State Expansion Project Manager at Willow Health in New York, NY

In the United States, one in five adults experience a mental health illness and over 12 million people have thoughts of suicide. Mental health crises can be some of the most difficult times in a person’s life, and over 17 million people seeking behavioral health care experience a delay in accessing care. Willow Health is on a mission to significantly improve this experience by expanding affordable access to high-quality, evidence-based intensive behavioral health care.  In order to make this mission a reality, we deliver a virtual, urgent crisis care program that provides personalized, recovery-oriented care for people experiencing behavioral health crises. Willow Health offers patients immediate access to evidence-based virtual crisis psychotherapy, medication management, certified peer coaching, care management, and around the clock  crisis coverage, while working to connect patients to the most appropriate next level of care. We’re backed by leading venture firms, including Andreessen Horowitz and Seae Ventures. As the Head of State Expansion, you will lead the end-to-end strategy and execution for our interstate growth. You’ll be responsible for building local teams, navigating complex healthcare regulations, and embedding our services into the fabric of local communities.

Contract Overview

Commitment: 20+ hours per week (Contract)

Growth Potential: This role is designed as a "contract-to-hire" position. Success in launching initial states and managing partner relationships will lead to an offer for a Full-Time Position.

1. Project Leadership & Management

2. Execution of the Expansion Plan: You are responsible for the entire timeline of a state launch. You coordinate with the Tech, Legal, and Finance departments to ensure every task is completed on schedule.

3. Identifying Blockers: You proactively identify anything that might delay a launch (such as a pending permit or a tech bug) and work with the relevant team to resolve it.

4. Reporting: You provide clear, weekly updates to leadership regarding the status of each state in the expansion pipeline.

5. Tech & Systems Implementation
6. Operational Setup: You ensure our digital tools—including the Electronic Health Record (EHR) and billing systems—are correctly configured for the specific rules and provider IDs of the new state.
7. Technical Bridging: You translate state-specific requirements into actionable tasks for the Tech team to ensure our platform is ready for local use.
8. Quality Assurance: You perform a final check of all digital intake flows and communication tools to ensure a seamless experience for patients and clinicians on Day 1.
9. Regulatory & Compliance Oversight
10. Document Management: You track and manage the progress of all business filings, state licenses, and telehealth permits. You ensure all necessary paperwork is signed and filed with the correct state agencies.
11. Compliance Knowledge: You maintain a simple reference guide for each state’s local regulations, ensuring the company operates within the law from the moment we go live.
12. Record Keeping: You organize all approvals and legal documents in a centralized digital system for easy access and audit readiness.
13. Partner Relationship Ownership
14. Primary Liaison: You serve as the main point of contact for external partners, such as local hospitals, emergency services, and 988 crisis centers and are responsible for partnership outreach and development across channels.
15. Onboarding: You manage the integration of these partners into our workflow, providing them with the necessary training and digital tools to refer patients to our care.
16. Performance Monitoring: You oversee the health of these partnerships during the initial launch phase, resolving any operational issues to ensure long-term collaboration.
17. Program Monitoring
18. Monitor patient engagement:
19. Scheduling
20. No Shows
21. Cancellations

Success Criteria for Full-Time Transition

Reliability: Consistently meeting state launch deadlines.

System Accuracy: Launching markets with zero technical or billing errors.

Partner Success: Establishing functional, high-trust relationships with state-level organizations.

Operational Efficiency: Developing a repeatable process that allows the company to scale into new states more quickly and effectively.

Required Skills

Organization: You have a proven ability to manage multiple moving parts without losing track of the details.

Communication: You can relay technical needs to developers and high-level updates to state partners with equal clarity.

Initiative: You are comfortable working remotely and independently, taking full ownership of the project's progress within your 20-hour weekly window.

Travel: You have the ability to travel to the new launch location as needed.