Director, Programs

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences•Little Rock, AR

3d•Onsite

About The Position

The Director of Caregiving and Dementia Programs provides strategic leadership and operational oversight for the UAMS Centers on Aging education programs, including caregiver education, dementia programming, and the Schmieding Home Caregiver Training Program (SHCTP). This position leads the development and implementation of innovative educational initiatives that support older adults, individuals with dementia, family caregivers, healthcare professionals, and students. As a licensed healthcare professional with an active National Provider Identifier (NPI), the Director supports clinical caregiver education and CMS-funded initiatives, including Principal Illness Navigation (PIN), to advance program sustainability and improve care for individuals living with dementia. The role collaborates with internal and external stakeholders statewide to strengthen partnerships, expand community impact, and promote excellence in geriatric care. The ideal candidate must be an exceptional team player who is genuinely committed to working collaboratively with others. They must consistently lead by example to inspire staff while demonstrating the humility and flexibility to step back and follow when appropriate. This position requires an innovative individual who is collegial, capable of operating with a high degree of autonomy, and willing to initiate novel programming— including workplace wellness models—while utilizing advanced clinical knowledge and grant management expertise to sustain community-focused geriatric care. To achieve meaningful, cohesive statewide outcomes, the candidate must possess the ability to build seamless, productive relationships with key stakeholders throughout Arkansas and work collaboratively across all other UAMS Centers on Aging (COAs) nodes.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in business, health, or scientific field plus six (6) years of project management experience within a research or community-based setting, including 1 year of supervisory experience required.
Professional clinical Licenses and/or dementia certification.
Must complete REACH training and acquire/maintain certification within 3 months of hire.
Geriatric experience.
Experience working with special needs adults.
Licensed as an advanced clinician within the state of Arkansas (APRN, PA, CSW).

Nice To Haves

Master's degree plus four (4) years of clinical experience/interaction with geriatric or aging special needs population, teaching experience, including 1 year of supervisory experience.
Geriatrics focus on dementia and caregiving experience.
Geriatric Nurse Practitioner, Adult/Gero Nurse Practitioner
Grant writing.
Strong presentation skills.

Responsibilities

Directs the day-to-day operations, curriculum standards, and strategic growth of the UAMS Centers on Aging (COAs) education section and the Schmieding Home Caregiver Training Program (SHCTP) in the Little Rock/central Arkansas area.
Leads the end-to-end development, implementation, and rigorous evaluation of all community education, SHCTP outreach, workshops, and training programs designed for older adults, special needs populations, and family caregivers.
Establishes and executes educational initiatives in accordance with UAMS guidelines and the Centers on Aging leadership groups, extending training to healthcare professionals and health/social service students.
Acquires deep operational expertise with all components of the REACH and Schmieding Caregiver Training Programs.
Promotes, develops, coordinates, schedules, and conducts tailored group and individual family-caregiver consultations, creating and implementing individualized care plans for caregivers.
Acts as an innovative force to initiate, design, and deploy novel programming and statewide outreach models, including the integration of workplace wellness concepts.
Actively recruits, educates, and trains all program instructors, participants, and target groups.
Leads by example in classroom and community settings to inspire staff, while demonstrating the humility and flexibility to step back and follow peer or organizational leadership when appropriate.
Utilizes professional healthcare licensure to actively build, implement, and manage a critical new medical billing and coding initiative tailored to supportive care.
Spearheads the operational integration of specialized CMS billing codes across the network, focusing directly on Caregiver Education Services and Principal Illness Navigation (PIN) for individuals living with dementia.
Monitors billing data, compliance metrics, and programmatic outcomes to establish a reliable, self-sustaining revenue model crucial for the growth and financial continuation of services.
Researches, identifies, and applies for competitive federal, state, and private grants, leveraging clinical knowledge and grant management expertise to sustain community-focused geriatric care.
Monitors grant deliverables, outcomes, and timelines to ensure strict accountability for all awarded educational funds.
Functions as an exceptional team player, building seamless, highly collaborative relationships with key healthcare, community, and legislative stakeholders throughout the state of Arkansas.
Partners directly and productively across all other regional UAMS Centers on Aging (COAs) nodes to standardize educational delivery, share resources, and achieve unified, meaningful statewide outcomes.
Provides robust leadership in evaluating the quality of education programs and instructional staff, implementing strategies and outcome data tracking to maintain evidence-based program viability.
Establishes and oversees seamless operational procedures for the entire student lifecycle, from initial registration through program completion.
Serves as a specialized clinical and educational consultant to regional staff and community stakeholders for referral systems, resource networks, and training programs.
Assists local, regional, and statewide leadership teams with the development, implementation, and iterative updating of the UAMS COAs strategic education plan.
Represents the mission, clinical goals, and successes of the SHCTP at staff, foundation, advisory committee, and COA board meetings.
Coordinates and supports SHCTP program marketing, promotion, and clinical liaison activities, maintaining precise recruitment, attendance, and education data records.
Perform other duties as assigned.