Director, Operations

Director, Operations

The Department of Psychiatry at the Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons of Columbia University is a global leader in psychiatric care and operates across multiple affiliated organizations, including Columbia University, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, the New York State Office of Mental Health, and the Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene. Our mission encompasses clinical care, education, and research.

The Department is deeply committed to innovation and excellence in clinical medicine, education, research, community and global health, as well as the professional development of our faculty and staff.

This position will be a highly visible position, both internal and external to the Department and should prioritize the ethos, mission and goals of the Department of Psychiatry. This position will be on-site and in-person and will not be suitable for those seeking a hybrid or remote employment opportunity. This individual reports directly to the Department Administrator/COO for the Department of Psychiatry and will work closely with other Director level colleagues across the Department, while overseeing practice manager staff across multiple locations in Manhattan and Westchester. The ideal candidate will prioritize a team-based approach and should foster a dynamic and high functioning operations team in a complex and high paced environment.

At CUIMC, we are leaders in teaching, research, and patient care and are proud of the service and support we provide to our community. Columbia University offers a range of benefits to help you, and your dependents stay healthy, build long-term financial security, meet educational and professional goals, and more.

This position requires a fully onsite presence in our clinical practices. This position will require some travel to both Westchester and Manhattan based clinics and individuals will be expected to cover the cost of transportation to/from these sites.

Responsibilities

• Works in conjunction with Department Leadership and Chief Operating Officer to maintain healthy, efficient practices here at the Columbia University Medical Center campus, as well as offsite at locations throughout Manhattan and Westchester.
• Responsible for standardizing protocols and workflow processes across all sites to ensure physician and patient satisfaction and high quality of healthcare service delivery across all clinical locations.
• Serves as point of contact for daily operations issues at all sites across Department of Psychiatry, escalates issues as necessary to appropriate leadership.
• Must be able to travel between sites across the Westchester/Manhattan area (as well as any future sites). Conducts site visits periodically to ensure that each site is acting in accordance with the Department and institution regulations and guidelines. Visits to ensure that all sites feel connected to the main campus.
• Works with site and practice managers to address staffing needs, and to anticipate future growth opportunities.
• Works with site and practice managers to understand workflow challenges and proactively provides solutions.
• Financial oversight for offsite clinical locations: Responsible for reconciling and managing discretionary budgets related to operational and administrative expenditures across all site locations. Works with finance team and clinical leaders at each site to prepare and submit site specific budgets on a fiscal year basis while ensuring appropriate compliance and adherence to department and institutional policy.
• Multi-site management and workforce leadership: Oversees Practice Managers to ensure patient workflow pathways are appropriately documented for each location and clinical program.
• Organizational and workflow design and efficiency: Coordinates with senior clinical leadership and Patient Intake team and Call Center to ensure that patients are appropriately triaged and have access to the Columbia Doctors Psychiatry clinical services.
• Leadership presence and influence: Liaises with clinical services administration and VC for Clinical Affairs to ensure that administrative and HR processes are aligned and streamlined. Ensures effective and efficient communication between all parts of the Department as outlined in the reorganizational plan.

Core Leadership & Management Competencies

1. Healthcare Operations Leadership • Ability to lead and sustain high-performing outpatient clinical operations across multiple sites. • Experience operating within complex academic medical center and multi-affiliate environments (University, hospital, state, foundation). • Capacity to align operational execution with departmental mission, ethos, and strategic goals.
2. People Management & Team Development • Proven ability to supervise and develop managers (e.g., Practice Managers) across geographically dispersed locations. • Skill in fostering a team-based, collaborative culture in a high-paced environment. • Experience addressing staffing needs, succession planning, and workforce growth proactively.
3. Decision-Making & Judgment • Sound judgment in escalating operational issues appropriately. • Ability to balance standardization with site-specific operational needs. • Comfort operating with autonomy while partnering closely with senior leadership.

Operational & Technical Competencies.

1. Multi-Site Practice Operations Management • Expertise in managing daily operations across multiple outpatient clinical locations. • Ability to standardize workflows, protocols, and patient pathways across sites. • Experience conducting site visits, compliance checks, and operational audits.
2. Process Improvement & Workflow Optimization • Ability to identify workflow inefficiencies and design scalable solutions. • Experience documenting and maintaining standardized patient flow pathways. • Knowledge of operational best practices to enhance patient and provider satisfaction.
3. Financial & Budget Management • Experience managing discretionary operational budgets. • Ability to prepare, reconcile, and monitor site-specific budgets in collaboration with finance and clinical leadership. • Understanding of fiscal compliance within institutional and departmental policy frameworks.
4. Health Information Systems & Data Literacy • Working knowledge of EPIC and its role in clinical operations, access, and workflow management. • Ability to partner with intake teams, call centers, and clinical leadership using data to support patient access and triage.

Interpersonal, Communication & Organizational Competencies

1. Cross-Functional Collaboration • Ability to liaise effectively with clinical leadership, finance, HR, patient intake, call centers, and central administration. • Skill in coordinating across departments and affiliates to ensure alignment and streamlined processes.
2. Communication & Influence • Clear, professional communication with internal and external stakeholders. • Ability to translate operational issues into actionable recommendations for senior leadership. • Strong interpersonal skills to build trust across clinical and administrative teams.
3. Compliance & Regulatory Awareness • Understanding of HIPAA, Joint Commission requirements, and institutional compliance expectations. • Ability to ensure site-level adherence to regulatory, privacy, and security standards. • Comfort operating in highly regulated clinical environments.

Personal Effectiveness Competencies

1. Adaptability & Resilience • Ability to manage competing priorities across multiple sites. • Comfort with frequent travel and on-site presence requirements. • Flexibility in responding to evolving operational and organizational needs.
2. Accountability & Service Orientation • Strong sense of ownership for operational outcomes. • Commitment to patient access, quality, and service excellence. • Reliability as an essential, on-site leader in clinical operation.
3. Perform other related duties and responsibilities as assigned/requested.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required or equivalent in education and experience, plus 5 years related experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree preferred.
• EPIC Familiarity.
• Experience with Psychiatry preferred.

Other Requirements

• Must successfully complete online systems training requirements.
• Strong organizational skills, ability to set priorities and manage multiple competing priorities concurrently.
• High degree of attention to detail.
• Foster credibility and establish collaborative working relationships with customers, management peers, and staff.
• Clear and concise written and verbal communication.
• Demonstrated working expertise with Microsoft Office products, especially proficiency with Excel.
• Prior experience with complex budgeting, fiscal monitors and controls.
• Proven ability to work on highly complex, time sensitive projects with limited direction, meeting critical deadlines.
• Demonstrated acute attention to detail, critical thinking and judgement, as evidenced by minimal errors in complex reports.
• Well-developed critical thinking skills.
• Well-developed ability to exercise discretion.
• Approaches situations with self-confidence.
• Adaptable to diverse personalities and situations.
• Can tolerate ambiguity.
• Ability to have difficult conversations with grace and poise.
• Good judgement: ability to think through a situation and plan a credible course of action.
• Curious of mind; likes to learn.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.