consortia, diagnostic alliances, and integrated health networks, to enhance Karius’s market presence and collaborative growth opportunities.
• Serve as a trusted liaison between Karius and strategic partners to ensure alignment on shared goals, joint initiatives, and long-term partnership success.
• Represent Karius at executive-level meetings, national conferences, and health system forums to strengthen visibility and credibility.
• Monitor healthcare trends, policy developments, and competitor activities to inform strategy and maintain market leadership.

What’s Fun About the Job?

Karius is operating at the edge of what is now known to be possible in diagnostics. With that, comes a wave of new and incredible challenges and opportunities. To deliver on that value, you will be tapping into some of the most advanced technologies, architecting and innovating where the current solutions simply don't suffice. You will get to see how much your work really matters. Travel: Travel up to 60%.

Physical Requirements

Subject to extended periods of sitting and/or standing, vision to monitor and moderate noise levels. Work is generally performed in an office, lab or clinical environment.

Position Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Healthcare Administration, Life Sciences, or a related field required. Advanced degree such as MBA, MPH, MHA, or equivalent strongly preferred.
• 8-10+years of progressive experience in healthcare partnerships, sales, or business development, with a strong focus on strategic health system or IDN accounts.
• Demonstrated success building and managing high-value partnerships in the healthcare or biotech industry.
• Proven experience negotiating and managing complex health system contracts in collaboration with Legal and other internal partners.
• Experience leading Business and Utilization Reviews that clearly communicate clinical, operational, and financial return on investment to health system executives.
• Track record of identifying and executing expansion opportunities within health systems, including additional sites, service lines, and affiliated networks.
• Experience fostering strategic partnerships with external organizations such as consortia, alliances, or integrated health networks.
• Demonstrated ability to manage complex sales cycles and multi stakeholder decision processes inside hospitals and health systems.
• Exceptional communication, negotiation, and presentation skills, including confidence presenting to executive audiences and at national conferences.
• Proficiency with CRM tools such as Salesforce and a data driven approach to forecasting, pipeline reviews, and account planning.
• Strong knowledge of the biotech or medical diagnostics industry and familiarity with hospital operations, decision making processes, and value analysis pathways.

Personal Qualifications

• Thinks strategically and can design and execute initiatives that align near term priorities with long term business objectives.
• Builds strong trust and credibility with executive decision makers, physicians, and operational leaders, acting as a strategic partner to health system stakeholders.
• Communicates complex clinical, operational, and financial concepts clearly and persuasively, tailoring messages to executives, clinicians, and internal teams.
• Uses data, market trends, and customer feedback to inform decisions, refine partnership strategies, and prioritize opportunities.
• Thrives in a fast paced, evolving environment, adapting approach as market conditions, customer needs, and organizational priorities change.
• Brings a resourceful, solution focused mindset and consistently overcomes obstacles to move initiatives forward and deliver results.
• Demonstrates a deep commitment to understanding customer needs and delivering differentiated value through innovative solutions and high quality service.
• Operates with professionalism, sound judgment, and high ethical standards, taking clear ownership for outcomes and follow through.

Disclaimer

The above job description is intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by individuals assigned to this position. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, and skills required. Responsibilities and duties may change or be adjusted to meet the needs of the company, and additional duties may be assigned as necessary. The job description is subject to change at any time at the discretion of Karius. At Karius, we value a diverse and inclusive workplace and provide equal employment opportunities for all applicants and employees and are committed to honor and invest in the full diversity of people, in our hiring, recruiting and development of employees across the Company. All qualified applicants for employment are encouraged to apply and will be considered without regard to an individual’s race, color, sex, gender identity and gender expression (including transgender individuals who are transitioning, have transitioned, or are perceived to be transitioning to the gender with which they identify), religion, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, medical condition, family care status, marital status, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, genetic information, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by federal, state or local laws. If you are unable to submit your application due to a disability, please contact us at and we will accommodate qualified individuals with disabilities.

Originally posted on Himalayas