Senior Director of Clinical Care Teams (4594)

SUMMARY: 

The Senior Director of Clinical Care Teams is a senior clinical leader accountable for the strategic oversight, clinical integrity, and operational performance of nursing and interdisciplinary care team services across LifeLong Medical Care. This role is responsible for the design, standardization, and continuous optimization of care team models to ensure safe, effective, and evidence-based patient care delivery. 

The Senior Director ensures that care team structures, including Medical Assistants (MAs), Registered Nurses (RNs), Triage Assistants (TAs), and other clinical support staff, are deployed in alignment with scope-of-practice regulations and organizational standards to deliver high-quality, patient-centered, and compliant care. 

In close partnership with medical, operational, and administrative leadership, this role advances clinical excellence by enhancing access to care, improving health outcomes, strengthening workforce performance, and ensuring adherence to all applicable regulatory and accreditation requirements (including HRSA, UDS, and Medi-Cal). The Senior Director plays a critical role in advancing team-based care models, optimizing patient flow and clinical workflows, and supporting the long-term sustainability of care delivery across the organization. 

This position reports to the Chief Medical Officer.  

We offer ongoing education and collaboration with medical and behavioral health providers to ensure optimal health outcomes for our patient populations. If you are looking for an exciting and fulfilling career in a supportive and innovative work environment, this is the perfect opportunity for you.

At LifeLong Medical Care, we're dedicated to providing high-quality, compassionate care to underserved populations. If you're looking for a fulfilling career where you can make a real impact in people's lives, we encourage you to apply to be a part of our dynamic and compassionate team.

 Join us in our mission to provide comprehensive healthcare to underserved populations. Apply now to be a part of our team at LifeLong Medical Care.

About us:

As a Federally Qualified Health Center in Northern California with over 50 years of dedicated service to the community, LifeLong serves over 66,000 patients in the East Bay Area's socio-economically underserved regions. LifeLong Medical Care provides high-quality care for medical, dental, and behavioral health needs as well as social services to underserved people of all ages; creates models of care for the elderly, people with disabilities and families; and advocates for continuous improvements in the health of our communities across Oakland, Berkeley, and West Contra Costa County. From opening a residential respite program for homeless persons discharged from the hospital to offering free COVID testing to the community, we are innovative and responsive to our times' social and medical needs. We provide an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity and with which our patients can identify. To this end, we seek candidates who reflect the diversity of the East Bay communities we serve.

Benefits:

Compensation: $150,000 - $190,000 per year, depending on years licensed. and excellent benefits:

• Medical, Dental, Vision (Dependent & Domestic Partner Coverage)
• Health Saving Accounts
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• 403(b) Retirement Savings Plan
• 10 Paid Holidays + Paid Vacation and Paid Sick leave
• License Renewal Reimbursement
• Malpractice Coverage

JOB DUTIES: 

1. Nursing Leadership & Clinical Oversight 

• Provide executive-level leadership for all nursing services across sites 

• Ensure adherence to clinical standards of care, nursing protocols, and scope-of-practice regulations 

• Oversee development, approval, implementation, and review of standing orders, clinical protocols, and delegation practices (e.g., MA support under RN/MD supervision) 

• Serve as a clinical escalation point for complex patient care or safety concerns 

• Promote a culture of clinical excellence, patient safety, accountability, and continuous improvement.  

• Participate in labor relations discussions pertaining to represented care team roles, serving as a key management representative in matters involving staffing, scheduling, working conditions, and other workforce issues. 

• Collaborate with HR, operations leadership, and union representatives to address concerns, support productive labor-management relationships, and ensure alignment with collective bargaining agreements and organizational objectives.  

