Sr Director, Practice Strategy & Operations - Dept of Pediatrics

Duke Careers•Durham, NC

7d•Onsite

About The Position

This position is a senior administrative leader reporting to the Vice Chair of Administration and Finance/Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of the Department of Pediatrics. The Director provides enterprise-level leadership for pediatric inpatient and ambulatory practice operations, translating departmental strategy into standardized workflows, performance management, and continuous improvement to optimize access, capacity, quality, productivity, and patient experience. The Director serves as the Department’s operational owner for practice performance (access, scheduling, unit/clinic operations, and practice management). The role partners closely with division administrators, clinic leaders, finance, quality, compliance, and Duke Health operational teams to implement operating standards and deliver measurable improvements. This role will help inform the strategy for clinical financial improvement alongside the CAO who will maintain department-wide fiduciary authority (budgeting, forecasting, financial controls, and institutional financial/operational representation). Role Scope & Key Interfaces Director owns: inpatient and ambulatory access/capacity strategy execution; scheduling and template optimization; clinic workflow and throughput improvement; space utilization planning for clinics; operational performance dashboards and action plans; operational readiness for new clinics/providers; practice management standard work. Director supports: annual budgeting, forecasting, and financial controls (owned by the CAO and appropriate health system executives); compensation plan governance and faculty effort management, department-wide HR, labor relations, grants/contracts, and endowment/gift administration will remain the responsibility of other department and division administrative roles. Decision rights: recommends business development and operational investments, staffing/space tradeoffs using data and business cases; escalates policy, financial, and strategy decisions to executive department leaders and relevant Duke Health leaders per governance.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required
Ten (10) or more years of progressive leadership experience in academic medicine or complex healthcare organizations, with demonstrated responsibility for:
Ambulatory clinical practice operations and performance management (access, scheduling, workflows, throughput)
Access, capacity, and growth execution, including standardized templates and operating models
Operational/financial analytics and partnering with finance and revenue cycle to improve performance and revenue integrity (not department-wide budgeting authority)
Leading matrixed teams and influencing across clinical, operational, and physician stakeholders
Advanced operational judgment and strategic thinking
Strong financial and analytical acumen
Executive‑level communication and influence
Ability to align clinical operations with academic and institutional strategy
Proven leadership in complex academic health system environments

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree strongly preferred (MHA, MBA, MPH, or related field)

Responsibilities

Provide practice operational leadership and accountability for practice changes in inpatient and outpatient clinic operations, including access management execution, scheduling optimization, clinic workflows, quality improvement and space utilization.
Define, deploy, and maintain operational performance standards and dashboards (access, throughput, productivity, quality, and patient experience) and drive corrective action plans with division and clinic leaders.
Lead department-wide operational improvement initiatives to strengthen practice efficiency, panel management, and care-team utilization, aligning recommendations with established compensation frameworks and academic effort expectations governed by executive department leadership.
Oversee the Department’s ambulatory quality and operational readiness workstreams with quality, compliance, and medical leadership, ensuring reliable implementation of agreed standards.
Provide direct leadership and supervision of the departmental practice team (2-3 direct reports), setting priorities, goals, and accountability for ambulatory performance work.
Partner with Division Administrators and embedded finance/operations leaders to strengthen practice management routines, transparency of performance results, and continuous improvement capability.
Lead execution of the Department’s pediatric access and capacity strategy with physician Vice Chair of Outpatient Practice, partnering with Duke Health Access Services (DHAS) and clinic leadership to improve new patient access, template build, and scheduling effectiveness.
Design and implement standardized access tools, specialty-specific scheduling templates, capacity forecasts, and clinic operating standards; monitor outcomes and iterate based on data.
Partner with Physician Liaisons, division chiefs/administrators, and practice leaders to identify and develop strategic growth plans and provide operational tactics (business development opportunities with external organizations, referral pathways, clinic buildouts, staffing models, and launch readiness).
Ensure growth initiatives are operationally feasible and aligned with space, staffing, and academic capacity; develop business cases and escalate capital/budget decisions through the Vice Chair and Duke Health governance.
Provide operational analysis and recommendations to improve clinical financial performance (e.g., throughput, staffing models, template design, and care-team utilization) in partnership with the CAO and Duke Health ambulatory/children’s leadership, who retain budgeting, forecasting, and financial controls.
Partner with Revenue Management, division leadership, and practice teams on revenue integrity initiatives, including encounter closure, documentation workflows, APP supervision model operations, coding education support, and billing compliance reinforcement.
Use operational and financial data to design and implement cost-effective clinic operating models that improve margin while maintaining quality, access, and academic alignment; quantify impacts and hand off budget actions to the division administration as needed.
Partner with departmental and health system EMR, data, and operational technology teams to define requirements, prioritize enhancements, and support adoption that improves clinic workflow, access, and performance reporting.
Ensure ambulatory operational processes adhere to applicable institutional policies, regulatory requirements, and accreditation standards in coordination with compliance, privacy, and quality partners.
Pilot and scale care delivery and operational analytics innovations (e.g., new clinic models, standardized work, performance review routines) that advance pediatric practice operations.