Centralus Health Director Infection Prevention and Control

Cayuga Medical Center

28d•$120,000 - $170,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Director of Infection Prevention & Control provides strategic leadership and system-wide oversight for infection prevention across Centralus Health hospitals, ambulatory settings, and post-acute settings. The role ensures regulatory compliance and organizational readiness for accreditation and survey activities, while aligning infection prevention with quality outcomes, organizational reputation, and financial risk mitigation. As part of Centralus Health's Integrated Quality Division, the Director serves as the accountable executive for system-level infection prevention risk mitigation. The role advises executive and clinical leadership, works across disciplines to build sustainable infection prevention systems, and integrates infection prevention with quality, risk, and patient safety initiatives. It also aligns Laboratory, Pharmacy, and critical clinical service lines, using antibiogram and epidemiologic insights to address antimicrobial resistance, optimize stewardship, reduce variation in care, and anticipate emerging threats and exposures. The position is onsite, with rotational presence across Centralus sites, and is a full-time days role. Travel of 50% can be expected. The disclosed salary range is $120,000–$170,000 plus benefits.

Requirements

Master's degree in Nursing, Epidemiology, Microbiology, Public Health, or related health sciences.
Minimum 10 years of experience in infection prevention, epidemiology, or quality leadership, including at least 5 years in a director-level or system leadership role.
Certification in Infection Control (CIC®) required.
Demonstrated success leading infection prevention across multi-hospital systems and engaging with public health agencies.
Ability to design, facilitate, and sustain improvement teams across hospitals and clinics, aligning work with system priorities and achieving measurable performance goals.
Must be able to remain at a workstation and move around the workspace as needed to complete job tasks, with or without reasonable accommodation.

Nice To Haves

Doctorate degree in Epidemiology, Public Health, Nursing, or a related healthcare discipline (listed as required in the preferred qualifications).
Fellowship with APIC, SHEA, or CPH (Certified in Public Health).
Proven ability to sustain optimal performance in employee engagement.
Strong knowledge of NHSN reporting, EHR surveillance tools, and CMS/Joint Commission standards.
Ability to translate data into clear strategies that improve outcomes, reduce burden, and enhance organizational readiness.
Experience with NHSN, EHR surveillance tools such as Epic Bugsy and Theradoc, and advanced Excel or data visualization platforms such as Tableau, Power BI, or Qlik.
Master's in Nursing, Public Health, or Healthcare Administration (listed as preferred in the preferred qualifications).

Responsibilities

Co-create and operationalize strategic leadership and governance with the Associate Chief Quality Officer and Medical Directors; develop and execute a system-wide infection prevention strategy aligned with organizational goals, public health priorities, and Community Health Needs Assessment findings.
Maintain rotational onsite presence across hospitals, ambulatory settings, and post-acute sites to support alignment and accountability.
Advise executive and clinical leadership on emerging risks, epidemiologic trends, and community disease burden, and ensure proactive mitigation of exposures affecting patients, staff, and the community.
Lead governance structures integrating infection prevention into the Integrated Quality Division and align it with quality, patient safety, and enterprise risk management frameworks.
Serve as the accountable executive for proactive, autonomous system-level infection prevention risk mitigation.
Collaborate with Population Health, public health agencies, Laboratory, Pharmacy, and clinical service lines on infection prevention, antimicrobial stewardship, and population health improvement; use antibiogram and surveillance data to address antimicrobial resistance and optimize stewardship.
Ensure compliance with CMS Conditions of Participation, Joint Commission standards, NHSN requirements, and state and federal regulations; oversee readiness for surveys, tracers, audits, and unscheduled regulatory visits, and maintain ongoing compliance monitoring.
Partner with Quality, Risk, CDI, Clinical Data, and Patient Safety leaders to monitor, track, and report Healthcare-Associated Conditions (HACs), and translate results into evidence-based system-level interventions that reduce variation, protect reimbursement under Value-Based Purchasing, and safeguard organizational reputation.
Lead and mentor the Clinical Manager and Infection Preventionists across the system; build capacity through succession planning, APIC-aligned competency development, accountability, and psychological safety.
Collaborate with Finance, Marketing/Communications, the Sr. Director/Associate Chief Quality Officer, and Chief Medical Officer(s) to communicate HAC performance and infection prevention outcomes transparently, including their brand and financial impact.
Partner with Clinical Data, Clinical Education, and Learning Management to integrate infection prevention standards into onboarding, annual competencies, and leadership training across care settings.
Serve as the escalation authority for complex infection prevention issues, outbreak responses, and cross-disciplinary conflicts; facilitate timely, evidence-based solutions and translate lessons learned into sustainable organizational practice change.
Maintain oversight and co-ownership with operational leaders for accountability of service expectations and metrics for clinical contracts that directly affect the subject matter.
Promote and facilitate research contributing to evidence-based practice and continuous improvement in infection prevention and patient care.
Perform other duties as assigned.