Executive Director, Strategy and Operational Excellence

Role overview

The Executive Director, Strategy and Operational Excellence is a senior-level operator who partners closely with the Chief of Staff and COO to advance enterprise priorities. This role is hands-on and accountable for turning complex, cross-functional initiatives into organized plans, driving them forward, and delivering outcomes without close supervision.

The position bridges executive strategy and day-to-day operations. Responsibilities may include turning data into concise recommendations for senior leaders, restoring momentum on stalled initiatives, addressing performance issues with operational teams, or preparing materials for executive reviews. The constant expectation is to create clarity, structure, and progress.

While experience in revenue cycle management can be valuable, it is not the primary requirement. The key expectation is the ability to operate quickly in complex settings, build trust with executives and operational leaders, and consistently deliver strong results. Comfort working with CFO-level stakeholders, analyzing denial trends, and facilitating process improvements with frontline teams is important.

Executive partnership and strategic support

This role is expected to act as a dependable thought partner to executive leadership, protect executive bandwidth, and ensure critical workstreams stay on track. The person in this seat should anticipate needs, surface risks early, and prepare decision-ready materials that help leaders act quickly and confidently.

• Demonstrate and apply the Healthrise core values in every interaction with colleagues, clients, and stakeholders.
• Serve as a trusted extension of the Chief of Staff by owning priorities, initiatives, and workstreams so important items do not get missed.
• Stay ahead of executive needs by tracking open actions, identifying risks, and advancing work without waiting for direction.
• Gather information from across the organization, interpret the key points, and present practical recommendations to the Chief of Staff and COO.
• Create executive briefs, leadership decks, and supporting documents that are polished, accurate, and ready for immediate use.
• Help manage the Chief of Staff’s calendar, commitments, and follow-up rhythm during high-volume periods so enterprise priorities remain active.

Operational leadership across markets

The role requires coordination across health systems, medical groups, finance, and operational teams to ensure enterprise priorities translate into real-world execution. It also involves improving consistency, identifying root causes of performance gaps, and making sure corrective actions are clearly assigned and tracked.

• Partner across health systems, medical groups, finance, and operations to turn enterprise priorities into local action and sustained follow-through.
• Improve consistency and performance across markets while balancing standardization with local execution needs.
• Diagnose the underlying causes of operational gaps, assign accountability for fixes, and track actions through closure.
• Maintain enough fluency in revenue cycle KPIs to have credible discussions with finance and operations leaders and assess whether improvement efforts are working.
• Review staffing structures, workflow design, and technology use across markets and recommend changes that strengthen operational and revenue results.

Strategic initiative and program management

Success in this position depends on independently managing several strategic and operational initiatives at once. The role includes building structure, managing timelines, coordinating stakeholders, and keeping work moving even in a changing environment.

• Lead multiple strategic and operational initiatives simultaneously with clear documentation, timelines, structure, and communication.
• Coordinate work across Patient Financial Services, Finance, Medical Groups, and Operations to keep cross-functional efforts moving.
• Identify where initiatives may stall, flag risks early, and present solutions before issues escalate.
• Guide change efforts in fast-moving environments and help teams stay focused during shifting priorities or organizational transformation.
• Design governance structures for major programs, including meeting cadences, reporting, decision rights, and escalation paths that create accountability without unnecessary bureaucracy.

Strategic analysis and decision support

The Executive Director will conduct analysis across operational, financial, and strategic areas to help leadership set priorities and make informed decisions. This includes turning data into action, building dashboards, and creating business cases that support enterprise direction.

• Perform analytical reviews across operational, financial, and strategic topics to support executive prioritization and decision-making.
• Develop and maintain dashboards and tracking tools that give leaders visibility into performance, progress, and gaps.
• Assess staffing models, organizational structures, workflows, and technology use, especially in revenue cycle settings, and recommend improvements.
• Build business cases, strategic options, and scenario-planning materials to support decisions under uncertainty.
• Track enterprise metrics across programs and translate results into clear actions and priorities.

Leadership alignment and stakeholder communication

This role must bring teams together, keep meetings productive, and make sure commitments turn into action. The person in this role should be a strong communicator who can work across levels and influence without direct authority.

• Coordinate agendas, prep materials, and follow through on commitments across enterprise and local leadership groups.
• Build strong relationships with executives, clinical leaders, finance partners, and operational teams.
• Explain complex topics clearly and concisely to audiences ranging from frontline staff to senior executives.
• Influence across matrixed organizations and multi-system environments without relying on formal reporting lines.
• Perform additional duties as assigned.

Required qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Healthcare Administration, Finance, Operations, or a related discipline; an advanced degree such as an MBA or MHA is strongly preferred.
• At least 7 years of experience in strategic operations, management consulting, enterprise program management, or a similarly complex cross-functional leadership role.
• Proven ability to manage several high-priority workstreams at once with strong judgment, critical thinking, and reliable follow-through.
• History of operating independently and delivering outcomes without needing close management.
• Strong analytical and financial skills with the ability to interpret enterprise metrics and financial data and turn them into actions.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to simplify complexity for any audience, from frontline teams to board-level leaders.
• Executive presence and comfort working in ambiguous, fast-changing, matrixed environments.
• Ability to build trusted partnerships across executive, clinical, operational, and finance teams.
• Experience working across matrixed structures such as health systems, medical groups, and multi-market operations.
• Willingness and ability to travel regularly, including to the Metro Detroit headquarters and client locations as needed.
• Completion of any required regulatory and mandatory certifications.

Preferred background

• Experience in healthcare revenue cycle management, health system operations, or healthcare consulting with exposure to finance and operational improvement.
• Previous work as a Chief of Staff, Senior Director of Strategic Operations, advisor, or comparable executive-level operations leader.
• PMP, Lean Six Sigma, or similar credentials that reflect structured program management and process improvement expertise.
• Experience with enterprise performance management tools, visualization platforms such as Power BI or Tableau, and executive reporting frameworks.
• Working familiarity with Epic or other major EHR systems.
• Experience leading or supporting organizational transformation, system integration, or enterprise-scale change initiatives in healthcare or similarly complex environments.

Work environment and schedule

• Remote-based role with recurring travel to the Metro Detroit corporate office and client sites; travel is expected to be a regular part of the job and may vary by project or initiative.
• Primarily desk-based work with long periods at a computer.
• Must be able to travel by air or car for site visits and leadership meetings.
• Standard business hours apply, but flexibility is required to meet executive and organizational needs in a fast-paced environment.