Sr. Director, Clinical Trials Program

Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) seeks a Managing Director for the Clinical Trials Program. The person in this role will report to the Medical Director for the Clinical Trials Program and work with leadership to effectively execute a regional clinical trials strategic plan. The individual will also help to provide administrative leadership and support to the organization’s large, diverse Clinical Trials Program across all therapeutic areas. The Managing Director will work with the Regional Medical Director for Clinical Trials and other physician leaders within The Permanente Medical Group (TPMG) to oversee the activities of clinical trial personnel located in the KPNC Regional Offices and in various KPNC Clinical Trial Units, medical centers, and associated facilities throughout the region

• Builds organizational capacity and prepares high potentials for growth opportunities and advancement; builds collaborative networks inside and outside the organization for self and others. Provides framework for soliciting and acting on performance feedback; drives collaboration to set goals and provide open feedback and coaching to foster performance improvement. Models and drives continuous learning and oversees the recruitment, selection, and development of talent; stays current with industry trends, benchmarks, and best practices; ensures performance management guidelines and expectations to achieve business needs. Acts as a thought leader on industry trends, benchmarks, and best practices; shares best practices within and across teams to drive improvement. Motivates and empowers teams; maintains a highly skilled and engaged workforce by aligning cross-functional resource plans with business objectives. Provides guidance when difficult decisions need to be made; creates opportunities for expanded scope of decision making and impact across teams.


• Oversees the operation of multiple units and/or departments by identifying member and operational needs; ensures the management of work assignment allocation and completion; translates business strategy into actionable business requirements; ensures products and / or services meet member requirements and expectations while aligning with organizational strategies. Engages strategic, cross-functional business units to champion and drive support for business plans and priorities; assumes responsibility for decision making; sets standards, measures progress, and ensures resolution of escalated issues. Sets and communicates goals and objectives; analyzes resources, costs, and forecasts and incorporates them into business plans; obtains and distributes resources. Anticipates and removes obstacles that impact performance; addresses performance gaps and implements contingency plans accordingly; ensures teams accomplish business objectives; serves as a subject-matter expert and trusted source to executive leadership; provides influence and consultation in the development of the larger organizational or business strategy.


• Oversees and directs a team of consultants to ensure the alignment, buy-in, and coordination of diverse stakeholders to drive successful initiatives and projects within care delivery or clinical settings multiple technical areas and complex workstreams by providing leadership to high visibility projects to identify and resolve issues of strategic importance to the organization; ensuring representation and inclusion of appropriate stakeholders and team members; building rapport and partnerships with stakeholder teams, third party vendors, and senior/executive management to produce results that are outcome driven; partnering with executive stakeholders to set the strategic direction of initiatives, develop goals and set the prioritization of deliverables; driving key processes (e.g. quality management, project change management, communication) and facilitating decisions necessary for the delivery of initiatives; communicating and resolving tough issues with stakeholders while maintaining an independent perspective; providing expertise and recommendations; and making formal presentations and providing reports to executive level audiences.


• Directs multiple teams of consultants in the development of requirements, for complex clinical, process, or system solutions across technical area(s) by guiding stakeholders and cross-functional teams as appropriate; providing strategic insight in the use multiple requirements gathering methodologies to identify clinical, functional, and non-functional requirements to address future business needs; establishing the standards for the development and documentation of comprehensive case studies to assess the costs, benefits, and ROI of proposed solutions; collaborating in the development of results-driven action plans; and empowering team members and key stakeholders in the development process as appropriate.


• Oversees and drives the development and implementation of multiple, complex clinical initiatives, systems, and processes to a desired future state by maintaining a cutting-edge understanding of how current processes impact clinical operations across one or more technical areas; identifying the operational impact of requirements on upstream and downstream solution components; providing options and recommendations to executive management and clinical stakeholders on how to integrate solutions and deliverables with current systems and processes across KP; and directing the identification and validation of value gaps and opportunities for process enhancements or efficiencies.


• Directs the development of clinical or care delivery strategy and ensures organizational alignment and prioritization of clinical initiatives by developing and determining goals and priorities with management team sponsors; defining, developing, and evaluating performance metrics, standards, and methods to establish success; guiding executive stakeholders, often with competing/conflicting objectives, to ensure cohesive and reachable metrics are defined; refining strategic plans and performance metrics to drive long-term business goals; and overseeing multiple portfolios of diverse and complex initiatives to ensure delivery of measurable results and alignment with strategic objectives.


• Serves as a lead advocate of continuous learning and professional development by establishing industry practices, standards, and benchmarks; attending and presenting at roadshows, conferences, and speaking events; leading the ongoing enhancement and innovation of clinical consulting practices, standards, and methods across KP; serving as an advocate to ensure continuous learning and improvement is championed as a people strategy; and providing ongoing coaching to build a continuous improvement mindset and build capabilities that drive results.


• Drives long-term strategy and management of complex, highly visible projects or project components by coordinating and partnering with clinical leadership and key stakeholders; providing guidance on assembling teams based on project needs and team member strengths; directing and initiating the development, analysis, and management of project plans, including proposed project structure, approach and work plan; negotiating time commitments and resource forecasts across KP; overseeing multiple project financials and deliverables; proactively monitoring and identifying project or clinical initiative risks, issues, and trigger events; developing mitigation plans and strategies; resolving or escalating risks or issues as appropriate; and providing leadership to project teams, as well as overseeing the work of outside consultants when needed.


• Champions large and complex change management activities associated with care delivery or clinical initiatives by engaging and influencing stakeholders to obtain support and buy in for changes; partnering with executive management, project champions, and clinical owners to communicate and align improvement initiatives with strategic objectives; determining appropriate change management method and approach to meet long-term business goals; and ensuring stakeholders embrace a change management mindset, understand intent and purpose, and foster a culture of change.


• Oversees team members in performing complex data analyses to drive care delivery or clinical initiatives by providing advice on appropriate data analysis tools and approach to assess performance; providing advice on suitable data gathering and analysis methods (e.g., process observation, hard data, etc.); defining data requirements and obtaining customer agreements, including customer requirements as appropriate; and forecasting and alleviating risks through data-driven analysis.


• Oversees vendor management as required by proactively monitoring vendor performance levels across KP; ensuring service level agreements are met; overseeing the management of vendor invoices; and partnering with Procurement, Legal and/or clinical leadership to develop service level and/or scope of work agreements as appropriate.


• Monitors and takes accountability for the compliance of team work activities by ensuring business plans and team members adhere to KP, departmental, and/or clinical policies and procedures.