Director, Emergency Services Vanderbilt Clarksville 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 search for Director, Emergency Services in our newly acquired Vanderbilt Clarksville Hospital.

This position reports directly to the Chief Nursing Officer of the hospital.

The Director of Emergency Services provides strategic, operational, and clinical leadership for the Emergency Department, ensuring the delivery of high-quality, patient-centered care in a fast-paced and dynamic environment. This leader is responsible for developing departmental goals and objectives, managing clinical and operational performance, overseeing financial stewardship, driving quality and patient safety initiatives, and fostering a culture of excellence, engagement, and continuous improvement.

The Director collaborates across the organization to align Emergency Services with Vanderbilt Health's mission, vision, values, and strategic priorities while ensuring compliance with all regulatory, accreditation, and licensure requirements.

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Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership & Operations

• Develop and execute departmental goals, objectives, and strategic initiatives aligned with organizational priorities.
• Translate institutional vision and strategy into actionable department plans and measurable outcomes.
• Lead operational planning and establish priorities to ensure efficient and effective emergency services delivery.
• Evaluate emerging healthcare trends and analyze the long-range impact of operational and strategic decisions.
• Develop, implement, and revise departmental policies, procedures, and workflows to enhance care delivery and operational performance.
• Drive process improvement initiatives and collaborate with interdisciplinary teams to optimize patient flow, throughput, and clinical outcomes.
• Standardize services, practices, and resources to improve efficiency, consistency, and quality of care.
• Participate in departmental, hospital, and system-wide committees to facilitate collaboration, problem-solving, and information sharing.

Clinical Quality & Patient Experience

• Ensure the delivery of safe, effective, evidence-based emergency care that meets organizational quality standards.
• Design, implement, and evaluate programs that improve clinical outcomes, patient satisfaction, operational efficiency, and financial performance.
• Establish and monitor quality assurance standards, performance indicators, and patient safety metrics.
• Identify opportunities for improvement through program analysis, performance reviews, and outcome evaluation.
• Ensure compliance with all applicable accreditation, regulatory, and licensure standards.
• Create and sustain service excellence standards that consistently meet or exceed patient and customer expectations.
• Utilize patient satisfaction data, best practices, and market intelligence to enhance the patient experience.

Financial Management

• Develop and manage the department's annual operating and capital budgets.
• Monitor financial performance and ensure achievement of organizational financial goals and operational targets.
• Analyze budget variances and implement corrective actions when necessary.
• Identify opportunities for cost containment, resource optimization, and operational efficiency.
• Prepare and present budget proposals and capital expenditure requests to executive leadership.
• Forecast future departmental resource and budget needs based on operational trends and strategic growth initiatives.
• Evaluate departmental structure and resource allocation to maximize productivity and performance.

Leadership & Talent Development

• Provide leadership, direction, and accountability for all Emergency Services personnel.
• Develop staffing plans that support patient care requirements, regulatory standards, and workforce development goals.
• Establish performance expectations and accountability measures for leaders and staff.
• Ensure recruitment, retention, engagement, and succession planning efforts support departmental and organizational objectives.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, professional growth, innovation, and continuous learning.
• Provide ongoing coaching, mentorship, and performance feedback to leaders and staff.
• Support professional development through orientation, training programs, competency assessments, and career advancement opportunities.
• Adjust staffing plans, work schedules, and operational priorities as needed to respond to changing patient volumes, emergencies, and organizational demands.

Culture, Communication & Collaboration

• Promote Vanderbilt Health's mission, vision, and values through daily leadership practices and decision-making.
• Create an environment that supports employee engagement, teamwork, accountability, and professional satisfaction.
• Demonstrate a collaborative and facilitative leadership style that encourages innovation and shared decision-making.
• Communicate effectively across departments to enhance coordination, operational effectiveness, and patient care outcomes.
• Partner with physicians, nursing leadership, hospital administration, and ancillary departments to advance organizational goals.
• Ensure compliance with all Vanderbilt Health and Human Resources policies and procedures.

Qualifications:

• Nursing degree required. Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN).
• Master's degree in Nursing, Healthcare Administration, Business Administration, or related field.  
• 5+ years of acute clinical RN experience and a minimum of 2 years of clinical management experience
• Demonstrated experience leading Medical-Surgical nursing operations.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Specialty certification such as NEA-BC, NE-BC, CNML, or equivalent.
• Experience within a large integrated health system or academic medical center.

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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: Directs activities to achieve operational plans with some near term effect on results of the department/area.* Problem Solving/ Complexity of work: Identifies issues, gathers facts to resolve technical and operational problems. * Breadth of Knowledge: Applies in-depth knowledge and skills of a professional/technical area and basic management knowledge to manage the work of the team.* Team Interaction: Leads a complex department with a focus on implementation. Typically executes on a short to medium term strategies.

Core Capabilities :

Supporting Colleagues: - Develops Self and Others: Invests time, energy, and enthusiasm in developing self/others to help improve performance e and gain knowledge in new areas. - Builds and Maintains Relationships: Maintains regular contact with key colleagues and stakeholders using formal and informal opportunities to expand and strengthen relationships. - Communicates Effectively: Recognizes group interactions and modifies one's own communication style to suit different situations and audiences .Delivering Excellent Services : - Serves Others with Compassion: Seeks to understand current and future needs of relevant stakeholders and customizes services to better address them. - Solves Complex Problems: Approaches problems from different angles; Identifies new possibilities to interpret opportunities and develop concrete solutions. - Offers Meaningful Advice and Support: Provides ongoing support and coaching in a constructive manner to increase employees' effectiveness. Ensuring High Quality - Performs Excellent Work: Engages regularly in formal and informal dialogue about quality; directly addresses quality issues promptly. - Ensures Continuous Improvement: Applies various learning experiences by looking beyond symptoms to uncover underlying causes of problems and identifies ways to resolve them. - Fulfills Safety and Regulatory Requirements: Understands all aspects of providing a safe environment and performs routine safety checks to prevent safety hazards from occurring. Managing Resources Effectively: - Demonstrates Accountability: Demonstrates a sense of ownership, focusing on and driving critical issues to closure. - Stewards Organizational Resources: Applies understanding of the departmental work to effectively manage resources for a department/area. - Makes Data Driven Decisions: Demonstrates strong understanding of the information or data to identify and elevate opportunities. Fostering Innovation: - Generates New Ideas: Proactively identifies new ideas/opportunities from multiple sources or methods to improve processes beyond conventional approaches. - Applies Technology: Demonstrates an enthusiasm for learning new technologies, tools, and procedures to address short-term challenges. - Adapts to Change: Views difficult situations and/or problems as opportunities for improvement; actively embraces change instead of emphasizing negative elements.

Position Qualifications:

Responsibilities:

Certifications:

Work Experience:

Relevant Work Experience

Experience Level:

3 years

Education:

Bachelor'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.