Assistant Director, Quality Performance Improvement

Job Description

Join one of the nation’s premier academic medical centers, UChicago Medicine, as the Assistant Director of the Quality Performance Improvement (QPI). This position is based on-site at Hyde Park, with remote flexibility. Some travel to alternate site locations around Chicagoland will be required. 

 

In this role, the Assistant Director of the Quality Performance Improvement (QPI) Department will provide management and supervision to the QPI team and lead the day to day functioning of the department through continuous improvement, problem solving, recruitment, evaluation of staff competency and performance and maintenance of department budget. The assistant director is also responsible for creating and revising standard work for the QPI team and implementing new operational workflows. The assistant director will supervise and lead the development, coordination, and oversight of the department’s activities in leading performance improvement/transformation initiatives. The assistant director will lead department operations related to prioritization and vetting of PI project requests. This position will represent the QPI department in collaborations with departmental quality chairs, physicians, nurses, health information management staff, information services staff, other professional personnel, and support staff in building a clinical performance improvement structure within the University of Chicago Medicine. Promotes and has knowledge of and utilizes appropriate quality improvement, process design, project management, and group facilitation skills and tools. The manager supervises all staff members in the QPI department. 

  

Essential Job Functions:  

• Ensure a competent staff while also providing staff the opportunities for professional growth. 

• Provide guidance to staff for the planning and facilitation of advanced performance improvement projects. 

• Strategize and develop a departmental structure to manage multidisciplinary and cross departmental performance improvement projects across UCM. 

• Cultivates relationships throughout the Medical Campus leadership structure to enhance cross-functional collaboration.   

• Oversees the development, coordination, and improvement of processes, systems, and initiatives that support achievement of institutional quality goals.  

• Works in collaboration with Clinical Effectiveness leadership structure and members of the UCM Quality Committee (UCMQC) to achieve those goals.  

• Ensures coordination of communications (senior management, leadership committee, task force teams, and steering committees/sponsors) training logistics, methodologies, and day-to-day project activity.   

• Manages the QPI portfolio and work assignments, ensuring balanced workload and development opportunities across the team as appropriate. May take on a portfolio of improvement projects as needed. 

• Available to support QPI team members for additional support or to remove barriers as needed. Is an active, experienced problem-solver. 

• Establishes and implements standard work for the QPI team. Ensures continuous improvement of the standards to meet the evolving needs of project stakeholders and the health system. 

 

Qualifications 

• Demonstrates leadership, management ability and organizational skills 

• Bachelor’s degree in healthcare, engineering, or performance improvement field   

• Minimum of 5-7 years’ experience in hospital-based performance improvement, preferably in an academic medical center or large health system, with successively increased responsibility 

• Management experience within a performance improvement department: Minimum of 2 years’ experience in a leadership role related to quality, performance improvement, and/or project management 

• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills with all levels of staff, including physicians and administrative staff  

• Broad understanding of performance improvement skills and techniques, with the ability to translate and teach this to inexperienced audiences 

• Experience in managing large portfolios of complex projects, preferably in a health-system setting 

• Ability to prioritize in response to shifting organizational needs 

• Experience facilitating large groups with many different stakeholders of varying experience, training, and seniority 

• Ability to coordinate projects across many functional units 

• Understanding of regulatory, accrediting, and external reporting requirements as applied to hospitals