Center for Elders' Independence Careers

Senior Director, Operational Performance & Excellence

The Center for Elders’ Independence is a PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the elderly) organization (PO) that uses an interdisciplinary team approach for care planning and implementing purposeful high quality, affordable, and integrated health care services to the elderly.  Our elderly meet PACE requirements as prescribed by CMS and are referred to as participants.  Our PO includes Adult Day Health Centers and primary care clinics, promoting participant autonomy, quality of life and the ability for individuals to live in their communities

The Annual salary range for the Senior Director Operational Excellence position at Center for Elders’ Independence is $175,304 - $ 280,470 per year. Placement within the range is determined based on job-related factors such as relevant experience, skills, abilities, internal equity, and market data, consistent with CEI’s annual compensation review and established compensation practices.

The Position:  The Senior Director, Operational Performance & Excellence serves as a key enterprise operational leader responsible for driving execution, interdisciplinary accountability, operational consistency, and continuous improvement across participant care and operational support functions within the PACE program.

This role leads enterprise operational performance initiatives focused on workflow optimization, service delivery execution, scheduling operations, medical records management, interdisciplinary coordination, regulatory readiness, operational scalability, and organizational standardization. The Senior Director partners closely with Operations, Clinical, Quality, Compliance, Finance, and Center leadership teams to ensure strategic priorities are effectively implemented and translated into measurable operational outcomes.

The position is responsible for accelerating execution, strengthening accountability structures, removing operational barriers, and driving sustainable operational improvement across interdisciplinary teams and participant care operations. This role also supports Operations leadership in achieving and exceeding organizational OKRs, operational priorities, financial targets, and enterprise performance goals.

The Senior Director directly oversees Scheduling Operations, Medical Records Management, Nursing Functional Management, and Social Work Functional Management, while leading enterprise standardization committees supporting Rehabilitation Services, Registered Dietitians, Day Center Operations, and interdisciplinary operational practices.

This role requires a highly operational, performance-driven, and strategically minded healthcare leader with deep experience leading complex interdisciplinary operations within highly regulated healthcare environments. The ideal candidate possesses exceptional execution capabilities, strong operational discipline, financial stewardship experience, and demonstrated success driving organizational transformation, performance improvement, regulatory readiness, and sustainable operational results.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Operational Performance Leadership

• Drives execution of enterprise operational initiatives across interdisciplinary participant care and operational support functions.
• Establishes accountability structures, operational expectations, governance processes, and performance management frameworks to ensure consistent execution across teams and centers.
• Leads operational improvement initiatives focused on workflow optimization, service delivery performance, participant experience, interdisciplinary coordination, compliance outcomes, and operational efficiency.
• Translates strategic organizational priorities into measurable operational action plans, implementation strategies, and performance outcomes.
• Partners with Operations leadership to drive achievement and sustainability of organizational OKRs, strategic initiatives, operational priorities, and enterprise performance goals.

Regulatory Compliance, Audit Readiness & Remediation Leadership

• Leads operational readiness activities supporting CMS, DHCS, and other regulatory audits, program reviews, and oversight activities.
• Partners with Quality, Compliance, and operational leadership teams to design, implement, and sustain operational remediation plans addressing identified compliance gaps, audit findings, and performance deficiencies.
• Drives execution of corrective action plans and operational improvement initiatives designed to improve regulatory compliance, audit performance, interdisciplinary accountability, and operational sustainability.
• Develops and implements operational controls, monitoring structures, escalation pathways, and standardized workflows that support audit readiness and regulatory compliance across participant care operations.
• Supports development of enterprise audit readiness strategies including tracer preparedness, documentation standards, interdisciplinary accountability processes, operational validation activities, and performance monitoring frameworks.
• Oversees operational monitoring activities designed to identify compliance risks, operational breakdowns, timeliness concerns, documentation deficiencies, and workflow vulnerabilities.
• Collaborates with interdisciplinary leaders to ensure operational practices align with CMS, DHCS, and organizational regulatory requirements and performance expectations.
• Supports organizational efforts to build and sustain a culture of regulatory readiness, operational accountability, and continuous compliance improvement.

Scheduling Operations & Medical Records Leadership

• Provides executive operational oversight for Scheduling Operations and Medical Records Management functions across the organization.
• Ensures operational effectiveness, workflow consistency, timeliness performance, productivity management, service delivery accountability, and operational scalability within scheduling and medical records operations.
• Oversees development and implementation of standardized workflows supporting specialty referral coordination, appointment scheduling, medical record retrieval, provider follow-up, interdisciplinary communication, and operational lifecycle management.

Interdisciplinary Functional Leadership

• Provides leadership and operational oversight to Nursing Functional Managers and Social Work Functional Managers.
• Leads enterprise interdisciplinary standardization committees supporting Rehabilitation Services, Registered Dietitians, Day Center Operations, and participant service delivery functions.
• Facilitates enterprise alignment around operational best practices, workflow redesign, participant care coordination, interdisciplinary accountability, and service delivery expectations.

Financial & Operational Stewardship

• Maintains accountability for departmental operational and financial performance across assigned functions.
• Develops and manages operational budgets for assigned departments and functions, ensuring alignment with organizational financial objectives and strategic initiatives.
• Supports achievement and advancement of organizational operational and financial goals through disciplined execution, operational optimization, productivity management, and cross-functional collaboration.
• Collaborates with Finance, Operations, and Clinical leadership to align operational initiatives with organizational budgetary targets, enterprise OKRs, and long-term strategic objectives.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree required in healthcare administration, nursing, social work, public health, rehabilitation services, human services, or related healthcare field. Master’s degree strongly preferred.
• Minimum of 7–10 years of progressive senior or executive leadership experience, with a preference for PACE or similar integrated care models and demonstrated oversight of complex interdisciplinary healthcare operations in highly regulated environments required.
• Demonstrated experience managing or overseeing Scheduling Operations and Medical Records Management functions within healthcare operations strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated success leading operational transformation initiatives, workflow redesign efforts, enterprise standardization programs, and large-scale performance improvement initiatives required.
• Extensive experience supporting regulatory compliance programs, audit readiness initiatives, corrective action implementation, and operational remediation efforts within highly regulated healthcare environments required.
• Clinical or interdisciplinary healthcare background preferred but not required (e.g., RN, SW, PT, OT, RD, or related healthcare discipline).

Leadership Competencies

• Exceptional operational leadership and execution capabilities.
• Strong bias toward accountability, problem-solving, operational discipline, continuous improvement, and measurable results.
• Demonstrated ability to lead through influence, operational accountability, and change management within matrixed interdisciplinary healthcare organizations.
• Ability to translate strategic priorities into actionable operational plans and sustainable organizational outcomes.

Reporting Structure

• Reports To: Chief Operating Officer (COO)
• Direct Reports May Include: Scheduling Leadership, Medical Records Leadership, Nursing Functional Managers, Social Work Functional Managers, Operational Performance & Excellence Staff