Director of Donation Development

Job Description

Job Description

Donor Network West’s mission is to save and heal lives through organ and tissue donation for transplantation and research.

At Donor Network West, we're looking for people who embody our core values: passion, excellence, equity and inclusion, and relationships. We welcome diverse perspectives and foster an environment of collaboration and service.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Director of Donation Development (DDD) is a strategic and operational leader responsible for driving measurable growth in eye, organ, and tissue donation performance across the Donor Service Area (DSA). This role owns hospital partner engagement strategies that directly impact key CMS and organizational metrics, including referral timeliness, authorization rates, and organ conversion outcomes. This role serves as a critical bridge between hospital development, clinical operations, and executive leadership—ensuring seamless alignment between frontline execution and organizational performance goals.  The DDD is accountable for translating strategy into results, holding teams and partners to high standards, and continuously advancing donation performance through innovation, education, and system-level change.  This position requires a proactive team player who must uphold the core values of the organization which include passion, integrity, and teamwork.

ESSENTIAL JOB DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The essential functions and qualifications listed are typical examples of work performed by positions in this job classification and general required qualifications. They are not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, tasks, responsibilities and qualifications. Employees may perform other duties as assigned. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Cross-Functional Responsibilities

• Collaborates with other departments at DNWest with the goal of enhancing conversion outcomes.
• Facilitates routine meetings with the Organ Ops leadership to promote a team environment.
• Approves the overall strategy to enhance and improve eye, organ, and tissue donation (E/O/T) and honor donor designation within the DNWest’s service area.
• Works with Organ Operations leadership team and Tissue Services management team in order to provide optimal service to hospital partners.
• Works with management team to attain Donor Network West strategic plan, organizational goals and metrics.

Team Responsibilities

• Monitors workload of reporting teams and staff, ensures staffing and assignment coverage is adequate and effective.
• Assures staff meet compliance with established quality assurance standards as well as local, state, and federal regulations relating to organ procurement to demonstrate commitment to quality.
• Maintains, approves and submits accurate records and expenses.
• Promotes a quality plan regarding Hospital Partner Services.
• Implements needed changes and make recommendations for continual quality improvement.
• Directs reporting staff in the development and implementation of key hospital strategies tailored to the needs of each hospital and the resources of the organization.
• Leverages dashboards, scorecards, and analytics to drive decision-making.
• Monitors real-time performance and intervenes proactively to address gaps, partners with Quality and IT to ensure accurate, actionable reporting.
• Provides executive management direction and input, from a clinical operations perspective, in order to develop and implement strategies to attain DNWest goals.
• Works with leadership with the Vice President of Hospital Development and Family Services to develop and manage operating and capital budgets to ensure responsible control over and utilization of DNWest resources.

• Achieves and sustains performance targets aligned with CMS OPO Conditions of Participation, including but not limited to:

• • Timely referral rate
  • Conversion rate (eligible deaths to donors)
  • Authorization (consent) rate

• Strengthens physician engagement to support donation best practices (brain death, DCD, referral timing).
• Drives hospital-specific performance improvement plans using data analytics and benchmarking.
• Reduces variability in hospital performance across the DSA.
• Ensures high reliability in referral identification and escalation processes.
• Partners with Clinical Operations to optimize donor management and maximize donor potential.
• Improves family authorization outcomes through collaboration with Family Services.
• Works with hospitals to provide procedures and testing to ensure case progression

• Creates and leads a high-performing team to execute data-driven, relationship-based strategies that influence clinical practice, strengthen hospital partnerships, and ensure regulatory compliance.
• Hires, orients, develops, and trains staff into high functioning teams.
• Builds and leads a high-performance team with clear expectations tied to measurable outcomes.
• Holds team members accountable for performance through structured coaching and feedback.
• Develops staff capability in data interpretation, hospital engagement, and clinical understanding.
• Creates a culture of ownership, urgency, and continuous improvement.
• Takes a leadership role in staff education and training.
• Mentors and develop staff using a supportive and collaborative approach; assigns accountabilities, sets objectives, establishes priorities; and monitors and evaluates results.
• Provides year-round ongoing real-time feedback, both positive and corrective, meets with direct reports several times a year to review individual performance, and completes all official performance reviews in a timely manner.
• Ensures all reporting managers provide their direct reports do the same.
• Participates in and evaluates the effectiveness of professional education activities related to improving and developing relationships within DSA.
• Participates in recruitment, hiring, training, supervision, counseling, evaluation, discipline, and termination, if necessary, of staff.
• Assumes responsibility for presenting in-services, debriefings and other educational formats as needed both within DNWest and to outside agencies as requested.
• Oversees requests from reporting staff to attend conferences, provides a format for sharing of information gained at conferences.

• Maintains professional competence to provide leadership and consultative services to staff and transplant centers.
• Maintains knowledge of organ and tissue donation policies and state and federal regulatory codes, including the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (UAGA) through active membership in professional associations and attendance at workshops and seminars.
• Maintains involvement in national initiatives to improve donation practices.
• Communicates and presents information effectively and concisely one on one and within a team environment.
• Performs in as a proactive team player who can multitask easily, possessing a high level of proactive personal responsibility and initiative.
• Possess strong interpersonal, priority-setting and strategic skills.
• Strong attention to detail, and strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced dynamic environment and to adjust to new priorities.

• Builds meaning and purpose for the team by demonstrating the vision, mission, and values of DNWest.
• Achieves strategic initiatives through employees by communicating job expectations, planning, monitoring, and appraising job results. Provides accurate feedback and recognition on a timely basis.
• Foresees challenges, is proactive and uses sound judgement and best practices when solving problems and making decisions.
• Conducts work in a professional and collaborative manner and provides excellent customer service.
• Positively adapts to change, supports new initiatives, and is creative/innovative.
• Demonstrates emotional intelligence by having respectful interactions that bring about productive communication.
• Retains team members and demonstrates appreciation through customized recognition and development.
• Partners with employees to create professional and personal growth opportunities for staff.
• Ensures a safe, secure, legal, and professional work environment and administers consistent corrective measures or performance improvement plans when appropriate.
• Adheres to DNWest’s policies, code of conduct, and leads by example.

  Education

• Preferred: Bachelor’s degree
• Preferred:  Course work in behavioral sciences, social sciences or other health related fields.
• Option: Work experience may be substituted for educational requirement.
• Preferred: Masters degree.

Work Experience

• Required: Minimum of three to five (3 – 5) years in a health related field.
• Preferred: Management experience; relationship-building and marketing experience.
• Preferred: Previous OPO experience, and proven leadership, communication and management skills, with the ability to coach and mentor.

Licenses and Certifications

• Required: Must have the ability to travel within the DNWest service area by car. Must maintain a valid driver’s license in good standing and current vehicle insurance based on applicable state minimum insurance coverage standards.

Donor Network West takes a market-based approach to pay. All candidates' starting pay will be determined based on job-related skills, experience, qualifications and interview performance.

Our job listings’ compensation ranges include location-based differentials but may not be reflective of a candidate’s final base salary. Location differentials are determined by an employee’s home address, associated market data provided by government reporting and processed by Payroll.

If selected, Donor Network West’s Recruiting & Compensation Team will provide further detail!

Salary data provided by third party sites do not accurately reflect our pay structure.