Affiliation Integration Technical Specialist

Heartland Dental is the nation's largest dental support organization, providing non-clinical administrative support services to more than 3,000 supported doctors across 39 states and the District of Columbia in 1,900+ dental offices. Each supported office is unique to its community and patients, with doctors retaining full clinical autonomy and establishing their own care philosophies. All supported doctors share a common goal: delivering the highest quality dental care and patient experiences.

About the role

The Affiliation Technical Specialist serves as the central navigator for newly affiliated doctors and practices, creating a coordinated path into Heartland Dental. This role combines technical execution, executive-ready communication, integration readiness, proactive risk identification, education coordination, and cross-functional follow-through to deliver a world-class affiliation experience in a fast-paced environment. Responsibilities may expand as the Affiliation Integration function evolves.

Responsibilities

• Lead affiliation onboarding activities, drive action plans, establish priorities, and ensure operational readiness for newly affiliated practices.
• Serve as the Navigator and primary doctor-facing contact during the first 60 days of the affiliation transition by providing guidance, resolving issues, and recommending solutions that support successful integration.
• Partner with Affiliation Integration Managers, the Affiliation Integration Technical Manager, Field Operations, Support Office leaders, and key department partners to clarify ownership, align timelines, coordinate updates, and move support plans forward.
• Proactively identify, assess, and resolve operational, technical, and transition-related challenges. Apply critical thinking and sound judgment to develop solutions, navigate change, and minimize disruption for affiliated doctors, teams, and business operations.
• Drive affiliation education and onboarding efforts by partnering closely with Education to identify learning needs, facilitate readiness activities, monitor progress, and address barriers to successful adoption.
• Assess practice readiness for key Affiliation milestones and implement solutions to address risks, gaps, or adoption challenges.
• Build strong working relationships with Education, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Information Technology, Recruiting, Affiliations, Marketing, vendors, and other key partners to support newly affiliated practices.
• Interpret Support Office initiatives into clear priorities, next steps, resources, templates, and standard work.
• Gather feedback from doctors, teams, field leaders, surveys, and Support Office partners to understand what is working, identify improvement opportunities, summarize common themes, recommend enhancements, and track approved changes through completion.
• Support cross-functional projects as needed, partnering with support office departments.
• Provide direct support to the Affiliation Integration Technical Manager with priority projects, meeting preparation, leadership forums, action tracking, follow-through, polished materials, summaries, business snapshots, metrics, recommendations, and decision-support content.
• Develop and deliver business insights, leadership reporting, scorecards, and affiliation performance updates that inform decision-making, monitor integration progress, identify trends, and support operational priorities.

Requirements

• Two or more years of either dental operations management experience or related work experience.
• Demonstrated ability to navigate ambiguity, solve complex business problems, and make sound decisions with limited direction.
• Strong organizational skills, accuracy, and attention to detail.
• Ability to travel with some overnight stays, up to 25%.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• High level of maturity, personal initiative, and sound judgment.
• Outstanding relationship-building, interpersonal, and leadership skills.
• Exceptional customer service skills, with the ability to build comfortable and approachable relationships with doctors and cross-functional partners.
• Adequate dedicated space at home or alternate work location to allow and support work-related activities.

Qualifications

• Five or more years of dental operations management experience.
• Two or more years of related work experience or project management experience.

Physical Requirements

• Ability to perform essential duties satisfactorily with or without reasonable accommodation.
• Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Must be able to lift up to 15 pounds at times.

Benefits

Heartland Dental offers a generous benefits package, prioritizing the well-being of its people.