Government Partnerships Executive - South, Great Plains, Mountain West

Join Cartwheel to help tackle the student mental health crisis. 

LOCATION: Remote (US) with ability to travel 2x a month including weekly during peak seasons (e.g., legislative session). 

TERRITORY: Preference for South, Great Plains, or Mountain West homebase.

COMPENSATION: Competitive base + variable compensation (% of deals closed) + meaningful equity 

START DATE: May 2026

In 3 years, Cartwheel has grown to serve more than 325 school systems in 16 states, making us the nation's largest mental health provider that collaborates with schools. We're now building the government partnerships function to match that scale — securing the statewide contracts and legislative appropriations that let us serve entire state school systems, not one district at a time.

This is a new function. There's no inherited pipeline, no established playbook, and no hand-holding. What exists is a proven model in Georgia and Arizona, a product that works, and a mission that resonates with state officials across the political spectrum.

You'll own a portfolio of 5–10 states across the South, Great Plains, and Mountain West — and your job is to build the government affairs infrastructure that turns those states into Cartwheel markets.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

Own strategy and execution for your state portfolio

• Develop state-by-state government affairs strategies — stakeholder maps, legislative calendars, messaging, milestones, and critical path
• Pursue two primary win types: (1) state funding and appropriations that schools use to procure Cartwheel, and (2) Securing direct statewide contracts that make Cartwheel the sole vendor available to districts at no cost
• Example of #1 is Georgia HB68 school mental health grant funding that gives $20,000 to each middle and high school to contract for mental health services
• Example of #2 is our partnership in Arizona with the AZ Department of Education to serve all rural school districts and charter schools
• Track legislative opportunities, RFPs, and policy developments to stay ahead of the curve in your territory

Build and steward relationships with state leaders

• Cultivate trust-based relationships with governors' offices, state legislators, education and health agencies, and key statewide organizations
• Navigate regulatory and political environments to create favorable conditions for Cartwheel — tailoring messaging to each state's context
• Manage external lobbyists in your states with clear objectives, accountability, and measurable deliverables

Drive revenue and operational rigor

• Own the full government sales cycle — from cold relationship to signed contract or secured appropriation
• Maintain pipeline tracking and stakeholder mapping in Salesforce; report weekly to the VP of Government Relations on status and forecast
• Collaborate with Sales, Marketing, Product, and Customer Success teams to ensure Cartwheel delivers the outcomes required to renew and expand statewide contracts year-over-year

WHO YOU ARE

• 7+ years operating at the intersection of government and private sector revenue — government affairs, government sales, or policy roles where your work had a direct commercial outcome
• Demonstrated track record getting government entities to say yes — whether that's a contract, an appropriation, a regulatory approval, or a procurement — and owning that process personally, not as part of a team
• Experience navigating state or local government structures: legislative cycles, agency relationships, executive office dynamics
• Comfortable managing long, ambiguous sales cycles across multiple simultaneous markets
• Experience directing or coordinating external partners (lobbyists, consultants, advocacy orgs) toward specific outcomes
• CRM proficiency; strong written and verbal communicator across stakeholder types
• Based in or willing to commute extensively in South, Great Plains, or Mountain West; able to travel 2x/month plus weekly during peak legislative seasons
• Energized by building from scratch — this role has no inherited infrastructure

Sector experience that would accelerate your ramp:

• State education agencies, K–12 policy, or school district procurement
• Healthcare, behavioral health, or Medicaid/CHIP funding structures
• EdTech or healthcare startups where you sold into or through government

Our hope is that Cartwheel will be your best career decision! In addition to tackling one of the biggest challenges of our time, at a company well-positioned to do so, you’ll have: 

• Mission-oriented and inclusive colleagues who will go to bat for you
• Competitive compensation and benefits
• Meaningful equity ownership stake in Cartwheel
• Generous PPO medical, vision, and dental coverage
• Unlimited/flexible PTO plus federal holidays
• Paid parental leave
• 401K with employer match