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Cartwheel · 1 day ago

Head of Government Relations

United States

Full-time

Remote

Director/Executive

$325K/yr - $400K/yr

10+ years exp

Cartwheel is a leading mental health partner for K12 schools, aiming to improve student mental health outcomes. The Head of Government Relations will lead a team to establish partnerships with government entities across multiple states, securing funding and contracts to enhance mental health services for students.

Health CareMental HealthmHealthTherapeuticsWellness

No H1B

Responsibilities

Build and lead a high-performing Government Relations team

Establish and scale a Government Relations team of 2-3 territorial leads, fostering a culture of strategic thinking, rigorous execution, and collaboration

Develop playbooks and processes that enable the team to manage 10-20 active lobbying engagements while monitoring emerging opportunities across additional states

Build a continuous training mechanism to ensure leads are always refining their messaging, strategy, and ways of working

Manage government relations budget, including lobbyist contracts and team expenses, with clear ROI tracking

Report regularly to executive leadership on state pipeline, contract status, and forecasted revenue

Collaborate with the marketing and sales teams to consistently communicate with identified government leaders

Develop our team’s reputation as the most organized, thoughtful, and strategic partner our state contacts have ever worked with

Identify and secure state-level funding and contracts

Execute on two primary strategies: (1) Securing state funding that schools can use to procure Cartwheel, and (2) Securing direct statewide contracts that make Cartwheel the sole vendor available to districts at no cost

Identify target states for prioritization and develop a winning strategy for every state, including annual goals, stakeholder maps, state-specific messaging, milestones, and critical path

Build relationships with governors' offices, legislators, education and health agencies, and key statewide organizations (e.g., superintendents associations, state PTAs)

Represent the company with key associations such as NGA, DGA, RGA, and other government-sector networks of both elected officials and advocates

Tailor messaging to each state's context and priorities, continuously refining based on feedback from the field

Manage external lobbyists, ensuring clear objectives, messaging, and accountability

Track funding and legislative opportunities, RFPs, and policy discussions to ensure Cartwheel is a step ahead of any important developments

Partner with Sales and Marketing to ensure seamless handoff once state contracts or funding are secured

Steward existing statewide partnerships and funding programs, ensuring compliance, strong relationships, and contract renewals

Collaborate with Product, Clinical, and Customer Success teams to ensure Cartwheel delivers the impact required to renew and expand contracts year-over-year

Proactively communicate with state stakeholders to demonstrate impact and identify expansion opportunities

Manage budget, compliance obligations, lobbying registrations, and ethical standards across all jurisdictions

Qualification

Government relations experienceSecuring state contractsBuilding relationshipsCRM systems proficiencyProject management toolsBudget managementPassion for mental healthTeam leadershipCommunication skillsStrategic thinking

Required

10+ years building and scaling government relations functions in healthcare or education, with a track record securing state-level contracts worth $2M+ annually

Exceptional ability to cultivate trust-based relationships with diverse stakeholders including elected officials, agency administrators, and advocacy organizations

Clear, concise written and verbal communicator with the ability to identify the necessary differences for government communications

Ability to manage a complex, multi-state portfolio with long sales cycles (12-24+ months)

Track record successfully operating in both Republican-led and Democrat-led states and across rural and urban geographies

Track record building and coaching high-performing Government Relations teams and managing external lobbyists, including directing strategy, ensuring rigorous execution, and measuring performance

Experience working in CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce, Gong), project management tools, and Excel/PowerPoint

Enthusiasm for building a new function from the ground up in a startup environment

Passionate about our mission to support student mental health