Sr. Manager, Quality Assurance

Sage Dental Management is a leading, rapidly growing Dental Service Organization (DSO) committed to innovation, excellence, and patient-centered care.

Overview

The Senior Manager, Quality Assurance is responsible for developing, implementing, and continuously improving the organization’s quality assurance and clinical quality programs across a network of dental practices. This role partners closely with clinical leadership, operations, compliance, risk management, and practice teams to ensure consistent delivery of safe, high-quality, evidence-based dental care.

The Senior Manager will establish quality standards, monitor clinical and operational performance, identify opportunities for improvement, lead quality initiatives, and ensure practices maintain compliance with applicable federal, state, and local requirements. The ideal candidate combines strong knowledge of dental clinical standards with data-driven quality improvement, regulatory compliance, and multi-site leadership experience.

Responsibilities

Quality Assurance and Clinical Quality

• Develop and maintain the DSO's enterprise-wide quality assurance program and clinical quality standards. • Establish standardized quality metrics, audits, scorecards, and reporting processes across dental practices. • Conduct and oversee clinical and operational quality audits, including chart reviews, documentation reviews, infection prevention, radiographic practices, treatment planning, and patient safety. • Identify trends, gaps, and opportunities for improvement through analysis of clinical and operational data. • Partners with dental directors, dentists, hygienists, practice managers, and other clinical leaders to develop corrective and preventive action plans. • Monitor the effectiveness of corrective actions and ensure sustainable improvements. • Support evidence-based clinical protocols and standardization of best practices across the organization.

Regulatory & Compliance

• Partner with Compliance and Legal teams to ensure practices meet applicable dental regulations, accreditation standards, and organizational policies. • Monitor compliance with federal, state, and local requirements affecting dental operations and patient care. • Support readiness for regulatory inspections, external audits, and accreditation activities. • Assist with investigation and resolution of quality-of-care concerns, patient complaints, adverse events, and clinical incidents. • Maintain appropriate documentation and reporting related to quality activities. Data, Reporting & Analytics • Develop executive-level quality dashboards and reports highlighting trends, risks, and improvement opportunities. • Establish meaningful KPIs related to clinical quality, patient safety, documentation, infection prevention, and regulatory compliance. • Analyze quality data to identify root causes and prioritize improvement initiatives. • Present quality findings and recommendations to senior leadership and clinical governance committees. • Use data to evaluate the effectiveness and return on investment of quality improvement programs.

Program & Project Leadership

• Lead enterprise-wide quality improvement initiatives from planning through implementation and evaluation. • Develop policies, procedures, audit tools, educational materials, and quality improvement resources. • Coordinate cross-functional quality initiatives involving Operations, Clinical, Compliance, Risk Management, IT, and other departments. • Provide guidance and coaching to regional and practice-level leaders on quality standards and improvement methodologies. • Support the development and delivery of quality-related training for clinical and operational teams.

Leadership & Collaboration

• Serve as a subject-matter expert and resource for dental quality assurance and patient safety. • Build strong relationships with clinical and operational leaders throughout the organization. • Influence practice behavior and performance through education, data, collaboration, and accountability. • Promote consistency while recognizing differences in state-specific regulatory requirements and practice environments. • May supervise Quality Assurance staff, clinical auditors, analysts, or other quality professionals.

Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Dental Hygiene, Healthcare Administration, Nursing, Public Health, Quality Management, or a related field; advanced degree preferred.

• 5–8+ years of experience in healthcare quality, dental quality assurance, clinical operations, compliance, or a related field. • Experience working within a dental practice, dental group, DSO, healthcare system, or multisite clinical environment strongly preferred. • Demonstrated experience developing or managing quality assurance, quality improvement, audit, or compliance programs. • Strong understanding of dental clinical workflows, documentation standards, patient safety, and infection prevention. • Experience analyzing quality metrics and translating data into actionable improvement plans. • Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional initiatives and influence stakeholders without direct authority. • Strong written, verbal, analytical, organizational, and presentation skills. • Ability to travel to dental practices as needed.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in Healthcare Administration, Public Health, Quality Management, or related discipline. • Experience with DSO operations and multi-state dental regulations. • Certification such as CPHQ, CHC, or Lean/Six Sigma. • Experience with electronic dental/health records and quality reporting systems. • Experience with root-cause analysis, corrective and preventive action (CAPA), and continuous improvement methodologies.

 

What Sage Offers

Be part of a purpose-driven organization transforming dental care. Collaborate with a passionate, innovative team. Access to cutting-edge technology and professional development resources. Competitive compensation and benefits.