PACE Director of Strategy and Operational Excellence
Oakland, CA
PACE /
Full-time /
Hybrid
The Director of Strategy and Operational Excellence leads the strategic planning, performance improvement, and operational innovation initiatives across the PACE organization. This role is critical in driving sustainable growth, ensuring regulatory compliance, optimizing cross-functional workflows, and enhancing quality of care for a frail elderly population.This leader collaborates closely with executive leadership, clinical, operational, and administrative teams to align strategic goals with execution plans and to cultivate a culture of continuous improvement, data-driven decision making, and patient-centered care.
Launch Leadership
- In partnership with the Chief of Growth, launch PACE on schedule and on budget.
- Define key operational processes for outreach, enrollment and care transition, health plan services, transportation, home care, meals, and DME.
- Develop a framework to train PACE staff.
Strategic Finance
- Develop a sustainable financial model for PACE, including budgeting and financial performance tracking.
Technology
- In close partnership with IS, drive successful implementation of an EHR and integrated systems for PACE
Strategic Planning & Execution
- Lead the annual strategic planning process in collaboration with senior leadership.
- Translate organizational strategy into actionable operational plans, metrics, and accountability structures.
- Evaluate and recommend new service lines, partnerships, or expansion opportunities.
- Monitor market trends, healthcare policy changes, and demographic data to inform growth strategies.
Operational Execellence & Performance Improvement
- Develop and lead initiatives focused on improving efficiency, care delivery, and participant satisfaction.
- Identify and eliminate operational inefficiencies using Lean, Six Sigma, or other improvement methodologies.
- Facilitate root cause analyses and process redesign projects across departments (e.g., intake, transportation, clinical services).
- Develop KPIs and dashboards to track performance, clinical outcomes, and participant experience.
Project Management & Change Leadership
- Manage cross-functional projects from concept through implementation and evaluation.
- Build change management strategies that drive engagement and adoption of new processes or technologies.
- Serve as a liaison between clinical and administrative functions to ensure seamless coordination and quality improvement.
Data Analytics & Reporting
- Collaborate with data teams to ensure timely access to accurate data for operational and strategic decision-making.
- Use data insights to support business cases, regulatory reporting, and continuous improvement initiatives.
- Ensure alignment with CMS and state-specific PACE quality measures and performance metrics.
Stakeholder Engagement
- Partner with executive leadership to align strategic priorities with board and stakeholder expectations.
- Foster a culture of transparency, collaboration, and innovation among internal teams and external partners.
Supervisory Responsibilities
- Provide mentorship and support to PACE leadership and staff, fostering an environment of learning and professional growth.
- Recruit, train and supervise new PACE teams for health plan services, outreach and enrollment and other non-clinical functions.
- Educate the community about the value of PACE.
General Agency/AHS Duties
- Fosters an environment that promotes trust and cooperation among clients and staff.
- Enforces clinic policies and procedures, including maintenance of client confidentiality under HIPAA privacy rules, to ensure that the principles of AHS are implemented.
- Plays an active role in planning organization-wide activities such as AHS general membership meetings, fundraisers, special clinic days and other events.
- Participates in general membership meetings, fundraisers and other public events, as required.
- Participates in outreach activities, agency advocacy, and serves on ad hoc committees, as requested.
- Attends AHS staff retreats and Board of Directors meetings, as required.
- Participates in agency-wide quality improvement program processes and performance improvement teams to ensure excellence in the quality of services provided across the agency.
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Health Administration, Business Administration, Public Health, Engineering or related field required.
- Minimum 7–10 years of progressive leadership experience in healthcare operations, strategy, or quality improvement.
- Experience in value-based care models, preferably in PACE, Medicare Advantage, or Medicaid Managed Care.
- Demonstrated success leading cross-functional teams, managing enterprise-wide projects, and launching scalable solutions.
Preferred Qualifications
- Master’s degree (MHA, MBA, MPH, or equivalent) is strongly preferred.
Knowledge, Skills & Abilities
- Deep understanding of healthcare delivery, regulatory environment, and CMS/PACE guidelines.
- Proficiency in process improvement methodologies (Lean, Six Sigma, etc.).
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills; ability to interpret complex data sets.
- Excellent written and verbal communication; effective at influencing across all levels of the organization.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office, project management tools, and data visualization platforms (e.g., Tableau, Power BI).
Physical & Work Demands
- The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
$150,000 - $170,000 a year
