Lead Director, Product Innovation – Mental Well - being

Lead Director, Product Innovation

At CVS Health, we're building a world of health around every consumer and surrounding ourselves with dedicated colleagues who are passionate about transforming health care.

As the nation's leading health solutions company, we reach millions of Americans through our local presence, digital channels and more than 300,000 purpose-driven colleagues – caring for people where, when and how they choose in a way that is uniquely more connected, more convenient and more compassionate. And we do it all with heart, each and every day.

Role Overview:

The Lead Director, Product Innovation will be a key leader in shaping the future of Mental Well-being (MWB) solutions. This role is responsible for incubating, piloting, and launching innovative products and solutions that address evolving market needs and improve member outcomes. The individual will leverage market insights, claims trend data, and feedback from sales and account management teams to design and deliver differentiated solutions.

This position requires a strategic thinker with strong execution skills, financial and marketing acumen, and the ability to lead through all phases of product development—from ideation to go-to-market launch. Upholding a rigorous product gating process and driving commercialization efforts will be critical to success.

Key Responsibilities:

Innovation Leadership:

• Identify emerging trends, market gaps, and opportunities in the MWB space both direction and through partnership with Strategy and Data Science functions.
• Translate insights into actionable product concepts and business cases.

Product Development & Gating:

• Lead product gating stages from Pre-Concept through Launch, ensuring adherence to gating processes.
• Partner with cross-functional teams (clinical, actuarial, finance, marketing, operations) to validate concepts and ensure feasibility.

Go-to-Market Execution:

• Develop and execute launch strategies, including pricing, positioning, and marketing plans.
• Collaborate with sales and account management to drive adoption and revenue growth.

Financial & Marketing Acumen:

• Collaborate with finance, underwriting, and actuarial colleagues to build robust financial models to support ROI/VOI analysis and pricing strategies.
• Ensure marketing strategies align with product positioning and customer needs.

Stakeholder Engagement:

• Serve as a thought leader and trusted advisor to internal and external stakeholders.
• Communicate complex concepts clearly to diverse audiences, including executives.

Qualifications:

Required Experience and Skills:

• 10+ years in product development, innovation, or strategy within healthcare or benefits industry, or equivalent experience.
• Proven track record of launching successful products and managing go-to-market strategies.
• Strong financial modeling and business case development skills.
• Exceptional marketing and commercialization expertise.
• Ability to lead both strategic planning and tactical execution.
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and leadership capabilities.

Preferred Experience and Skills:

• 5+ years of product development or innovation experience at a national payer
• Experience working in the Medicare Advantage and Medicaid space
• Practice in leveraging design thinking principles
• Continuous improvement and growth mindset

Education: Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree preferred (MBA, MPH, or related field) or equivalent work experience.

Travel: Up to 20%

Pay Range

The typical pay range for this role is: $100,000.00 - $231,540.00 This pay range represents the base hourly rate or base annual full-time salary for all positions in the job grade within which this position falls. The actual base salary offer will depend on a variety of factors including experience, education, geography and other relevant factors. This position is eligible for a CVS Health bonus, commission or short-term incentive program in addition to the base pay range listed above. This position also includes an award target in the company's equity award program.

Great benefits for great people

We take pride in our comprehensive and competitive mix of pay and benefits – investing in the physical, emotional and financial wellness of our colleagues and their families to help them be the healthiest they can be. In addition to our competitive wages, our great benefits include:

• Affordable medical plan options, a 401(k) plan (including matching company contributions), and an employee stock purchase plan.

• No-cost programs for all colleagues including wellness screenings, tobacco cessation and weight management programs, confidential counseling and financial coaching.

• Benefit solutions that address the different needs and preferences of our colleagues including paid time off, flexible work schedules, family leave, dependent care resources, colleague assistance programs, tuition assistance, retiree medical access and many other benefits depending on eligibility.