Manager, Quality Improvement (Surgical Services)

Nemours Childrens Health is seeking a Manager Quality Improvement (Surgical Services) to join our team in Wilmington Delaware.

The Manager Quality Improvement Surgical Services provides operational leadership for all quality improvement (QI) patient safety and performance improvement activities within the Department of Surgery. Leads and executes the administrative strategic and clinical direction of the Surgical Quality and Patient Safety Program in collaboration with the Medical Director of Surgical Quality and Safety. Reporting to the Director of Quality and in conjunction with the CQSO this role oversees the day-to-day management of surgical quality infrastructure ensures alignment with enterprise quality and safety priorities and partners with surgical anesthesia nursing and operational leaders to improve outcomes across the surgical continuum of care.

This role serves as the primary point of accountability for departmental surgical quality work translating strategic priorities into executable improvement initiatives ensuring methodological rigor and supporting sustainment of gains. The Manager supervises surgical Quality Improvement Specialists and Safety Quality Specialists in addition to also supporting improvement initiatives to prioritize and coordinate new initiatives promoting optimal care of the surgical patient and enables multidisciplinary teams to achieve measurable data-driven improvements.

Surgical Quality Oversight:

• In partnership with the Medical Director of Surgical Quality and Safety oversees the Department of Surgerys quality improvement portfolio ensuring alignment with organizational goals and national standards; prioritize initiatives monitor progress and drive performance improvement strategies to optimize surgical outcomes and patient safety.

Quality Improvement Program Management:

• Works alongside a team of clinical experts to formulate drive and lead projects (from idea inception through implementation and sustainment of results) using process improvement methodologies (e.g. Lean Six Sigma PDSA) project management strategies facilitation and change management to achieve improvements in operational and/or clinical outcomes.
• Oversee the planning execution monitoring and sustainment of multidisciplinary surgical QI initiatives.
• Ensure consistent application of improvement methodologies.
• Support identification and prioritization of improvement opportunities using data analysis safety events audits patient feedback and frontline input.

Data Measurement and Reporting:

• Collaborate with analytics registry teams and clinical leaders to define meaningful measures and monitor outcomes and process reliability. Supervises the creation of dashboards and collection coding validation and analysis of data used to guide performance improvement activities
• Ensure timely review interpretation and dissemination of surgical quality data including dashboards scorecards and external benchmark reports.
• Prepare and present concise actionable reports for surgical leadership quality councils and governance committees.

Staff Leadership and Development:

• Provide direct supervision coaching and performance management for surgical quality improvement staff.
• Build quality improvement capability within the Department of Surgery by mentoring clinicians and operational leaders in improvement science and change management.
• Promote a culture of psychological safety accountability and continuous learning.

Collaboration and Representation:

• Serve as a key partner to surgeons nursing leaders perioperative services and administrative stakeholders.
• Facilitate effective multidisciplinary collaboration across service lines and care settings.
• Represent the Department of Surgery in organizational quality safety and performance improvement forums as assigned.

Patient Safety:

• Monitor implementation and effectiveness of action plans to ensure sustained improvement.
• Identifies trends and sentinel events; and assists with outlining corrective action plans which includes preparation and implementation of clinical protocols and practice-management guidelines in conjunction with senior leadership.

Job Requirements

• Bachelors degree in healthcare nursing public health quality or a related field required. Masters degree in healthcare administration nursing public health quality or a related field strongly preferred.
• Minimum of 7 (seven) years professional quality or improvement experience required; 10 years experience preferred.
• Progressive experience in healthcare quality improvement patient safety or performance improvement required.
• Demonstrated experience leading multidisciplinary improvement initiatives in a complex healthcare environment required.
• Strong knowledge of quality improvement methodologies data analysis and change management required.
• CPHQ required upon hire. LSSGB preferred.
• Experience supervising or mentoring quality improvement professionals preferred.
• Pediatric clinical and/or experience in surgical perioperative or procedural care settings preferred.

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