Director Infection Prevention

UT Southwestern Medical Center • Dallas, TX

3d • Onsite

About The Position

The Director, Health System Infection Prevention provides recommendations, to enterprise leadership, for the design, execution, and sustained advancement of infection prevention and control across UT Southwestern Health System. This role reports to the Associate Vice President of Quality & Operational Excellence and is accountable for translating the Performance Excellence System and High Reliability principles into consistent, measurable, and reliable infection prevention practices across all sites of care. Serving as the system's subject matter expert in infection prevention, the Director leads a coordinated, system-wide approach to reducing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), mitigating transmission risk, and strengthening a culture of safety and accountability. This role ensures that strategy is operationalized through aligned systems, standard work, and disciplined execution, advancing UT Southwestern's mission, academic distinction, and commitment to exceptional patient care.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in Nursing, Public Health, Microbiology, or related field required
• 10 years of progressive experience in infection prevention, epidemiology, or quality improvement with a Bachelor's degree or 7 years of progressive experience with a Master's degree
• 5 years leading infection prevention or quality professionals
• Demonstrated success leading enterprise or system-level initiatives in complex, matrixed healthcare environments

Nice To Haves

• Master's Degree in Nursing, Public Health, Microbiology, or related field required
• MT (ASCP) or M (ASCP)
• CIC (Cert in Infection Control) within 2 Years or
• A-IPC (Associate Infection Prevention and Control) within 2 Years

Responsibilities

• Recommend the development and execution of a comprehensive, system-wide infection prevention strategy aligned with the Performance Excellence System, High Reliability principles, and organizational priorities.
• Establish and standardize enterprise policies, frameworks, and expectations for infection prevention across inpatient, ambulatory, and procedural settings.
• Integrate infection prevention into the broader Performance Excellence System, ensuring alignment with quality, patient safety, workforce, and operational priorities.
• Translate strategic priorities into clear execution pathways, enabling consistency across a complex, matrixed academic health system.
• Partner with Quality & Operational Excellence leaders, entity leadership, and Infection Prevention teams to ensure alignment and disciplined execution of infection prevention priorities, driving consistency, reducing variation, and advancing system-wide performance.
• Drive consistent application of the Performance Excellence System within infection prevention across all sites of care.
• Assess system and entity performance to identify variation, emerging risks, and improvement opportunities related to HAIs and transmission prevention.
• Recommend enterprise and entity-level initiatives that translate surveillance and learning into standard work, measurable outcomes, and sustained results.
• Enable the spread and adoption of effective infection prevention practices and innovations across the health system.
• Establish and oversee a comprehensive, system-wide infection prevention performance monitoring structure aligned with the Balanced Scorecard.
• Monitor and trend key infection metrics (e.g., CLABSI, CAUTI, SSI, C. difficile, respiratory infections), identifying variation and opportunities for targeted intervention.
• Ensure performance data drives action, accountability, and sustained improvement at the entity and service line level.
• Lead ongoing evaluation of interventions to ensure reliability and durability of outcomes.
• Ensure system-wide compliance with applicable regulatory and accreditation requirements, including: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Conditions of Participation, The Joint Commission standards, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements.
• Maintain continuous system survey readiness, ensuring alignment of policies, practices, and documentation.
• Oversee responses to regulatory citations, infection-related findings, and corrective action plans, ensuring timely and sustainable resolution.
• Oversee the design and execution of comprehensive infection prevention programs to reduce healthcare-associated infections.
• Establish standardized surveillance methodologies, definitions, and reporting processes, maintaining oversight as NHSN system administrator.
• Ensure data accuracy, validation, and timely reporting of infection metrics.
• Standardize and hardwire evidence-based practices (e.g., hand hygiene, isolation, device utilization, environmental cleaning) into daily management systems.
• Align infection prevention plans with broader organizational performance improvement priorities.
• Recommend system-wide outbreak and exposure management, including consultation on high-risk or complex cases.
• Serve as co-leader, with the Medical Director of Infection Prevention, of the Health System Infection Prevention & Epidemiology (HIEP) response, driving coordinated response efforts.
• Recommend enterprise preparedness for emerging infectious diseases, pandemics, and surge scenarios.
• Coordinate with public health authorities to ensure timely communication, reporting, and response alignment.
• Ensure lessons learned are translated into standard work and system-level improvements.
• Oversee development, standardization, and governance of infection prevention policies, procedures, and documentation.
• Conduct infection risk assessments for new products, equipment, and vendor proposals.
• Review Instructions for Use (IFUs) and evaluate infection risk associated with new technologies.
• Partner with vendors and internal stakeholders to assess infection risks and mitigation strategies.
• Participate in system Value Analysis and product standardization committees, ensuring alignment with evidence-based and regulatory requirements.
• Monitor infection trends following product implementation to ensure safety and effectiveness.
• Promote a culture where infection prevention is a shared responsibility across all levels of leadership and frontline staff.
• Integrate infection prevention into the broader quality, patient safety, and operational excellence infrastructure.
• Serve as the enterprise subject matter expert for infection risk, influencing system strategy and decision-making.
• Reinforce that reliability in infection prevention is achieved through consistent systems, leadership behaviors, and disciplined execution.
• Define and steward enterprise infection prevention metrics, targets, and performance thresholds, aligned with the system Balanced Scorecard.
• Provide executive leadership, governance committees, and boards with integrated insights on infection performance, trends, and risks.
• Translate complex surveillance data into clear, actionable insights that drive decision-making and accountability.
• Lead, mentor, and develop Infection Prevention Managers and Infection Preventionists (IPs) across the system.
• Establish competency standards, role clarity, and performance expectations.
• Support professional development, including certification (CIC) and ongoing education.
• Ensure appropriate staffing models and resource allocation across sites of care.
• Build system capability to ensure teams can execute infection prevention practices reliably and consistently.

Benefits

• PPO medical plan, available day one at no cost for full-time employee-only coverage
• 100%25 coverage for preventive healthcare-no copay
• Paid Time Off, available day one
• Retirement Programs through the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS)
• Paid Parental Leave Benefit
• Wellness programs
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Qualified Employer

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director