Vice Chair for Clinical Operations for the Department of Radiation Oncology, Thomas Jefferson University

Thomas Jefferson University•Philadelphia, PA

5d•Onsite

About The Position

The Department of Radiation Oncology at Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, is seeking an experienced radiation oncologist to serve as Vice Chair for Clinical Operations. This senior leadership role reports directly to the Department Chair and works closely with the Associate Vice President of Radiation Oncology. The Vice Chair serves as the Chair’s principal deputy for the clinical enterprise, with responsibility for the safety, quality, consistency, efficiency, and strategic growth of radiation oncology care across Jefferson Health facilities. The role leads clinical and operational performance across a geographically distributed network spanning Philadelphia, South Jersey, the Lehigh Valley, and northeastern Pennsylvania. A central priority is integrating academic, community, and regional sites around common standards while preserving effective local relationships and referral patterns. The position is designed as a working leadership role: the Vice Chair maintains an active clinical practice, is expected to provide direct patient care at the Center City Academic Hub two days per week, and remains an engaged academic faculty member. Regular travel to network sites is required. The Vice Chair oversees clinical workflows, physician governance, patient safety, quality measurement, peer review, accreditation readiness, evidence-based standards, multidisciplinary programs, advanced technology deployment, staffing and capacity, and clinical integration across legacy Jefferson and Lehigh Valley Health Network sites. The role also partners with the Associate Vice President on operational, financial, workforce, capital, and strategic planning; supports clinical informatics and academic infrastructure; represents the department in institutional forums; and contributes to clinical practice, research, teaching, mentoring, and committee service. Candidates must hold an MD, DO, or MD/PhD; be board certified in Radiation Oncology or eligible for certification within 12 months of appointment; and be eligible for unrestricted medical licensure in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The candidate must be eligible for appointment as Associate Professor or Professor at Sidney Kimmel Medical College. At least five to seven years of practice beyond training, including formal leadership in clinical operations, quality, or safety, is required. Salary and academic rank are commensurate with experience, qualifications, and accomplishments. The position includes an administrative stipend and administrative time.

Requirements

MD, DO, or MD/PhD degree.
Board certification in Radiation Oncology by the American Board of Radiology, or board eligibility with certification expected within 12 months of appointment.
Eligibility for unrestricted medical licensure in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Eligibility for faculty appointment at the rank of Associate Professor or Professor at Sidney Kimmel Medical College; rank is commensurate with academic record.
Five to seven years of practice beyond training, including demonstrated formal leadership in clinical operations, quality, or safety.
Demonstrated experience with quality and safety systems, accreditation processes, and performance metrics in radiation oncology.
Evidence of effective multidisciplinary collaboration and successful clinical program development.
Strong communication, negotiation, conflict resolution, and change management skills, with credibility to lead peers across multiple sites.
Maintain an active clinical practice and meet departmental expectations for clinical productivity, documentation, peer review, coverage and call, and patient experience.
Maintain active medical licensure, board certification, and hospital privileges at assigned sites.
Regular travel to sites across the network, including the Lehigh Valley and northeastern Pennsylvania, as operational responsibilities require.

Nice To Haves

Experience leading clinical operations across multiple sites or within an integrated health system network.
Experience with post-merger or post-affiliation clinical integration, including harmonizing standards, metrics, and governance across previously separate organizations.
Effectiveness working with community and regional physicians and hospital leadership, beyond an academic medical center setting.
Formal management training, such as an MBA, MHA, MMM, or executive leadership program; valued but not required.
Working knowledge of radiation oncology reimbursement, coding, and alternative payment models.
Experience with clinical informatics, operational analytics, or AI-enabled workflow improvement.
Record of peer-reviewed scholarship and participation in cooperative group or investigator-initiated clinical trials.

