Professional Development Educator, Behavioral Health - Full time

Valley Health•Winchester, VA

6d•$41 - $58

About The Position

The Professional Development Educator implements standardized education, onboarding, competency, and workforce development programs across assigned departments, service lines, and care settings. The role promotes practice readiness, safe clinical care, consistent outcomes, professional competence, lifelong learning, and professional growth for clinical and interprofessional caregivers. The educator operationalizes system-wide education, competency, and workforce development strategies, partnering with leaders, subject matter experts, and interprofessional teams to deliver learning experiences, support transition to practice, facilitate competency development, and provide coaching and mentorship. Through education delivery and competency validation, the role contributes to workforce readiness, staff engagement and retention, reduced variability in onboarding, and efficient use of staffing resources.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in nursing.
Clinical experience appropriate to the practice setting and caregiver populations supported.
2–3 years of clinical experience.
Licensed or eligible to practice pending licensure as a Registered Nurse in Virginia with a multi-state license, or in West Virginia with a multi-state license, in accordance with applicable Board of Nursing regulations.
Basic Life Support (BLS) certification.
NPD-BC or another approved professional certification is required within 18 months of hire.

Nice To Haves

Experience in education, precepting, or professional development.
Nursing Professional Development Board Certification (NPD-BC).
Professional certification appropriate to the supported discipline or specialty area may be considered in lieu of NPD-BC.

Responsibilities

Implement and deliver onboarding, orientation, competency, just-in-time learning, and continuing professional development programs.
Facilitate instructor-led learning using evidence-based educational strategies and adult learning principles.
Adapt educational delivery to assigned departments, service lines, and caregiver populations while maintaining system standards.
Identify learning needs and implement targeted interventions supporting workforce readiness, staff engagement, retention, and patient safety.
Facilitate and monitor initial and ongoing competency assessment, validation, documentation, and development.
Implement standardized competency frameworks and validation processes to promote consistency, regulatory compliance, and reduced practice variability.
Provide coaching, feedback, and practice support to strengthen clinical judgment, decision-making, and performance at the point of care.
Collaborate with leaders, preceptors, subject matter experts, and Professional Development Specialists to support onboarding, transition to practice, competency progression, and workforce readiness.
Identify competency gaps and facilitate targeted development activities for individuals, teams, or practice areas.
Coordinate educational activities, competency processes, and workforce development initiatives in support of operational leaders.
Use approved technologies, learning systems, data tools, and standardized workflows to optimize educational delivery, data integrity, and administrative efficiency.
Identify opportunities to streamline processes, improve efficiency, and optimize educational resources.
Ensure consistent implementation of system-wide educational programs, standards, and resources.
Collaborate with professional development colleagues, leaders, subject matter experts, and interprofessional teams on educational solutions aligned with organizational and practice needs.
Implement and reinforce system governance, professional practice, and professional development initiatives at the point of care.
Serve as a resource for caregivers and leaders on education, competency validation, onboarding, and professional development processes.
Model the educator, facilitator, change agent, and consultant roles of professional development.
Promote accountability, lifelong learning, professional growth, and continuous improvement.
Participate in committees, councils, and initiatives supporting education, workforce development, and professional practice.
Maintain current knowledge of professional development, healthcare education, and clinical practice trends and pursue ongoing professional growth.