Program Director, Federal

About the role

About Abridge Abridge was founded in 2018 with the mission of powering deeper understanding in healthcare. Our AI-powered platform was purpose-built for medical conversations, improving clinical documentation efficiencies while enabling clinicians to focus on what matters most—their patients. Our enterprise-grade technology transforms patient-clinician conversations into structured clinical notes in real-time, with deep EMR integrations. Powered by Linked Evidence and our purpose-built, auditable AI, we are the only company that maps AI-generated summaries to ground truth, helping providers quickly trust and verify the output. As pioneers in generative AI for healthcare, we are setting the industry standards for the responsible deployment of AI across health systems. We are a growing team of practicing MDs, AI scientists, PhDs, creatives, technologists, and engineers working together to empower people and make care make more sense. We have offices located in the Mission District in San Francisco, the SoHo neighborhood of New York, and East Liberty in Pittsburgh. Abridge is embedded in 250+ health systems and expanding rapidly across the federal healthcare ecosystem. The Federal program is one of the most consequential and complex programs in the company, spanning clinical deployment, enterprise IT, government contracting, product integration, and policy. This role owns the success of the program at large. The Program Director is the operational center of gravity for the federal program. You are responsible for the overall health and forward momentum of key federal partnerships — and for ensuring that every team touching the program is rowing in the same direction. At the heart of this role is a genuine commitment to the mission: improving the lives of clinicians and the patients they serve. That mission is not a backdrop; it is the lens through which strategy is set, trade-offs are made, and progress is measured. You hold the picture across commercial, product, clinical, engineering, legal, and government affairs, and are accountable for driving alignment, surfacing risk, and ensuring the right people are working on the right things at the right time. You translate strategy into execution, create clarity where there is ambiguity, and serve as the connective tissue that keeps a complex, multi-stakeholder program moving with purpose. This is a role for someone who has run complex programs before and knows the difference between keeping a tracker current and actually moving a program. You will have a lot of surface area to cover and not a lot of hand-holding. You will need to evolve operating rhythms as the program matures, earn trust with senior internal and external stakeholders, and be the person who knows where everything stands. This role reports to the Head of Partner Success. What You’ll Do Mission-driven leadership and cross-functional alignment Ensure that every internal team contributing to the federal program — product, clinical, commercial, engineering, legal, and government affairs — understands the strategy, is aligned on goals, and is working in a unified direction. Ground cross-functional priorities in the mission to serve clinicians and patients, and hold that mission as the north star when navigating trade-offs, resolving friction, or making day-to-day decisions. Create the clarity teams need to execute with confidence, and proactively resolve misalignment before it becomes drag. Program operations and rhythm Design and run the operating cadence for the federal program, including weekly cross-functional syncs, dependency tracking, quarterly planning cycles, and exec-level reporting. Maintain the single source of truth on strategy, delivery status, outcomes, and goals — ensuring the full team has a shared understanding of what we are working toward, where we stand, and what needs to change. Translate program status into clear, action-oriented communication for internal leadership and federal stakeholders. Accountability and outcomes Drive progress against cross-functional goals by establishing clear ownership, tracking delivery against program milestones, and holding internal teams accountable. Lead escalation when things are off track and quarterback cross-functional problem-solving on issues that don’t fit neatly into one team’s lane. When friction arises — internally or with external partners — provide clear direction and make the calls that keep the program moving. ELT reporting and escalation Serve as the primary voice of the federal program to executive leadership. Report out regularly on program health, strategic progress, risks, and outcomes. Escalate decisions, blockers, or resource needs with the context and recommendations needed for swift resolution. Ensure leadership has what they need to act, and that the program has what it needs to succeed. Federal stakeholder management Build and maintain strong working relationships with key federal stakeholders across program offices and clinical leadership. Translate customer needs into internal priorities and ensure Abridge is delivering on its commitments. Be a trusted partner to clinicians and program leaders — someone who understands their environment, advocates for their needs, and brings a solutions orientation to every interaction. Partner with the federal commercial team on account strategy and renewal. Lead Abridge relationships with teaming partners to ensure effective service delivery that meets Abridge standards, whether outsourced or internal. Cross-functional coordination Serve as the connective tissue across product, commercial, sales, clinical success, legal, and government affairs. Identify where workstreams are misaligned or under-resourced and drive resolution. Own the swim lanes. Know the dependencies. Flag the gaps before they become problems. Ensure that innovation efforts — particularly those aimed at solving complex federal healthcare challenges — are supported, unblocked, and connected to the right internal teams. Operational infrastructure Build program management tooling, templates, BI dashboards, and playbooks that scale as the federal footprint grows. This includes intake processes, status reporting frameworks, and onboarding infrastructure for new federal deployments, as well as leveraging business intelligence tools and data capabilities to drive insight and action for internal federal teams and federal customers. What You’ll Bring 8+ years in program or operations leadership, with demonstrated ownership of complex, multi-stakeholder programs. Healthcare or federal experience is preferred but not necessary. Strong understanding of the healthcare ecosystem, including the challenges faced by clinicians and healthcare organizations. Exceptional communication skills. You can seamlessly flow from writing a crisp status memo for the CEO to running a productive meeting with federal stakeholders to translating clinical needs for builder teams. Demonstrated ability to drive alignment across diverse cross-functional teams and hold teams accountable to shared goals and outcomes. Technical aptitude with a quick learning ability for complex software solutions. Demonstrated problem-solving skills, with a proactive, results-oriented approach to complex, cross-functional projects. Strong judgment about when to escalate, when to decide, and when to align. Comfort with ambiguity. This program has a lot of moving parts, with many unknowns. You should find that energizing. Excellent organizational and project management skills, capable of handling internal and external dynamics with a proven record of achieving shared outcomes. A genuine belief in the mission — that AI can meaningfully improve the lives of clinicians and the patients they serve — and the drive to make that real across complex healthcare environments. Tier 1: $207K–$258K Tier 2: $186K–$232K Why Work at Abridge? At Abridge, we’re transforming healthcare delivery experiences with generative AI, enabling clinicians and patients to connect in deeper, more meaningful ways. Our mission is clear: to power deeper understanding in healthcare. We’re driving real, lasting change, with millions of medical conversations processed each month. Joining Abridge means stepping into a fast-paced, high-growth startup where your contributions truly make a difference. Our culture requires extreme ownership—every employee has the ability to (and is expected to) make an impact on our customers and our business. Beyond individual impact, you will have the opportunity to work alongside a team of curious, high-achieving people in a supportive environment where success is shared, growth is constant, and feedback fuels progress. At Abridge, it’s not just what we do—it’s how we do it. Every decision is rooted in empathy, always prioritizing the needs of clinicians and patients. We’re committed to supporting your growth, both professionally and personally. Whether it’s flexible work hours, an inclusive culture, or ongoing learning opportunities, we are here to help you thrive and do the best work of your life. If you are ready to make a meaningful impact alongside passionate people who care deeply about what they do, Abridge is the place for you. How we take care of Abridgers: Generous Time Off : 14 paid holidays, flexible PTO for salaried employees, and accrued time off for hourly employees Comprehensive Health Plans : Medical, Dental, and Vision coverage for all full-time employees and their families. Generous HSA Contribution : If you choose a High Deductible Health Plan, Abridge makes monthly contributions to your HSA. Paid Parental Leave : Generous paid parental leave for all full-time employees. Family Forming Benefits: Resources and financial support to help you build your family. 401(k) Matching : Contribution matching to help invest in your future. Personal Device Allowance : Tax free funds for personal device usage. Pre-tax Benefits: Access to Flexible Spending Account