Scheduled Hours

40

Position Summary

The Senior Director of Agile Operations is part of the leadership team and a key contributor to the new WashU Medicine and BJC Health System joint Center for Health AI (CHAI). The center will harness the power of cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) and fundamentally change the way healthcare is provided. The center will focus on making care more personalized and effective for patients and more efficient and manageable for physicians, nurses and all those striving to ensure patients receive the very best care.

The Senior Director of Agile Operations is accountable for the success or failure of key projects and products within the new Center for Health AI. This role encompasses enterprise-scale Agile leadership beyond the scope of traditional Scrum Master and/or project management responsibilities. The ideal candidate will own outcomes, thrive in ambiguity, bring clarity to chaos, and connect technical execution with executive vision.

The Senior Director of Agile Operations will serve as the connective tissue across cross-functional teams (WashU Medicine to BJC; CHAI to industry partners), ensuring that delivery efforts are tightly aligned with stakeholder goals, team health is nurtured, and barriers to success are identified and removed-before they derail momentum.

This role will have both internal and external impact and visibility, influencing system wide digital and AI innovation, patient care transformation, and national prominence, consistent with CHAI’s mission and vision.

The center is led by Dr. Philip Payne, who serves as the inaugural Chief Health AI Officer (CHAIO), and works in partnership with Deborah O’Dell, Chief Data Officer at BJC Health System, with the shared goal of driving AI innovation across both organizations.

The Senior Director of Agile Operations will report to the Chief Research Information Officer and Assistant Dean, Dr. Albert Lai, aligning with both research and operational digital and AI transformation, and the dual affiliation with WashU and BJC. In addition, the Senior Director of Agile Operations will be responsible to the CHAIO, Dr. Philip Payne.

Job Description

Primary Duties & Responsibilities:

Delivery Leadership and Execution

• Serve as the ultimate owner of delivery-responsible for project and product outcomes, value realization, and executive satisfaction.
• Manage leading-edge digital strategy, stakeholder engagement, and communication to support AI-enabled health systems and digital transformation.
• Translate strategic goals and executive intent into concrete delivery plans, managing dependencies and removing roadblocks at all levels.
• Drive and continuously evolve Agile ceremonies to ensure alignment, momentum, and transparency across teams and stakeholders.
• Manage evolving timelines, shifting priorities, and complex scope with composure, always keeping ROI in focus.

Agile Delivery

• Act as the voice of the key stakeholders and executive sponsors, ensuring business context and expectations are embedded in all delivery efforts.
• Proactively communicate progress, issues, and wins to both technical teams and executive stakeholders.
• Present recommendations and outcomes clearly, with tailored messaging for different audiences-technical, operational, and strategic.

Team Stewardship and Culture

• Foster a delivery culture built on integrity, ownership, and continuous improvement.
• Ensure team health, clear roles, and shared understanding of goals.
• Support onboarding, mentoring, and the upskilling of delivery team members.

Working Conditions:

Job Location/Working Conditions

• Normal office environment

Physical Effort

• Typically sitting at desk or table

• Repetitive wrist, hand, or finger movement 

• Ability to move to on and off-campus locations

Equipment

• Office equipment

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all job duties performed by the personnel so classified. Management reserves the right to revise or amend duties at any time.

Required Qualifications

Education:

Bachelor's degree

Certifications:

The list below may include all acceptable certifications and issuers. More than one credential or certification may be required depending on the role.

Project Management Professional (PMP) - Project Management Institut