Catalyst for Growth: Leading Strategic Transactions in Healthcare Innovation

The Client

Our client is the largest private, member-owned health insurer in the United States, serving nearly 23 million people across five states. As the nation’s fourth-largest health insurer and the largest customer-owned plan, the organization delivers innovative, cost-effective, and equitable healthcare coverage under the Blue Cross and Blue Shield brands in Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.

For nearly a century, they have remained focused on enabling access to quality care, improving health outcomes, and reducing costs for the communities they serve. Today, they continue to shape the future of healthcare by investing in transformative initiatives and partnerships that bring differentiated value to members, providers, and industry stakeholders.

The Challenge

To support their evolving strategy and growth goals, the client sought to hire a Senior Director of Corporate Development. This executive would play a key role in driving M&A and investment activities—from opportunity identification and diligence to execution and post-close integration.

Reporting to the Head of Corporate Development and Performance Analysis, this leader would also oversee one direct report while managing a complex pipeline of strategic opportunities.

Key mandates included:

• Developing and maintaining a robust acquisition and investment pipeline
• Leading end-to-end transaction structuring, diligence, negotiation, and integration handoff
• Partnering cross-functionally across finance, legal, operations, and strategy teams
• Presenting compelling business cases to senior leadership, including the C-suite
• Managing internal alignment on deal priorities and value-tracking processes
• Mentoring junior team members and helping institutionalize best practices

Our Approach

We employed a three-track search strategy to find top-tier candidates with healthcare sector experience and a proven track record in complex deal environments.

We evaluated leaders who came from:

1. Investment banking and had transitioned into corporate development roles
2. In-house corporate development professionals in healthcare
3. Strategy consultants who had made the move into transaction execution

Each candidate was assessed for their ability to lead diligence, build business cases, engage with internal stakeholders, and present to executive leadership. Strong communication skills, innate curiosity, and a high degree of independent judgment were key differentiators.

The Placement

We placed a corporate development leader with experience as a Director of Corporate Development at a national post-acute care provider. In that role, he was responsible for sourcing, evaluating, and closing acquisitions and joint ventures across home health, hospice, and private care sectors.

His prior experience also included time at a leading healthcare consulting firm focused on business performance, equipping him with a strong analytical foundation and a consultative approach to opportunity evaluation.

He brought:

• A deep understanding of the healthcare landscape, including care delivery models and financial drivers
• Extensive experience in transaction sourcing, due diligence, modeling, and integration
• Strong cross-functional leadership and communication skills, particularly in aligning internal stakeholders
• A strategic mindset paired with attention to detail and a hands-on execution style

The Outcome

The new Senior Director quickly stepped into the role, accelerating pipeline development and supporting the execution of strategic investments aligned with the organization’s long-term goals.

His blend of transaction rigor, sector knowledge, and collaborative leadership strengthened the corporate development function and positioned the team to deliver long-term value across the company’s evolving healthcare portfolio.