Unit Director, Birth Center

About the role

The Unit Director provides operational leadership for Labor & Delivery and associated perinatal services (e.g., antepartum, L&D, postpartum, triage, and OBED care) within a high-acuity academic medical center. Oversees care delivery through subordinate managers, ensuring safe, high-quality, and patient-centered care across the maternal–newborn continuum. Accountable for clinical outcomes, patient safety, regulatory compliance, patient experience, and financial performance of the service line.

Responsibilities

• Labor Relations & Workforce Management
  Partners closely with Labor Relations to manage union/bargaining unit matters, including contract interpretation, grievance resolution, and local negotiations.

• Clinical Operations & Care Delivery
  Leads the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of operational processes to ensure safe, high-quality, and efficient patient care across multiple units within the perinatal service line. Ensures care delivery models align with evidence-based practice, internal policies, and external regulatory and accreditation standards.

• Interdisciplinary & System Integration
  Partners with leaders across the health system, including ambulatory, perioperative, ancillary, pediatric, and specialty services, to develop and implement coordinated care pathways and policies that optimize patient flow, safety, and quality outcomes across the continuum of care.

• Governance, Quality & System Leadership
  Represents the department at the medical center and health system level in interdisciplinary committees. Leads and influences initiatives related to patient experience, quality and safety, regulatory readiness, workflow optimization, and clinical informatics. Drives performance improvement aligned with organizational and Magnet standards.

• Leadership Development & Succession Planning
  Provides mentorship and strategic direction to nurse managers and emerging leaders. Oversees leadership development planning, performance management, and succession strategies to ensure a strong and sustainable leadership pipeline.

• Talent Management & Culture
  Maintains accountability for recruitment, retention, performance evaluation, and progressive discipline. Establishes and reinforces management practices that promote a culture of accountability, ownership, engagement, collaboration, and high performance.

• Staffing & Workforce Optimization
  Collaborates with subordinate leaders to ensure appropriate staffing models, skill mix, and labor productivity. Advises senior leadership on workforce trends, such as LOAs, modified duty, and sick call usage, that contribute to staffing shortages and operational challenges. Formulate strategies to meet evolving patient care demands despite workforce shortage issues.

• Financial Stewardship
  Oversees financial performance for areas of responsibility, including budget development, resource allocation, labor productivity, overtime, missed meals and breaks, and variance management. Reviews and approves budget recommendations, ensuring alignment with organizational financial goals.

• Shared Governance & Professional Practice
  Promotes a professional practice environment grounded in shared governance and Magnet principles, ensuring a strong nursing voice in decision-making and fostering innovation to improve patient and nursing outcomes.

• Clinical Informatics & Technology Integration
  Collaborates with Information Technology and clinical informatics leaders to design, implement, and optimize patient care information systems that enhance clinical workflows, documentation, and outcomes across multiple units.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Nursing.
• Registered Nurse in the State of California.
• Basic Life Support (BLS) certification.
• Direct clinical and/or leadership experience in Labor & Delivery required, with a strong understanding of high-risk obstetric care, perinatal safety practices, and interdisciplinary care models.
• Demonstrated progressive leadership experience in hospital-based patient care services, with deep knowledge of Labor & Delivery and the perinatal continuum.
• Comprehensive understanding of hospital and clinic operations within a complex academic medical center environment, including application of professional nursing standards and evidence-based practice.
• Exceptional communication, relationship management, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence across multiple levels of the organization. Proven ability to foster a culture of collaboration, shared governance, and interdisciplinary decision-making across diverse teams and service lines.
• Strong knowledge of healthcare information systems, clinical informatics, and patient care workflows. Demonstrated ability to leverage technology to improve care delivery, operational efficiency, and data-driven decision-making.
• Prior experience in a supervisory or management role within Labor & Delivery required.

About UCSF

The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. It is the only campus in the 10-campus UC system dedicated exclusively to the health sciences. We bring together the world’s leading experts in nearly every area of health. We are home to five Nobel laureates who have advanced the understanding of cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, aging and stem cells. Pride Values UCSF is a diverse community made of people with many skills and talents. We seek candidates whose work experience or community service have prepared them to contribute to our commitment to professionalism, respect, integrity, diversity and excellence – also known as our PRIDE values . In addition to our PRIDE values, UCSF is committed to equity – both in how we deliver care as well as our workforce. We are committed to building a broadly diverse community, nurturing a culture that is welcoming and supportive, and engaging diverse ideas for the provision of culturally competent education, discovery, and patient care. Additional information about UCSF is available here . Join us to find a rewarding career contributing to improving healthcare worldwide.