Associate Operating Officer, Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital

Discover Vanderbilt University Medical Center:  Located in Nashville, Tennessee, and operating at a global crossroads of teaching, discovery, and patient care, VUMC is a community of individuals who come to work each day with the simple aim of changing the world. It is a place where your expertise will be valued, your knowledge expanded, and your abilities challenged. Vanderbilt Health is committed to an environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and where your uniqueness is sought and celebrated. It is a place where employees know they are part of something that is bigger than themselves, take exceptional pride in their work and never settle for what was good enough yesterday. Vanderbilt’s mission is to advance health and wellness through preeminent programs in patient care, education, and research.

Organization:

HR Talent Acquisition

Job Summary:

Vanderbilt Health – Executive Search Team is conducting a national search for an Associate Operating Officer, Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital (MCC), with three openings in the following service lines:

• Pediatric Heart Institute
• Pediatric Neurosciences Institute
• Pediatric Cancer and Blood Disorder Institute

Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer.

The Associate Operating Officer serves as a key member of the hospital's leadership team, providing operational oversight and strategic direction for assigned clinical, ancillary, and administrative departments. This role partners closely with physicians, nursing leadership, and hospital executives to ensure exceptional patient care, operational excellence, financial stewardship, workforce engagement, and achievement of organizational goals.

The Associate Operating Officer leads initiatives that improve quality, safety, patient and family experience, capacity management, operational efficiency, and organizational growth while supporting the hospital's mission of delivering world-class pediatric care.

Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tennessee. Monroe Carell is a 363-bed hospital, with a 48-room Emergency Department, 3 surgical locations, 21 operating rooms and over 480,000 clinic visits annually.
Monroe Carell is rapidly growing, along with the Nashville, Tennessee market. Monroe Carell is a large pediatric hospital on the Vanderbilt Health campus. The Children’s Enterprise network, within the Vanderbilt Health network, serves a population well beyond the Nashville market

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Key Functions/Responsibilities:

Vision, Strategy & Growth

• Partners with Service Line leaders to establish 3–5 year strategic vision for the service line, aligned with organizational goals and values
• Translates institutional strategy into service line and departmental priorities, goals, and plans
• Partners with physician leaders, senior executives, and referral sources to ensure alignment and growth
• Assesses trends in reimbursement, competition, market demand, and clinical innovation to guide strategy

Care Delivery, Operations & Continuous Improvement

• Ensures safe, timely, efficient, and high‑quality access and care across all sites, modalities, and regions
• Oversees operational performance through program development, integration, and process improvement
• Collaborates with teams to develop, implement and monitor new care models to support growth and emerging care approaches
• Standardizes services, workflows, and resources to improve efficiency and continuity of care
• Embeds continuous improvement methodologies (e.g., PDSA, visual management, leader standard work) into daily operations

Quality, Safety & Regulatory Compliance

• Establishes, monitors, and improves quality assurance and performance standards
• Leads patient safety and harm‑prevention initiatives
• Ensures compliance with applicable regulatory, accreditation, and licensure requirements
• Maintains readiness for internal and external surveys and inspections
• Communicates system‑level quality, safety, and compliance risks to appropriate stakeholders

Patient, Family & Customer Experience

• Develops and executes strategies to meet patient, family, and referral source needs and expectations
• Measures and improves satisfaction using standardized tools, data, and feedback mechanisms
• Integrates customer feedback into planning, priorities, and staff expectations
• Promotes patient‑ and family‑centered care through engagement and partnership

Financial & Resource Stewardship

• Defines and achieves financial and operational targets aligned with organizational goals
• Develops, presents, and manages operating and capital budgets
• Analyzes financial performance, variances, and cost drivers
• Identifies opportunities for cost containment, efficiency, and resource optimization
• Optimizes staffing, space, equipment, and other resources to support efficient care delivery

People Leadership & Culture

• Provides collaborative, facilitative leadership across interdisciplinary teams
• Defines staffing models, role qualifications, and performance expectations
• Recruits, develops, and retains high‑performing staff and leaders
• Coaches and mentors emerging leaders and supports succession planning
• Fosters a safe, inclusive, and high‑performance culture aligned with organizational values

Communication & Collaboration

• Communicates effectively within and across departments to promote alignment and transparency
• Participates in governance, management, and interdepartmental committees
• Keeps senior leadership informed of performance, risks, and improvement opportunities
• Fosters collaboration among physicians, nursing, operations, and community partners

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Strong healthcare operations and hospital administration expertise.
• Knowledge of regulatory and accreditation requirements.
• Excellent financial, analytical, and strategic planning skills.
• Demonstrated ability to lead large teams and influence across a matrixed organization.
• Outstanding communication, relationship-building, and change management capabilities.
• Proven ability to drive results through collaboration and data-informed decision making.

