Government Partnerships Executive - South, Great Plains, Mountain West

Join Cartwheel to help tackle the student mental health crisis.

Kids spend most of their days in the classroom. And teachers and staff, who play a vital role in their development, are often the first to notice when something is off. But with 1 in 5 young people struggling with mental health, schools are getting crushed by a downward spiral in student crises and staff burnout.

With large increases in state and federal funding for healthcare innovation, schools are reimagining what mental health support can look like for their students, staff, and families.

Cartwheel is an early-stage startup building technology-enabled mental health services that put schools at the center. We see our role as supporting both families and the on-campus school staff who see kids every day. This means:

Earlier intervention
Higher student and family engagement in care
Better coordination among the trusted adults in a student’s life

Kids shouldn't just aspire to get out of bed and drag themselves to class. They should be able to experience joy. They deserve to envision and build a life they’re excited to live. If you join Cartwheel, you’ll help make this vision a reality for millions of students across the country. We’re backed by top investors including Menlo Ventures, General Catalyst, Reach Capital, and A Street Ventures, and we're looking for mission-driven teammates to join our team.

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: $150,000–$185,000 base + variable compensation

START DATE: May 2026

ABOUT THE ROLE

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

WHY YOU’LL LOVE CARTWHEEL

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

Cartwheel is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We embrace diverse backgrounds and perspectives and an inclusive work environment. We're committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, disability status, or veteran status.

We participate in E-Verify. Please be prepared to provide acceptable documentation to verify your identity and work authorization

Note: Please do not contact our Care, Provider, or Patient Services lines regarding job postings or application status. These teams support our patients and families and are not involved in the hiring process. For all recruitment-related questions, please email [email protected].

Government Partnerships Executive - South, Great Plains, Mountain West

TLDR

ABOUT THE ROLE

WHY YOU’LL LOVE CARTWHEEL

Benefits