Clinical Director

Clinical Director

UPMC Mercy | Pittsburgh, PA


UPMC Mercy is seeking an experienced and transformational Clinical Director to provide leadership and operational oversight for multiple inpatient nursing units, including:

• 8E Surgical Acute Care
• 9E Cardiology Thoracic
• 11E Trauma Orthopedics
• 5F Burn Acute Care

This leader will oversee Unit Directors and nursing leadership teams, driving excellence in patient care, quality outcomes, workforce engagement, and operational performance. The Clinical Director will play a key role in developing nurse leaders, building high-performing teams, and fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.


In addition to operational leadership, this position will actively support nursing recruitment, student nurse experiences, and UPMC Mercy's Graduate Nurse Rotational Program, helping to strengthen the future nursing workforce.


Key Responsibilities

• Lead and develop Unit Directors and nursing leadership teams across multiple service lines.
• Drive clinical, operational, quality, and financial outcomes.
• Partner with interdisciplinary leaders to achieve organizational goals.
• Mentor and coach leaders through complex workforce and operational challenges.
• Support succession planning, leadership development, and employee engagement initiatives.
• Support nursing students, academic partnerships, and the Graduate Nurse Rotational Program.
• Promote a culture of excellence, professional development, and patient-centered care.

Ideal Candidate

• Proven ability to lead leaders and oversee multiple teams and departments.
• Strong track record of delivering results and driving performance improvement.
• Skilled in leadership development, coaching, and talent management.
• Effective at navigating change, solving complex challenges, and building collaborative relationships.
• Passionate about recruitment, nursing education, and the development of future nurse leaders.

This is an exceptional opportunity for a strategic nursing leader who is committed to developing others, advancing clinical excellence, and shaping the future of nursing practice at UPMC Mercy.


Responsibilities:

• Ensures a culture of caring by promoting and supporting decisions that are patient centered and within the framework of Relationship Based Care. Participates in professional organizations to enhance personal growth and facilitate collaborate relationships at a regional, national and international level. Demonstrates continuous improvement in patient, caregiver and physician satisfaction. Prepares , monitors, and achieves budgeted annual man-hours, expense and capital budget for responsible cost centers based on an analysis of needs of patients, clinical programs, staff and physicians. Directs program teams to function within scope of practice as defined by clinical discipline and job description. Develops and evaluates clinical systems and process that facilitate delivery of comprehensive patient/family care across the continuum.
• Achieves the outcomes of the organization in relation to core measures, regulatory influences, pay for performance, HCAPS, staff and customer satisfaction and identifies areas for ongoing growth and development. Conducts an analysis of clinical variance trends and directs programmatic activities which are congruent to and assists in achieving organization operational imperatives and implements clinical practice changes. Collaborates with medical staff and key stakeholders to improve patient outcomes; set clinical quality priorities, recommend and implement professional improvements and initiatives and implement service line-based patient safety initiatives. Identifies and participates in research activities; promotes and utilizes evidence-based practice. Identifies appropriate risk assessment strategies and leads risk reduction strategies within service line.
• Demonstrates the ability to create a shared vision; applies critical thinking skills and utilizes financial and quality data as well as conceptual and didactic knowledge in the development of the service line / program vision and operational plan. Conducts an analysis of areas of responsibilities, including strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats to define proactive processes and shares this information with the Vice President of Patient Care Services for development of an organizational strategic plan. Demonstrates initiative to address complex, high-risk problems and translates them into opportunities and challenges. Recognizes the need for a varied leadership style based on the situation and developmental stage of an individual or group. Enables individual contributions at all levels within their area of responsibility. Assumes a leadership role in the establishment of liaisons, networks and/or acquisition of resources to facilitate the growth and development of programs within the system and the community.
• Demonstrates a philosophy of lifelong learning. Establishes and achieves professional standards for quality, legal, and ethical professional practice that is supported by regulatory guidelines and policies and procedures. Demonstrates ongoing departmental and personal development, coaches and advises direct reports and professional staff in the formulation of their professional development plan. Creates a structure and supports a shared governance model, facilitating staff involvement in decision making. Promotes the ongoing development of the Professional Practice Council. Promotes peer to peer accountability.
• Develops and maintains productive working relationships internally and externally by building teams and relationships through mentoring and modeling uplifting and positive communication. Integrates all team members into the team's work. Extends trust by acknowledging the contributions of others; listens first, creates transparency in communications, confronts reality, and clarifies expectations. Seeks opportunity to adopt best practice, eliminate duplication and maximize efficiency.
• Participate with leaders from UPMC, management, medical staff and clinical areas in developing the Hospital's mission, strategic plans, operating and capital budgets, resource allocation, operation plan and policies.

Qualifications:

• BSN required at time of hire or transfer into position. Masters degree in Nursing or related health care field required, either at time of hire/transfer, or must be enrolled in a program within one year of hire/transfer date and completed within three years of enrollment. (i.e. public health, informational technology, administration, etc.)
• Knowledge of clinical practice human resource management normally gained through a minimum of five years of progressively responsible experience in health care including supervision and leadership.
• Analytical ability necessary to evaluate staff, address and improve clinical and programmatic issues and devise solutions to complex problems.
• Leadership ability to develop staff, establish and maintain standards of performance within a national context for professional nursing practice and comply with administrative requirements.
• Superior interpersonal and communication skills sufficient to effectively create relationships to support a healing environment with patients, families, staff, physicians and hospital personnel including senior management in both written and verbal communication.
  Licensure, Certifications, and Clearances:
  CPR required based on AHA standards that include both a didactic and skills demonstration component within 30 days of hire.
• Registered Nurse (RN)
• Act 34

*Current licensure either in the state where the facility is located or, if the facility is in a state covered by the multistate Nursing Licensure Compact (NLC) agreement, a multistate license issued by a participating NLC state. Hires and current employees working on an out-of-state NLC license who later change their residency to the state where the facility is also located will have 60 days upon changing their residency to apply for licensure within that state.


UPMC is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Disability/Veteran