Qualifications:

       •    Master’s Degree (Business Administration, Healthcare Administration or related field).

       •    Minimum of 10 years of experience in healthcare management.

• Experience managing hospital operations, clinical service lines, or major healthcare departments.
• Demonstrated success leading operational, financial, and quality improvement initiatives in a complex healthcare environment.
• Pediatric healthcare experience preferred.

#LI-AM1

Our professional administrative functions include critical supporting roles in information technology and informatics, finance, administration, legal and community affairs, human resources, communications and marketing, development, facilities, and many more.

At our growing health system, we support each other and encourage excellence among all who are part of our workforce. High-achieving employees stay at Vanderbilt Health for professional growth, appreciation of benefits, and a sense of community and purpose.

Core Accountabilities:

* Organizational Impact: Implements strategies for a sub function with direct impact to the function results.* Problem Solving/ Complexity of work: Resolves highly complex business issues that are often unprecedented that have immediate impact on own sub-function or entity and wider implications to the organization. * Breadth of Knowledge: Applies expertise within professional/technical area and uses advanced business knowledge to develop objectives.* Team Interaction: Leads a sub-function serving the organization at large or across one or more entity(s).

Core Capabilities :

Supporting Colleagues: - Develops Self and Others: Acts upon constructive feedback from all levels of the organization and initiates strategies to develop talent in others. - Builds and Maintains Relationships: Leverages relationships and insight to forecast potential future needs and influence delivery of work to exceed expectations. - Communicates Effectively: Anticipates difference audience concerns, styles and finds mutually beneficial solutions across conflicting and sensitive issues. Delivering Excellent Services: - Serves Others with Compassion: Demonstrates in-depth knowledge of broad-based issues and considers the interests of others to improve satisfaction of services. - Solves Complex Problems: Critically evaluates complex information and identifies trends/risks to make recommendations to improve processes across areas. - Offers Meaningful Advice and Support: Provides ongoing feedback and development discussions to motivate and support team members to maximize performance. Ensuring High Quality: - Performs Excellent Work: Anticipates problems or obstacles which may interfere with quality standards and develops plants to ensure area's quality standards are met. - Ensures Continuous Improvement: Routinely draws upon valuable learning from others, past experiences, and new information to determine key opportunities. - Fulfills Safety and Regulatory Requirements: Develops appropriate corrective actions for unsafe environments in order to ensure operational and safety compliance. Managing Resources Effectively: - Demonstrates Accountability: Identifies potential obstacles to goal achievement and develops solutions to address those obstacles. - Stewards Organizational Resources: Creates the appropriate systems and processes to effectively manage resources. - Makes Data Driven Decisions: Applies in-depth knowledge of data to recommend and implement new approaches to improve decision making capabilities. Fostering Innovation: - Generates New Ideas: Identifies opportunities and leads development of new initiatives that create value across areas. - Applies Technology: Creates the energy and drive for self/others to identify and leverage technology in new, innovative ways to drive greater efficiencies. - Adapts to Change: Anticipates the change process and clearly communicates impact on others/own team(s), assisting them in embracing the change.

Position Qualifications:

Responsibilities:

Certifications:

Work Experience:

Relevant Work Experience

Experience Level:

10 years

Education:

Master's

This role offers the opportunity to make a meaningful impact within Vanderbilt Health, supported by a comprehensive benefits package which may include health, disability, retirement and/or wellness offerings to enhance your well-being and professional growth.

Vanderbilt Health is committed to fostering an environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and is committed to the principles of equal opportunity.  EOE/Vets/Disabled.