Vice President of Specialty Care, Operations

Job Summary

Essen Health Care is seeking a strategic and execution-focused Vice President of Specialty Care, Operations to lead operational performance across all specialty service lines. This executive will be accountable for scaling specialty operations, optimizing access and throughput, ensuring regulatory readiness, strengthening financial performance, and aligning clinical and operational teams to deliver high-quality, patient-centered care.

Responsibilities

• Operational Leadership & Strategy

• Provide executive oversight of all specialty care operations, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and growth strategy
• Develop and execute operational plans to support service line expansion, access optimization, and performance improvement
• Translate strategic priorities into actionable workflows, staffing models, and operational standards
• Serve as the operational partner to physician leaders and specialty medical directors

• Specialty Service Line Management

• Oversee multiple specialty service lines (e.g., Cardiology, Gastroenterology, Neurology, Pulmonology, Behavioral Health, Surgical Specialties, and others as applicable)
• Ensure consistent operational standards across specialties while allowing for service-line-specific needs
• Partner with clinical leadership to optimize clinic flow, scheduling templates, and patient experience
• Drive standardization of policies, SOPs, and best practices across all specialty sites

• Financial & Performance Management

• Own operational budgets for specialty care, including labor, vendor spend, and operational expenses
• Partner with Finance and Revenue Cycle to optimize charge capture, coding workflows, and collections
• Monitor and improve key metrics, including Provider productivity and utilization, Access to care and appointment availability, Cost per visit and contribution margin, No-show, cancellation, and cycle-time metrics, Identify and execute cost-containment and margin-improvement initiatives

• Workforce & Staffing Oversight

• Ensure appropriate staffing models across specialties, balancing access, productivity, and cost
• Oversee operational leadership development, succession planning, and performance management
• Partner with HR and Talent Acquisition on workforce planning and specialty hiring strategies
• Support physician onboarding, ramp-up, and operational integration

• Quality, Compliance & Risk Management

• Ensure operational compliance with all regulatory, accreditation, and payer requirements
• Partner with Quality and Compliance teams to maintain audit readiness across specialty services
• Identify operational risks and implement mitigation strategies
• Support quality initiatives tied to patient outcomes, patient experience, and value-based care

• Systems, Data & Process Optimization

• Partner with IT to optimize EMR workflows, reporting, and operational dashboards
• Use data and analytics to drive decision-making and continuous improvement
• Lead operational change management initiatives related to systems upgrades, growth, or restructuring
• Improve cross-functional workflows between clinical, operational, and administrative teams

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree (MBA, MHA, MPH, or equivalent) strongly preferred
• 8-10+ years of progressive healthcare operations leadership experience
• Proven experience leading multi-specialty outpatient operations
• Strong financial acumen with experience managing large operational budgets
• Demonstrated ability to scale operations in a high-growth healthcare environment
• Deep understanding of ambulatory care workflows, provider operations, and access management
• Exceptional leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in large, multi-site physician group or healthcare network
• Familiarity with value-based care models and quality performance metrics
• Track record of partnering effectively with physicians and clinical leadership
• Experience leading through operational transformation or rapid expansion
• Bilingual (Spanish preferred)

Leadership Competencies

• Strategic thinker with strong execution discipline
• Data-driven and outcome-oriented
• Collaborative, decisive, and accountable
• Comfortable operating in complex, fast-paced environments
• Trusted partner to executive leadership and clinical teams