Director, Innovation and Practice

Shirley Ryan AbilityLab•Chicago, IL

4d•Onsite

About The Position

Shirley Ryan AbilityLab is the global leader in physical medicine and rehabilitation for adults and children with the most severe, complex conditions. By joining our team, you’ll be part of our life-changing mission and vision. You’ll contribute to an innovative, multifaceted culture that is second to none — one that embraces collaboration, excellence, discovery and compassion. You’ll play a role in something that’s never been done before as we integrate science and clinical care to help patients achieve better, faster outcomes — as we Advance Human Ability, together. Job Description Summary The director, Allied Health Innovation & Practice will provide strategic leadership for allied health workforce development, enterprise clinical practice standards, and the translation of research and innovation into scalable patient care. The role ensures that as Shirley Ryan AbilityLab expands across sites, partners, markets, and levels of care, the organization develops the right talent, delivers a consistent high standard of care, and rapidly integrates emerging evidence, technologies, and treatment models into clinical practice. This role serves as the enterprise leader responsible for advancing allied health clinical practice, workforce strategy, education, innovation, and translational implementation across all Shirley Ryan AbilityLab hospitals, outpatient centers, alliance partners, and future growth markets.

Requirements

Master's degree in a rehabilitation-related allied health discipline, healthcare administration, business administration, or a related field required.
Doctoral degree preferred.
Licensure or registration in the State of Illinois, if applicable for professional discipline.
Minimum seven years of progressively responsible healthcare leadership experience, including demonstrated success leading multidisciplinary teams, strategic planning, financial management, operational improvement, and program development.
Demonstrated success leading strategic planning, healthcare operations, financial stewardship, business development, service line growth, and organizational change initiatives.
Strong financial, analytical, and business acumen with the ability to interpret operational, quality, workforce, and financial data; develop business plans and budgets; forecast workforce needs; and support executive decision-making.
Demonstrated executive leadership capabilities, including strategic planning, organizational change management, enterprise execution, performance improvement, and the ability to influence across complex multidisciplinary organizations.
Strong financial and analytical acumen with the ability to interpret operational and financial data, develop budgets, forecast staffing needs, and make data-driven decisions.
Exceptional executive communication, collaboration, and relationship-building skills with demonstrated ability to influence physicians, researchers, operational leaders, academic partners, alliance organizations, and executive leadership.
Working knowledge of healthcare technologies, electronic health records, Microsoft Office Suite, clinical information systems, and emerging digital health applications that support clinical operations and innovation.
Demonstrated experience translating research, evidence-based practice, and emerging technologies into scalable clinical operations.
Experience developing strategic partnerships with academic institutions, healthcare organizations, and external stakeholders to advance workforce development, education, innovation, and clinical excellence.

Nice To Haves

Doctoral degree preferred.

Responsibilities

Provide strategic leadership for the development, standardization, and evolution of allied health care models across all Shirley Ryan AbilityLab locations, alliance partners, and future markets to advance clinical quality, operational excellence, innovation, organizational growth and patient-centered outcomes.
Lead the enterprise strategy for clinical practice advancement, knowledge dissemination and implementation of evidence-based care across the continuum of care.
Establish and oversee enterprise governance and oversight for allied health clinical practice standards, ensuring accountability for adoption, consistency, regulatory compliance, accreditation readiness, and continuous performance improvement.
Design and sponsor enterprise initiatives that improve patient outcomes, patient experience, workforce effectiveness, quality metrics, operational efficiency and value-based care.
Provides enterprise-level leadership and governance for all internal and alliance education initiatives, including competency frameworks, onboarding, and orientation programs, ensuring alignment with organizational strategy and the development of a high-performing workforce across internal teams and partner organizations.
Develop and execute enterprise workforce strategies that strengthen talent pipelines, succession planning, student affiliations, residency and fellowship programs, professional development, and long-term workforce sustainability.
Support strategic recruiting initiatives to enhance ongoing workforce development pipelines for allied health professions.
Oversee enterprise onboarding, orientation, competency validation, career development pathways, leadership development, and continuing education programs for allied health professionals.
Foster strategic collaborations with research institutes, scientific leadership, and academic partners to accelerate translational research, scholarly activity, and implementation of innovative clinical practice.
Represent the organization in academic and professional forums, strengthening its role as a leading clinical training and research partner in allied health fields nationally and internationally.
Lead the enterprise evaluation, prioritization, selection, implementation, and lifecycle management of allied health technologies, digital solutions, and clinical equipment, ensuring alignment with research priorities, operational needs, patient outcomes, and strategic growth.
Collaborate with scientific chairs, research leaders, and operational executives to identify emerging technologies with strong translational potential and guide their evaluation, clinical integration, and operational implementation across allied health programs including commercialization opportunities where appropriate.
Develop business plans, evaluate return on investment for innovation initiatives, oversee operating budgets, and ensure responsible stewardship of enterprise resources supporting allied health strategy.
Develop enterprise competency assessment frameworks, continuing education strategies, and practice validation processes across internal operations and alliance partnerships.
Establish metrics to monitor compliance with, and patient outcomes resulting from changes in practice standards quality, safety, operational performance, patient outcomes, workforce engagement, and adoption of innovation.
Lead enterprise change management efforts associated with new clinical practices, technologies, education models, and innovation initiatives.
Serve as executive liaison for allied health practice standards with alliance partners and external healthcare organizations.
Participate in enterprise strategic planning activities supporting organizational growth, market expansion, and development of new care delivery models.
Prepare executive-level reports and recommendations regarding workforce strategy, innovation initiatives, clinical outcomes, and enterprise performance.
Perform all other duties that may be assigned in the best interest of Shirley Ryan AbilityLab.