Responsibilities

Oversee clinical workflows, patient safety, quality metrics, and multidisciplinary program development across radiation oncology facilities.
Provide enterprise physician leadership in partnership with Regional Medical Directors and Site Medical Directors, establishing expectations for clinical performance, access, quality, productivity, professionalism, clinical citizenship, and adherence to enterprise standards.
Establish and lead a consistent physician governance structure, including regular engagement with regional and site medical directors and clear decision-making, escalation, accountability, and communication mechanisms.
Oversee clinical workflows across sites, including consultation, simulation, planning, treatment delivery, on-treatment management, and survivorship handoff, emphasizing timely access and reduced unwarranted variation.
Lead patient safety processes, including event and near-miss reporting, root-cause and common-cause analysis, corrective action plans, and follow-through with frontline staff.
Define, monitor, and act on the departmental quality dashboard, including access and treatment-start timing, physics and chart-check completion, peer review, treatment interruptions, on-treatment visit compliance, adverse events, patient-reported outcomes, and patient experience.
Lead and standardize peer review and chart rounds across sites, including prospective contour and plan reviews.
Maintain accreditation and regulatory readiness for ASTRO APEx, Commission on Cancer, The Joint Commission, state radiation control programs, and NRC or Agreement State licensure; lead survey preparation, response, and remediation.
Develop and maintain evidence-based treatment guidelines, care pathways, and technical standards for contouring, planning, immobilization, image guidance, and dose constraints, and oversee their adoption across the network.
Develop multidisciplinary programs with disease-site leaders and relevant specialties, including tumor boards, multidisciplinary clinics, and aligned pathways with the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Guide clinical deployment of advanced technology and techniques, including SBRT/SABR, brachytherapy, adaptive and MR-guided radiotherapy, radiopharmaceutical therapy, and proton referral pathways; address credentialing, competency, and equitable access.
Partner with medical physics, dosimetry, radiation therapy, nursing, and advanced practice leadership on staffing, scope of practice, competency assessment, and workflow design.
Manage clinical capacity, including machine utilization, scheduling templates, downtime, disaster contingency planning, cross-site coverage, and patient transfer protocols.
Lead clinical integration across legacy Jefferson and Lehigh Valley Health Network sites, harmonizing standards, peer review, pathways, credentialing, technology standards, and operational metrics while preserving effective local practice and referral relationships.
Promote equitable access and consistent quality throughout the network, including academic-standard care, multidisciplinary review, and clinical trial availability at community and regional sites.
Develop an enterprise framework for Centers of Excellence and regional specialization, determining which capabilities should be broadly distributed and which should be concentrated at designated centers.
Assist the Department Chair with clinical operations and strategic planning; serve as senior physician leader for enterprise clinical operations and as the Chair’s principal deputy in designated forums and delegated duties.
Partner with the Associate Vice President of Radiation Oncology to align physician leadership with enterprise operations, finance, workforce, capital planning, and strategic execution.
Co-lead annual departmental strategic planning, operating and capital budget development, and performance-to-budget review for the clinical enterprise.
Contribute to clinical workforce planning, including physician and advanced practice staffing models, site assignments, coverage, call schedules, recruitment, and faculty onboarding.
Help design and administer clinical effort, productivity, and incentive frameworks, and participate with the Chair in faculty performance review and setting professionalism and clinical citizenship expectations.
Oversee clinical informatics supporting operations, including the oncology information system, electronic health record integration, scheduling, registries, operational dashboards, and automation or AI-enabled workflow improvement.
Coordinate with fellow Vice Chairs to ensure clinical operations support research accrual and trainee education.
Build clinical operations infrastructure that advances the academic mission, including clinical trial accrual, resident and trainee education, prospective data collection, implementation research, and dissemination of innovation across the network.
Represent the department to hospital, cancer center, medical school, and enterprise administrative leadership, and serve on relevant institutional operating committees.
Provide direct patient care at the Center City Academic Hub for an expected two days per week and maintain an active, high-quality clinical practice in disease sites aligned with departmental needs and the candidate’s expertise.
Meet departmental expectations for productivity, timely documentation, peer review participation, coverage and call, and patient experience; model safety, quality, and pathway adherence.
Maintain active medical licensure, board certification, and hospital privileges at assigned sites; travel regularly to network sites as operational responsibilities require.
Participate in clinical, translational, health services, implementation, or operations research, with scholarly output commensurate with academic rank.
Support clinical trial accrual and extend trial access to community and regional sites.
Teach and mentor residents, fellows, and medical students, including instruction in quality, safety, and health care operations; mentor junior faculty and advanced practice providers in clinical and operational leadership.
Serve on departmental, hospital, cancer center, and Sidney Kimmel Medical College committees and maintain engagement with national professional and cooperative group organizations.

Benefits

Comprehensive benefits package including health, dental, and vision coverage.
Retirement contributions.
Malpractice coverage.
Continuing medical education support.
Tuition benefits and tuition assistance.
Medical, including prescription, supplemental insurance, life and AD&D insurance, short- and long-term disability, and flexible spending accounts.
Voluntary benefits, including access to group insurance rates and discounts.
Tuition discounts at Thomas Jefferson University after one year of full-time service or two years of part-time service.
Medical insurance access for all colleagues, including those working less than part-time, per diem colleagues, adjunct faculty, and Jeff Temps.
Administrative stipend and administrative time.