Group Vice President - Heartland

Job ID: R-242577Company: VCA Animal HospitalsLocation: Chicago, Illinois, United States of AmericaEmployment type: full timeCategory: Field LeadershipPosted: 2026-10-06

The Group Vice President leads a high-volume portfolio of over 100 units, holding significant multi-million-dollar P&L accountability. This role is pivotal in driving long-term business growth and actively developing internal talent and future leaders across the field organization.

 

By leading and mentoring a team of Regional Operations Directors, this executive builds the operational structure, talent pipeline, and accountability needed to deliver exceptional medical care, elevate Associate engagement, and ensure consistent business performance. A disciplined, data-informed Field Executive, they excel at translating complexity into decisive, high-impact leadership while leading with composure, sharp prioritization, and agility in a dynamic, rapidly evolving industry.

 

NOTE: This role requires candidates to reside in the region they support.

This role owns and serves as a catalyst for:

• Group P&L performance, strategic growth, and long-term value creation
• Operational excellence at scale, including labor productivity and para-labor optimization
• People-first leadership, advancing the Associate experience, open communication, and talent development
• High-quality, compliant, and progressive veterinary medicine

• This position requires a visionary and change-agile leader who inspires teams, drives alignment, and consistently delivers results in a complex, dynamic environment.
• Managing a P&L of $500M+ and providing multi-site operational leadership across 100+ units in a high-volume, multi-location network.

 

The role supports our United in Care strategy execution at the Group level.

 

Essential Responsibility/Task:

Strategic Growth and Operational Strategy

• Own Group P&L and KPI performance by driving strong execution through regional teams holding leaders accountable for operational results and using data, discipline, and decisive leadership to elevate hospital performance and deliver consistent, scalable outcomes.
• Drive and reinforce disciplined execution of enterprise-designed programs (VCA and United in Care) by driving adoption, operational consistency, and alignment while minimizing stand-alone local solutions to ensure scalable, network-wide impact.
• Contribute to the design and execute growth strategies to expand access to high quality veterinary medicine through the implementation of new client acquisition initiatives and client engagement resources.
• Oversee Group financial and business performance, ensuring long-term health and sustainability of hospitals.
• Lead capital planning, facility improvements, and marketing strategy to elevate hospital performance and brand experience.

People Leadership and Culture & Talent Strategy

• Model VCA’s mission and The Five Principles of Mars, Inc., setting the cultural tone for the organization and fostering a purpose-driven, high-trust environment where teams thrive.
• Leading and mentoring a team of Regional Operations Directors.
• Foster an inclusive and collaborative environment that prioritizes psychological safety and open communication and cultivates shared accountability across teams.
• Partner closely with Medical Operations, People & Organization, Finance, Talent Acquisition, Marketing, Facilities, and other support functions to drive alignment and unlock impact.
• Break down silos and bring a United in Care mindset to day-to-day operations and key business initiatives improving cross-hospital collaboration.

Medical Quality

• Model and support the Triad of Care model, work with Medical Affairs and Medical Operations leaders (Medical and Patient Care) to ensure consistent communication, effective resource use, and aligned medical training and Associate development programs across hospitals.
• Ensure consistent delivery of exceptional medical care, client experience as measured by NPS, and operational excellence across all hospitals.
• Partner with Medical Operations Leadership in attracting, hiring, onboarding, retaining, and developing veterinarians.
• In coordination with Field and Hospital Leadership, develop and support new doctors and new grad onboarding, training and integration into hospitals.
• Foster optimal doctor productivity by optimizing workflows, strengthening operational and development practices, delivering appropriate feedback, ensuring medical quality and outcomes remain reliable and consistent across hospitals.

 

* Fulfill other related duties as assigned*

Education/Experience:

• Bachelor’s Degree / MBA or DVM Preferred
• 10+ Years Related Experience / 12+ Preferred

Computer Efficiency:

• Advanced digital fluency with productivity platforms, including MS365, leveraging cloud-based tools to enhance communication, planning, and operational execution.

 

Other:

• Ability to travel extensively within the assigned group/region (estimated 50–75% field travel, including overnight stays).
• Ability to relocate for career pathing
• Participation in relevant national or state associations

*All degrees will be deemed “or equivalent combination of education and experience” unless absolutely required to do the job (i.e., DVM degree for Veterinarian, Law degree for Attorney, etc.)

Preferred Skills and Qualifications:

• Proven track record managing a substantial P&L of $500M+ and providing multi-site operational leadership across 100+ units in a high-volume, multi-location network.
• Strong proficiency in data and analytics platforms (Excel, Power BI), with the ability to interpret complex data sets, extract actionable insights, and drive data-informed decision-making across a multi-site organization.
• Deep expertise in the veterinary, healthcare, pharmacy, high volume retail or related multi-site services industry.
• Strong command of hospital operations, P&L ownership, pricing strategy, contract negotiation, revenue optimization, and labor management within multi-site healthcare or service environments.
• Demonstrated ability to rapidly adopt emerging technologies, enterprise systems, and AI-enabled tools to modernize workflows, strengthen decision quality, and elevate operational efficiency in a dynamic environment.
• Ability to analyze and utilize reports and data to affect changes in a hospital environment and establish ROI and KPIs in collaboration with Field and Medical Operations leaders.
• Proven ability to integrate business discipline with medical priorities, ensuring operational decisions strengthen medical quality, efficiency, and overall hospital outcomes.
• Skilled communicator with the ability to craft, organize, and deliver complex ideas in a clear and engaging way to audiences at all levels.

 

Additional candidate attributes for consideration:

• Innovation & creativity
• Ability to manage up and down / scale up and down
• M&A experience a plus
• Proven ability to lead at scale

 

Core Competencies:

• Strategic Mindset
• Global Perspective
• Drives Vision & Purpose
• Drives Engagement
• Builds Networks
• Ensures Accountability
• Situational Adaptability
• Managing Ambiguity
• Leading and developing teams

 

 

Additional Information

Compensation is negotiable based on education, experience, and other relevant credentials. The U.S. base salary range for this full-time position is $204,000–$318,750 . The position is also eligible for short-term and long-term incentive compensation.

 

Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, experience and location. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only.

 

If you are a current associate, you will need to apply through our internal career site. Please log into Workday and click on the Jobs Hub app or search for Browse Jobs.

Benefits: We offer competitive compensation along with a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision and paid vacation/sick days, 401(k), generous employee pet discounts and more!

The information in this position description indicates the general nature and level of work to be performed. It is not designed to be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of associates assigned to this job. Management reserves the right to revise the job description or require that other tasks be performed when the circumstances of the job change (for example, emergencies, change in personnel, workload, or technical development)

We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer - Veterans / Disabled. For a complete EEO statement please see our career page at vcacareers.com ]]><