Professional Development Educator, Behavioral Health - Full time

Valley Health System•Winchester, VA

About The Position

The Professional Development Educator implements standardized education, onboarding, competency, and workforce development programs to promote practice readiness, safe clinical care, and consistent outcomes across assigned departments, service lines, and care settings. The role supports professional competence, lifelong learning, and career growth for clinical and interprofessional caregivers. The educator puts system-wide education, competency, and workforce development strategies into practice, partnering with leaders, subject matter experts, and interprofessional teams. The role delivers learning experiences, supports transition to practice, facilitates competency development, and provides coaching, mentorship, and professional development. Through education delivery and competency validation, the educator contributes to workforce readiness, staff engagement and retention, improved time-to-productivity, and reduced variation in onboarding and practice.

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, based on primary state of residency and 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 the needs of 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 and regulatory compliance.
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 individual, team, or practice-area needs.
Coordinate educational activities, competency processes, and workforce development initiatives with 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 and optimize educational resources within assigned practice areas.
Ensure consistent implementation of system-wide educational programs, standards, and resources to reduce variation and duplication.
Collaborate with colleagues and interprofessional teams to implement 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.
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.