About the Role
The Associate Director, Ambulatory Operations provides operational leadership for an assigned group of health centers. This role ensures consistent day-to-day execution of access, patient flow, staffing, quality support, patient experience, and operational performance expectations by working through site administrators, practice managers, and site-level leaders. The role is responsible for implementing network standards, monitoring performance, resolving operational issues, and escalating broader barriers.
Responsibilities
- Oversee day-to-day operational performance for an assigned group of health centers, ensuring consistent workflows, patient flow, access, staffing alignment, patient experience, and operational reliability.
- Provide leadership, coaching, and performance management to assigned site administrators, practice managers, and other site-level operational leaders.
- Implement clinic-network standards, workflows, policies, and procedures; identify site-level barriers and recommend process improvements.
- Use dashboards, Epic data, KPIs, access metrics, staffing data, and operational reports to monitor performance, identify trends, and develop site-level action plans.
- Monitor staffing levels, schedules, and resource needs across assigned health centers; recommend adjustments based on patient volume, access needs, staffing models, and operational demand.
- Monitor budget performance, productivity, revenue-cycle workflows, patient charges, and operational variances for assigned sites; provide variance explanations and recommendations.
- Address site-level operational barriers related to access, staffing, patient flow, compliance, workflows, patient experience, and support services; escalate broader issues.
- Partner with Access, Nursing, Clinical Services, Medical Directors, Financial Eligibility, Revenue Cycle, and other support teams to improve appointment access, patient flow, team-based care, quality support, and care coordination.
- Support implementation and readiness activities for approved clinic expansions, renovations, new programs, service changes, access initiatives, and enterprise priorities.
- Ensure assigned health centers follow applicable regulatory, accreditation, infection prevention, Joint Commission, CLIA, standing delegation order, emergency preparedness, and organizational standards.
- Use Lean, Six Sigma, PCMH, and other process improvement tools to support operational efficiency, patient experience, patient engagement, access, and care delivery improvements.
- Support staff engagement, leadership development, performance management, retention, and a culture of accountability, service, and continuous improvement.
- Work collaboratively with key stakeholders to support service quality, operational consistency, data integrity, and efficient resource utilization.
- Interact respectfully and collaboratively with patients, families, staff, and community partners, supporting positive relationships and alignment with the organization’s mission and services.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
Requirements
- Bachelor's Degree (higher degree accepted) in Business, Health Administration, Nursing, Public Health or related field -Required
- 5 years of related experience in ambulatory, medical office, clinic operations, or healthcare operations, including at least 3 years in a management or supervisory capacity -Required
- Demonstrated experience and proficiency with tools, technology, and systems typically found in a healthcare environment, including Microsoft Office Suite, patient record systems, EMR systems, dashboards, and operational reporting tools
- Experience in a primary care group practice, FQHC, PCMH, integrated care delivery system, or ambulatory care setting -Preferred
- Knowledge of budget, billing, finance, revenue cycle, managed care rules and regulations, and healthcare operations -Preferred
- Experience working in or supporting specialty clinic operations -Preferred
- Membership in a professional organization such as Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) or American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), or related certification -Preferred
Skills
- Strong knowledge of ambulatory healthcare operations, clinic workflows, access, patient flow, staffing models, patient experience, quality support, and performance improvement.
- Ability to lead site-level operational leaders and maintain accountability for day-to-day performance across assigned health centers.
- Ability to interpret dashboards, Epic data, KPIs, staffing data, access metrics, and operational reports to identify trends, resolve issues, and support corrective action.
- Strong understanding of regulatory, accreditation, infection prevention, emergency preparedness, and organizational standards applicable to ambulatory health center operations.
- Working knowledge of budget monitoring, staffing alignment, productivity, revenue-cycle workflows, patient charges, and operational variance review.
- Effective project management skills, including the ability to plan, organize, prioritize, and follow through on multiple initiatives and deadlines.
- Ability to collaborate effectively with Directors, Associate Directors, Nursing Leadership, Clinical Leadership, Medical Directors, Access, Financial Eligibility, Revenue Cycle, Human Resources, and other support functions.
- Ability to build and lead high-performing teams; provide clear direction, coaching, support, and accountability to assigned leaders and staff.
- Strong problem-solving, judgment, communication, and decision-making skills.
- Ability to be flexible and adaptable to change while supporting operational readiness, continuous improvement, and staff engagement.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Experience Level
- 3 years in a management or supervisory capacity
Education Level
- Bachelor's Degree in Business, Health Administration, Nursing, Public Health or related field
