Executive Director, Strategic Initiatives

Executive Director, Strategic Initiatives

Category

Location

$170,000 - $220,000

Job Reference

249324

Job Description

Executive Director, Strategic Initiatives

Large, Multi-Site Healthcare Organization | Chicagoland

The Opportunity

A leading, multi-site healthcare organization is seeking an Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives to help shape and execute some of the most important growth and transformation priorities across the enterprise.

Reporting to a senior executive overseeing operations and growth, this individual will work closely with executive leadership to translate strategic priorities into actionable plans and drive them through execution. The role offers significant exposure across the organization and the opportunity to influence both near-term performance and the longer-term strategic direction of a large and complex healthcare enterprise.

This is an excellent opportunity for a high-performing strategy or healthcare consultant looking to transition into an operating environment where they can move beyond recommendations and take direct ownership of enterprise-level initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the development and execution of enterprise-wide growth, strategy, and transformation initiatives.
• Partner with executive leadership to help define the organization's annual and long-term strategic priorities.
• Translate enterprise strategy into clear operating plans, initiatives, milestones, and measurable outcomes.
• Establish and lead an Enterprise Program Management Office (EPMO) responsible for prioritizing and driving high-impact initiatives across the organization.
• Lead cross-functional programs spanning operations, finance, growth, clinical leadership, analytics, and other key functions.
• Drive major strategic growth initiatives, including the planning and execution of new locations and other significant enterprise investments.
• Develop business cases, financial analyses, KPIs, and performance metrics to evaluate strategic opportunities and measure results.
• Identify risks and barriers to execution and work across the organization to develop solutions and maintain momentum.
• Provide structure and leadership around complex, ambiguous initiatives involving multiple stakeholders.
• Implement project and change-management best practices to improve organizational effectiveness and ensure initiatives remain on schedule.
• Develop executive-level presentations and recommendations that clearly communicate insights, priorities, progress, and required decisions.
• Help build a culture of accountability, adaptability, continuous improvement, and data-driven decision-making.

Candidate Profile

The successful candidate will combine exceptional strategic and analytical capabilities with the ability to drive execution in a complex operating environment. This individual should be comfortable working with senior executives while also being willing to get into the details required to move important initiatives forward.

Ideal candidates will bring:

• 5+ years of experience in strategy consulting, healthcare consulting, transformation, or a similarly rigorous strategic environment.
• Meaningful exposure to healthcare, ideally including healthcare providers, physician organizations, ambulatory care, health systems, or other complex healthcare delivery organizations.
• Demonstrated experience developing and executing growth strategies, transformation programs, operating models, or other enterprise-level initiatives.
• Strong financial and analytical capabilities, including experience developing business cases and using data to support strategic decisions.
• A track record of successfully leading complex, cross-functional projects from strategy through implementation.
• The ability to bring structure to ambiguous problems and translate high-level objectives into practical execution plans.
• Strong executive presence and the ability to influence senior stakeholders without relying on direct authority.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to synthesize complex information into concise executive-level recommendations.
• A highly collaborative, hands-on approach and a strong sense of ownership and accountability.
• Bachelor's degree required; MBA or other relevant advanced degree preferred.

Why Join?

This role provides a unique opportunity to move into a highly visible strategic leadership position within a large healthcare organization undergoing continued growth and transformation.

The Executive Director will have direct exposure to senior leadership while taking ownership of initiatives that meaningfully impact the organization's growth strategy, operating model, and future direction. For someone coming from consulting, it offers the opportunity to shift from advising organizations on what they should do to directly owning the execution and results.