General Manager, Healthcare Leadership

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THE ROLE

Healthcare Leaders (HCL) is a curated leadership community and events platform that brings together senior healthcare investors, operators, advisors, and industry leaders through invitation-only conferences, receptions, dinners, and relationship-building experiences.

WittKieffer acquired the HCL brand in January 2026 with the objective of strengthening its position to convene leaders in specialized markets, connect convening activity with thought leadership, and enhance our market authority, prominence, brand recognition, and business development.

The General Manager will lead HCL as a focused growth platform and operating business. This is a hands-on role that spans strategy and execution: developing a practical, mission-aligned strategy and plan; building an achievable financial model multiple revenue streams (e.g., events, sponsorship, membership) that fund growth and create value; managing day-to-day operations; coordinating internal and external resources. The GM will also ensure HCL is tightly integrated with WittKieffer’s brand and go-to-market priorities. With a 20+ year history and two annual marquee events, HCL has built meaningful trust and a respected position among its current target market–now the imperative is to expand with creativity and operational rigor.

The successful candidate will be a commercially minded operator and builder who can grow revenue, strengthen sponsor and participant value, expand relationships, improve execution, and selectively extend HCL across the Quality of Life Ecosystem – representing the converging sectors of healthcare, life sciences, higher education, and academic medicine.

This position offers a base salary of $175,000 to $225,000, plus a target bonus of 20% of base salary. Salary within our ranges is determined by your education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as required by the role, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data. WittKieffer offers a full benefits package including medical, dental, vision, 401(k), life and disability insurances, and generous paid time off.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategy and Market Development:

• Develop a practical multi-year strategy for HCL that is aligned with WittKieffer’s mission and market strategy.
• Define where and how HCL can credibly expand across healthcare, life sciences, higher education, academic medicine, emerging sciences, and investor-backed markets without diluting the existing brand or overextending resources.
• Translate strategic priorities into annual plans, clear milestones, budgets, and measurable outcomes.
• Assess opportunities and develop a diversified but realistic revenue strategy that could include: new convenings, sponsorships, event participation, curated partner programs, executive dinners, market-specific forums, digital content, and selective membership or subscription concepts.

Financial Planning and Revenue Growth:

• Create and manage a financial plan that supports growth from HCL’s current revenue base, with clear assumptions, investment requirements, and performance targets.
• Identify and cultivate sponsors and partners that fit HCL’s positioning and provide value to participants while preserving the credibility and selectivity of the platform.
• Manage the HCL P&L against specific budgets and plans; monitor revenue, expenses, sponsor retention, event profitability, pipeline, and return on internal investment.

Execution and Operations Management:

• Lead planning and execution of HCL programs, including the Healthcare Leaders Conference, JPM Week reception, executive dinner series, and other approved convenings or market activations consistent with the approved strategy.
• Manage event calendars, budgets, vendors, timelines, sponsorship deliverables, invitation lists, participant communications, and post-event follow-up.
• Establish simple, repeatable operating processes that improve quality, accountability, scalability, and sponsor and attendee experience.
• Use technology, data, and relationship management tools and technologies to improve invitation strategy, participant tracking, sponsor reporting, and business development connectivity; ensure integration within overall firm technology roadmap and stack.
• Build a high performance team. including existing team members and new team members. aligned to the growth and scale of the business and its operations; collaborate and coordinate closely with the firm's enterprise Marketing and Commercial Strategy & Insights teams to optimize strategy and execution.

Cross-Firm Integration and Go-to-Market Support:

• Partner with WittKieffer market and solution leaders to identify opportunities to integrate HCL into firmwide priorities, brand strategies, and go-to-market strategies / tactics without becoming overly complex or violating the brand trust already established by HCL among sponsors and participants.
• Engage market-facing consultants to identify relationships that can advance HCL and the firm through mutually beneficial partnership.
• Create practical mechanisms to exchange insights between the firm and HCL, within HCL community, and with the broader market (e.g., attendee intelligence, sponsor insights, WittKieffer thought leadership and insights); and translate this activity into measurable value, including client engagement, market visibility, sponsor relationships, and qualified business development opportunities.

Brand Architecture and Positioning:

• Develop a clear brand architecture for HCL that preserves the legacy and credibility of Healthcare Leaders while allowing thoughtful expansion into adjacent markets and offerings.
• Further clarify the relationship between the HCL brand, the WittKieffer brand and any sub-brands, including naming conventions, market extensions, sponsor materials, event positioning, and public-facing messaging.
• Grow the brand's prominence as a curated leadership community and convening platform, not simply as an events program.
• Work with marketing and firm leadership to connect events, content, thought leadership, sponsorships, and business development into a coherent external presentation.

