Director of Practice Administration

Gillette Children's•Saint Paul, MN

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director of Practice Administration is accountable for the access, productivity, operating performance, and financial contribution of Gillette's physician and advanced practice provider practice, held jointly with the physician leaders who own clinical vision and standards. The Director holds the operating discipline that allows section physician chiefs to lead clinically without also serving as administrators, working in a formal, co-equal dyad partnership with each section physician chief rather than through direct authority over clinical operations. Given Gillette's complex, largely un-benchmarked patient population, the role requires strong financial, operational, and business acumen; sound judgment where external benchmarks are thin; and the ability to build consensus and drive results through influence and shared accountability rather than positional authority. This is a hybrid opportunity, with expectations to work in St. Paul as needed for the role. The selected candidate must reside within MN or WI.

Requirements

Master's degree in healthcare administration, business administration, public health, or a closely related field.
Seven or more years of progressively increasing leadership responsibility in healthcare management or a related industry, including leadership of people, projects, or programs, and direct accountability for physician or specialty practice performance.
Demonstrated competency in leadership, people management, operations, finance, communication, innovation, and change management methodologies.
Skilled in leading through influence and shared accountability rather than positional authority, including succeeding in a dyad or formal physician partnership model, facilitating difficult conversations, and resolving disagreement without escalation.
Accountable for practice or service line financial performance, including budget development and measurable margin or efficiency improvement.
Working command of physician productivity and compensation mechanics, including work RVUs, benchmarking, and compensation plan design and administration.
Ability to work effectively and collaboratively in a multi-disciplinary environment with physician, advanced practice, nursing, administrative, supervisory, and allied health colleagues.
Fluency with operational and financial data, with the ability to translate it into decisions physician leaders will act on.
Strong systems and process-improvement orientation, with the judgment to build operating standards in a specialty setting where external benchmarks are often thin.
Comfortable holding joint accountability for outcomes shaped by factors outside this role's direct control, and able to represent that nuance clearly to leadership.

Nice To Haves

Ten or more years of progressive healthcare operations leadership.
Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE) or Fellow of the American College of Medical Practice Executives (FACMPE).
Pediatric, specialty, surgical, or academic practice experience.
Physician contract management experience, including fair market value and regulatory considerations.
Experience standing up a new function or department rather than inheriting an established one.
Formal improvement methodology training (Lean, Six Sigma, or equivalent).
Oracle proficiency, including scheduling and template configuration.

Responsibilities

Partner with executive leaders and physician chiefs to establish and execute department vision, strategy, priorities, and goals aligned with Gillette’s enterprise strategy.
Identify and advance opportunities for growth, access, new services, referral relationships, affiliations, and strategic partnerships.
Develop data-informed strategies and business cases to support investment, growth, and resource decisions.
Serve as a collaborative, co-equal dyad partner with section physician chiefs, sharing accountability for practice strategy, performance, planning, and growth.
Lead, engage, coach, and develop department team members while fostering a collaborative, inclusive, and high-performing culture.
Build alignment across diverse stakeholders, communicate with transparency, and effectively navigate difficult conversations, change, and ambiguity.
Lead the operational performance of clinical sections in partnership with physician chiefs, including access, throughput, provider productivity, template utilization, patient experience, and financial performance.
Establish consistent performance management practices and use data to identify opportunities, improve processes, optimize resources, and strengthen practice management.
Partner across clinical and administrative functions to drive operational efficiency while maintaining quality, safety, regulatory, and service excellence.
Identify and implement technology, automation, decision-support, and process improvements that enhance practice operations and reduce provider administrative burden.
Translate data, market trends, and emerging opportunities into strategies that strengthen access, growth, operational performance, and Gillette’s competitive position.
Lead cross-functional change initiatives and build stakeholder alignment to translate strategic vision into measurable improvements.
Interpret financial, operational, and productivity data to evaluate practice performance, manage section-level budgets, and guide strategic and operational decisions.
Monitor and optimize key drivers of financial performance, including provider capacity and productivity, staffing models, access, utilization, cost, and revenue.
Develop data-driven business plans and financial models for growth, staffing, new services, and other investments, applying strong knowledge of healthcare finance and practice economics.
Drive measurable improvements in access, throughput, provider productivity, operational efficiency, patient experience, and financial performance.
Optimize workforce and provider performance, including staffing, utilization, recruitment, onboarding, retention, engagement, and administrative burden.
Use consistent metrics, scorecards, and performance reviews to establish accountability, evaluate section performance, and demonstrate progress toward organizational goals.