Founding Referral Partnerships Representative

About the Role

Lavela Health is an early-stage digital health platform connecting people navigating pregnancy and reproductive loss with specialized therapists. We sit at the intersection of clinical care, grief, and community; and the providers who refer to us need to trust us before they'll send a patient our way.

The Founding Referral Partnerships Representative is the person who earns that trust. You'll build Lavela's referral network from the ground up across the San Francisco Bay Area to establish us as the go-to support resource for their patients. This is a field-first, relationship-driven role that requires genuine grit, warmth, and comfort working without a playbook.

You'll work directly with Lavela's Founder & CEO and coordinate closely with clinical and marketing functions. This is an early hire, which means you'll have real influence over how the partnerships function is built and real accountability for making it work.

What You'll Do

Territory Development

• Build and manage a target referral account list across the Bay Area with a quarterly quota
• Cold-call, walk in, and consistently show up to convert skeptical prospects into active referral partners — knowing that most relationships require multiple touchpoints before trust is established.
• Identify and re-engage lapsed or inactive partner accounts with targeted outreach plans.

Relationship Management

• Cultivate deep, durable relationships with physicians, office managers, front desk staff, and clinic administrators — understanding that different people in the office have different influences over the referral decision.
• Maintain regular presence with existing partners through in-person visits, check-in calls, and event participation — not just new prospect outreach.
• Collaborate with Lavela's clinical advisors to co-present at clinic lunch-and-learns, grand rounds, and provider education events.

Referral Pipeline & Operations

• Own the full referral partner pipeline - tracking outreach cadences, relationship status, referral volume, and conversion.
• Partner with the member support team to ensure a smooth, trust-building handoff from provider referral to member enrollment.
• Surface field intelligence (objections, competitor positioning, unmet needs) back to leadership and clinical teams in a structured, actionable way.

Education & Collateral

• Develop and leave behind clear, credible materials that explain what Lavela does, who it's for, and why it matters, so the case for referring continues after you've left the room.
• Work with marketing to localize and refine messaging based on what resonates in clinical conversations.

Events & Community

• Plan and execute regional provider engagement events - including roundtables, educational dinners, and sponsored conference presence.
• Identify sponsorship and visibility opportunities in the SF clinical community.

What We're Looking For

Required

• 2–3+ years in a field sales or business development role with a documented track record of building a territory from scratch — cold outreach, in-person visits, and converting skeptical prospects into ongoing partners.
• Must own a car and be able to travel throughout the Bay Area as needed
• Managed a quota with a consistent history of hitting and exceeding sales targets, with an eye toward growing referral volume and revenue year over year.
• Experience selling into or partnering with clinical settings — you know how to navigate front desk gatekeepers, work with office managers, and respect the hierarchy and pace of healthcare environments.
• Ability to understand territory demographics and translate that into targeted referral sales strategies.
• Comfort operating without infrastructure — you've worked somewhere early-stage or been an early sales hire, built your own target lists, and figured out what works without a playbook handed to you.
• Genuine empathy for the patient population — you can speak about pregnancy loss and reproductive challenges with the gravity and care that earns clinical trust. This isn't a role for someone who needs to compartmentalize the mission.
• Strong follow-through and relationship longevity — you have examples of referral or sales relationships you've maintained over months or years, not just initial outreach you handed off.
• Ability to represent the company's mission through every partnership interaction, not just close deals.

Nice to Have

• Existing relationships in the SF clinical community — warm connections with providers, office managers, or clinic administrators in the Bay Area would meaningfully compress your ramp time.
• Experience in women's health, maternal health, reproductive medicine, or mental health — you already speak the language and understand the sensitivities of clinical conversations in this space.