Director of Operations

Director of Operations

Northland - Columbus, OH 43231

Description

About Lower Lights Christian Health Center

Lower Lights Christian Health Center (LLCHC) is a mission-driven, faith-based Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) that provides whole-person, high-quality, and accessible healthcare to underserved communities in Central Ohio. We are passionate about removing barriers to care and transforming lives through compassionate, patient-centered service. Join us in delivering hope and healing to our patients and their families.

The Director of Operations provides strategic and operational leadership for assigned service lines, sites, and operational functions across LLCHC. This role is accountable for developing department direction, operational standards, staffing models, and performance expectations that support access, quality, patient experience, workforce stability, and regulatory compliance. The Director designs how operational work should run, translates organizational priorities into department plans, and ensures consistent execution across teams and locations.

Working in close collaboration with senior leadership, clinical leaders, human resources, finance, quality, compliance, support services, and health informatics, the Director of Operations establishes clear operational guardrails, oversees cross-departmental implementation, and ensures accountability for results. This role leads longer-term planning for access, template governance, staffing, and workflow design; separates capacity decisions from scheduling decisions; standardizes core operational processes; and reduces dependence on manual workarounds by building durable systems, clear policy, and measurable performance expectations.

Essential Job Responsibilities:

Operational Strategy, Access, and Department Leadership

1. Provides strategic leadership for assigned operational areas, sites, and service lines, establishing department direction, priorities, and standards aligned with organizational goals.
2. Designs and oversees operational models that improve access, throughput, patient experience, workforce stability, and consistency across locations. Leads access and template governance by defining operational guardrails, standardizing scheduling structures where appropriate, and ensuring template decisions support policy rather than substitute for unresolved capacity issues.
3. Establishes clear ownership and decision pathways for template standards, access protection, exceptions, and workflow changes in collaboration with clinical, operational, and information systems leaders.
4. Leads standardization of key operational processes, including appointment types, slot structures, access windows, escalation pathways, and site workflows as assigned.
5. Develops and monitors department productivity, service, quality, compliance, and access goals, and adjusts plans based on performance data and organizational priorities.
6. Represents operations in cross-departmental initiatives and serves as the accountable operational leader for implementation of approved strategies and policies.

Workforce Leadership and Organizational Management

1. Directly supervises Practice Managers and/or assigned operational leaders, providing coaching, performance management, and development support.
2. Builds leadership capability within operational teams by mentoring managers, clarifying expectations, and reinforcing accountability for outcomes.
3. Partners with Human Resources and executive leadership on workforce planning, recruitment priorities, succession planning, role design, and organizational change.
4. Establishes staffing models and coverage expectations that support safe, efficient, and patient-centered operations across assigned areas.
5. Leads performance evaluation and corrective action processes for direct reports in alignment with LLCHC policies and values.
6. Promotes a culture of collaboration, professionalism, continuous improvement, and service excellence across departments and sites.

Performance, Finance, Compliance, and Implementation

1. Develops, monitors, and manages operational budgets, productivity targets, and resource plans for assigned areas, identifying opportunities for cost stewardship and operational improvement.
2. Uses operational, access, financial, quality, and workforce data to identify trends, measure results, and guide decisions.
3. Oversees implementation of strategic initiatives, including workflow redesign, access improvement efforts, standardization projects, and system-based solutions that reduce reliance on manual workarounds.
4. Ensures assigned departments maintain compliance with applicable regulatory, accreditation, privacy, safety, and organizational standards.
5. Collaborates with clinical, quality, finance, compliance, and technology partners to operationalize policies, enforce approved guardrails, and sustain new ways of working.
6. Establishes monitoring and feedback mechanisms for operational reliability, including access performance, exception trends, staffing pressures, and workflow stability.
7. Leads intentional transition away from temporary spreadsheets, trackers, and scripts when system design or standard work should replace them.
8. Communicates operational performance, risks, recommendations, and implementation progress clearly to executive leadership and relevant stakeholders.

Observes LLCHC policy/procedures regarding conduct in the workplace

1. Treats all team members with respect and dignity in accordance with non-discriminatory policy and procedure.
2. Treat all team members and clients in a courteous and professional manner.
3. Strictly adheres to HIPAA requirements.
4. Exhibits high customer service standards and demonstrates LLCHC Standards of Behavior.

Living our Values

You are mission-oriented and passionate about living out your purpose. You play an active role in responding to the needs of the community and the organization. You work well with others and use your time and resources effectively. You challenge yourself to grow personally and professionally. You embrace diversity and enjoy providing compassionate, excellent care to others.

Qualifications

Required:

1. Bachelor's degree in healthcare administration, business administration, public health, nursing, or a related field required; master's degree preferred.
2. Seven or more years of progressive healthcare operations experience, including multi-site or multi-department leadership and direct supervision of managers or operational leaders.
3. Demonstrated experience developing departmental goals, operational standards, staffing models, budgets, and performance metrics in a healthcare environment.
4. Strong knowledge of ambulatory operations, access management, scheduling workflows, regulatory compliance, quality improvement, and patient experience practices.
5. Ability to lead cross-functional initiatives, establish decision authority, manage change, and build accountability across teams.
6. Strong analytical, communication, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to interpret operational data and translate findings into action plans.
7. Ability to travel regularly between LLCHC locations and flex schedule as needed to support operational priorities.

Preferred:

1. Experience in federally qualified health center, community health, or multi-specialty ambulatory settings.
2. Experience with Epic or similar EHR systems, access template design, and operational governance processes.
3. Experience leading process redesign, standardization, and implementation of organization-wide operational initiatives.