2. Care Team Model Design & Optimization 

• Design and implement team-based care models that effectively integrate RNs into care delivery (e.g., RN co-visits, triage models, care management) 

• Define and standardize RN roles across settings (primary care, urgent care, virtual care, care coordination) 

• Optimize MA-to-provider and RN-to-provider ratios to improve care delivery and efficiency 

3. Clinical Operations & Patient Flow 

• Partner with operations leadership to improve: 

• Patient flow and cycle time 

• Same-day access and triage workflows 

• Visit readiness and rooming efficiency 

• Lead development of centralized or hybrid models (e.g., RN triage, virtual nursing support) 

• Support emergency response protocols and workflows, including effective management of patient crisis situations. 

4. Workforce Strategy & Development 

• Develop and manage nursing workforce strategy, including staffing models, FTE planning, and coverage models 

• Lead recruitment, onboarding, training, and retention of nursing staff 

• Establish clinical competencies, orientation programs, and ongoing education 

• Create career ladders and leadership development pathways for nurses, supervisors, and managers. 

• Demonstrated ability to effectively lead and manage within a unionized environment, ensuring alignment with collective bargaining agreements while supporting organizational performance, workforce engagement, and operational consistency. 

5. Quality, Safety & Population Health 

• Partner with Quality leadership to improve performance on: 

• UDS clinical measures 

• Chronic disease management 

• Preventive care metrics 

• Lead nursing-driven initiatives in: 

• Care coordination and transitions of care 

• High-risk patient management 

• Patient education and self-management support 

• Collaborate with appropriate departments on incident reporting, patient safety events, root cause analysis, and corrective action planning. 

6. Compliance & Regulatory Oversight 

• Ensure compliance with: 

• HRSA requirements and FQHC regulations 

• State nursing practice acts and scope-of-practice laws 

• Medi-Cal and PPS billing workflows as they relate to nursing services 

• Support readiness for audits (FSR, HRSA OSV, UDS, internal compliance reviews) 

7. Cross-Functional Leadership 

• Collaborate with: 

• Chief Medical Officer and Medical Leadership 

• Center Directors and Site Leadership 

• Behavioral Health team 

• Population Health and Care Management teams 

• Patient Services and Access Team 

• And others as needed 

• Align nursing workflows with scheduling, templating, and access strategies 

8. Performance Management & Data-Driven Improvement 

• Establish and monitor KPIs such as: 

• RN utilization and productivity 

• Triage turnaround times 

• Care coordination metrics 

• Clinical quality outcomes 

• Utilize dashboards and reporting tools to drive accountability and continuous improvement 

Required Qualifications 

• Active Registered Nurse (RN) license in the state of California 

• Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) required 

• Strong working knowledge of HRSA Health Center Program requirements, Medi-Cal/Medicare operations, UDS, and payer contracts. 

• Proven ability to manage regional budgets, labor performance, and operational KPIs. 

• Experience leading change management, performance improvement, and standardization initiatives. 

• Advanced data interpretation and executive-level communication skills. 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Master’s degree (MHA, MPH, MBA, or related field). 

• Experience in a large, multi-site FQHC or integrated ambulatory network. 

• Experience working in unionized environments. 

• Formal training in Lean, Six Sigma, Quality Improvement, or Change Management. 

• Familiarity with California healthcare regulatory environment. 

• Bilingual or multilingual skills reflective of communities served. 

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities 

• Ability to balance operational efficiency, financial stewardship, compliance, and patient experience in a complex healthcare environment. 

• Strong analytical skills with the ability to translate data into actionable operational strategies. 

• Ability to lead through change, manage ambiguity, and align diverse stakeholders around shared goals. 

• Demonstrated commitment to health equity, culturally responsive care, and community-based service delivery. 

• High level of integrity, professionalism, and accountability. 

Supervision: 

• This position has direct staff supervisory responsibilities 

Physical Demands and Work Environment 

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. 

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to stand, walk, and sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel and reach with hands and arms; talk and hear. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. The employee frequently works with a video display terminal for prolonged periods; vision abilities include close vision and ability to adjust focus. 

While performing the duties of this job, the employee regularly works in inside environmental conditions. The employee may be required to attend evening meetings, travel and work evenings or weekends. The noise level is usually quiet to moderate. Individual is subject to frequent interruptions.