Resource and Stakeholder Management:

• Coordinate the internal and external resources required to execute the HCL plan, including marketing, events, business development, operations, sponsors, speakers, vendors, and practice leaders.
• Manage vendors and contractors effectively, balancing value, quality, cost, and accountability.
• Build strong working relationships with internal stakeholders and ensure HCL operates collaboratively within WittKieffer’s culture and business model.
• Model WittKieffer’s values through sound judgment, transparency, collaboration, and responsible use of firm resources.

CANDIDATE PROFILE

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred but not required.
• Equivalent experience in business management, events, sponsorships, media, associations, professional services, or community-based commercial platforms will be considered.
• Ten or more years of relevant experience in a role involving business management, revenue growth, sponsorships, events, convening platforms, professional associations, industry communities, media, or professional services.
• Demonstrated ability to grow a small or emerging business, product line, program, and/or platform with disciplined resource management.
• Experience developing sponsorship, partnership, event, membership, or community-based revenue models.
• Strong project management and execution experience, including budget ownership, vendor management, and cross-functional coordination.
• Experience working with senior executives, investors, board members, sponsors, industry leaders, or professional services partners.
• Familiarity with healthcare, life sciences, higher education, academic medicine, emerging sciences, or investor-backed markets is preferred.
• Ability to travel regularly for HCL events, sponsor meetings, market engagement, and internal collaboration.

Critical Competencies:

• Commercial Orientation: Understands how to create revenue, manage cost, build sponsor and participant value, and make practical investment decisions appropriate to the scale of the business.
• Strategic Thinking: Can define a clear growth path, prioritize opportunities, and translate strategy into manageable annual plans and measurable outcomes.
• Execution Discipline: Plans carefully, manages details, follows through, and ensures events, sponsor commitments, communications, and internal deliverables are completed with quality.
• Relationship Building: Builds credibility with sponsors, participants, executives, colleagues, market leaders, speakers, and vendors; earns trust through responsiveness, preparation, and judgment.
• Collaborates: Works effectively across WittKieffer markets and solutions, shares information appropriately, and creates alignment without unnecessary complexity.
• Brand Judgment: Understands how to protect and extend a respected brand, balancing ambition with credibility and market fit.
• Resourcefulness: Operates entrepreneurially and effectively in a lean environment, makes smart tradeoffs, and builds momentum without relying on large teams or enterprise-level infrastructure.
• Drive for Results: Sets clear goals, advances priorities, measures results, and takes ownership for improving HCL’s revenue, quality, relevance, and impact.

Near-Term Priorities:

• Develop a focused 12-month plan that clarifies HCL’s growth priorities, event calendar, revenue targets, sponsorship strategy, resource needs, and integration points with WittKieffer.
• Strengthen and extend the sponsorship model, including value proposition, category strategy, pricing, deliverables, renewal process, and sponsor relationship management.
• Improve the operating cadence for the Dallas conference, JPM Week reception, and executive dinner series, including planning timelines, participant strategy, and post-event conversion.
• Recommend a practical brand architecture for HCL expansion that can support healthcare, life sciences, higher education, academic medicine, and emerging sciences without over-building the platform.
• Create a reporting dashboard that captures revenue, expense, sponsor pipeline, participant engagement, event quality, and business development contribution.

Measures of Success:

• Revenue growth, with a realistic path to sustainable profitability and reinvestment.
• Sponsor retention, sponsor satisfaction, and expansion of mission-fit sponsorship categories.
• Growth in community, participant engagement, and participant attendance.
• High-quality execution of priority HCL events and improved consistency of participant and sponsor experience.
• Clearer HCL brand positioning and practical brand architecture for market expansion.
• Measurable contribution to WittKieffer’s thought leadership, relationship development, market visibility, and business development efforts.
• Effective management of budgets, vendors, internal resources, and stakeholder expectations.

Witt/Kieffer Inc. ("WittKieffer") provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants. WittKieffer will recruit, employ, train, promote and compensate our employees without regard to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, citizenship, gender, pregnancy, military status, age, marital status, sexual orientation, sexual identity, disability or any other personal characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local law. WittKieffer will endeavor to make reasonable accommodation, as required by law, for qualified individuals with known disabilities or religious practices unless doing so would result in an undue hardship on the operation of our business.

About Us

WittKieffer is the premier executive search and leadership advisory firm developing impactful leadership teams for organizations that improve quality of life. We work exclusively with organization in not-for-profit and for-profit healthcare, life science, and education—the Quality of Life Ecosystem. Leveraging our unwavering focus on this complex ecosystem, we help clients solve challenging problems through a deep understanding of the factors that influence leadership needs, behaviors, and culture. Through our executive search, interim leadership, and leadership advisory services, we strengthen the organizations that make the world better. We are proud to be 100% employee owned.