Executive Director of Clinical Department Administration

University of Iowa Health Care is seeking an Executive Director, Clinical Department Administration to provide leadership and foster a culture of collaboration across all clinical department administrators within the academic medical center, with a focus on building and growing as a system. This role partners with departments to support alignment of initiatives with institutional priorities and drives performance outcomes that support clinical, education, and research missions. The Executive Director maintains a dotted-line reporting relationship with Clinical Department Administrators, providing strategic guidance, input, and coordination in partnership with their direct supervisors. As a key member of the senior administrative leadership team, the Executive Director partners closely with the Chief Physician Executive to harmonize administrative practices, facilitate integration and planning across departments, and advance physician alignment, organizational effectiveness, fiscal stewardship, and high-quality service delivery across the health system. 

Key Responsibilities

Human Resources Management

• Collaborate with department chairs to establish annual performance goals of the CDAs aligned with institutional priorities and system objectives; provide input and feedback on operational, financial, quality, and strategic outcomes.
• Partner with department chairs to provide feedback on CDA performance using established metrics, dashboards, and progress reports, and provide constructive feedback to support continuous improvement and goal attainment.
• Coach and mentor CDAs to support growth, problem-solving, and decision-making skills, and encourage systems-thinking through cross-department collaboration, shared solutions, and standardization of best practices.
• Identify, curate, and disseminate best practices across departments, ensuring successful solutions are quickly shared and adopted.
• Support professional development by identifying learning opportunities, fostering networking, and encouraging leadership training aligned with system needs.
• Partner with senior HR leadership to ensure consistency in HR practices, staffing models, and position management across departments.

Financial and Data Management and Analysis

• Collaborate on budget strategies that balance clinical, research, and educational priorities across departments.
• Partner with departmental leaders to review financial performance, discuss budget considerations, and support effective resource management.
• Partner with institutional finance teams to resolve budget challenges and identify opportunities for revenue growth and optimization.

Operations, Regulatory Compliance, and Quality Oversight

• Coordinate across departments to implement and monitor quality and performance metrics in partnership with departments.
• Support departmental compliance with institutional policies and external regulatory requirements across clinical, educational, and research functions.
• Identify enterprise-wide opportunities for operational improvement, scalability, and innovation.
• Facilitate standardization of operational practices to support efficiency, quality, and regulatory readiness.

Patient Care and Service Delivery

• Partner with department chairs and medical directors to support implementation of best care practices and new models of care.
• Coordinate across departments to resolve issues that impact service delivery or patient flow.
• Support alignment of departmental operations with broader system clinical strategies.

Planning and Goal Management

• Partner with department chairs and CDAs to develop and align departmental strategic plans with institutional priorities.
• Collaborate with department administrators and managers in building actionable plans, monitoring progress, and tracking goal completion.
• Ensure goals are integrated across clinical, research, and education missions for shared success.

Communication And Collaboration

• Serve as a liaison among department administrators, faculty leaders, healthcare executives, and university or collegiate partners to ensure alignment with organizational strategies, goals, and priorities.
• Foster collaboration across departments to facilitate sharing of best practices, lessons learned, and key insights among department administrators.
• Support representation of departmental needs and priorities in institutional discussions; communicate with external stakeholders when appropriate.

Education Program Administration

• Support consistent administration of clinical education programs, including residency and fellowship programs.
• Work with GME, colleges, and departments to ensure alignment of resources and compliance with accreditation and institutional standards.

Research Administration

• Facilitate effective management of departmental research portfolios in partnering with department administrators, the College of Medicine Office of Research, and campus-wide resources.
• Support compliance with and sponsor institutional policies and collaborate with the College of Medicine Office of Research to promote best practices in pre- and post-award processes.
• Encourage collaboration and resource-sharing across departments engaged in research.

Required Education / Knowledge/ Experience:

• Master’s degree in healthcare administration, business administration, or related field preferred
• Minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible leadership experience in a complex academic, healthcare, or research setting.
• Experience managing budgets, human resources, operations, and compliance within a complex, matrixed environment is essential
• Proven ability to align departmental operations with institutional goals and drive enterprise-level results
• Strong facilitation, communication, and relationship-building skills
• Strategic thinking and the ability to influence without direct authority
• Deep understanding of academic healthcare environments, including clinical, research, and educational operations
• Skilled in managing complex initiatives and cross-functional collaboration
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Demonstrated experience working effectively in a welcoming and respectful work environment.

Desired Qualities And Qualifications:

• Experience in an academic medical center or complex teaching hospital
• Demonstrated commitment to the delivery of high-quality patient care
• Demonstrated knowledge of research administration, including pre- and post-award processes, sponsor compliance, and financial management of grants and contracts
• Effectiveness in assembling and leading teams
• Experience with benchmarking and using data effectively for operational decision-making
• Experienced in a unionized environment

Application Process: To be considered, applicants must upload a cover letter and resume (under the submission of relevant materials) that clearly address how they meet the listed required and desired qualifications of this position. Job openings are posted for a minimum of 7 calendar days. Successful candidates will be required to self-disclose any conviction history and will be subject to a criminal background check and credential/education verification.

 Up to 5 professional references will be requested at a later step in the recruitment process. For questions, contact Sharon Walther at sharon-walther@uiowa.edu.