Executive Director, Emergency Department Operations

Job Summary

The Executive Director, Emergency Department t Operations provides national strategic and operational leadership for Kaiser Permanentes emergency departments and front door acute access model across the hospital system.

The Executive Director, Emergency Department t Operations provides national strategic and operational leadership for Kaiser Permanentes emergency departments and front door acute access model across the hospital system.

Essential Responsibilities

• National Strategy & System Design
• Develops and leads a systemwide strategy for emergency department services aligned with organizational priorities, access goals, and care delivery transformation.
• Defines the future state operating model for EDs and front door alternatives, including integration with inpatient, ambulatory, and virtual care.
• Serves as a thought leader on industry trends, benchmarks, and best practices related to emergency services and acute access.
• Operational Performance & Standardization
• Establishes enterprise standards, policies, and performance expectations for emergency departments operations.
• Partners with regions and medical centers to improve patient flow, throughput, length of stay, left without being seen rates, and patient experience.
• Oversees systemwide monitoring of quality, safety, access, and operational metrics for ED services.
• Identifies variation in performance and leads the development of scalable best practices to drive consistent, high reliability operations.
• Quality, Safety, and Regulatory Readiness
• Ensures alignment with federal, state, and accreditation requirements
• Supports readiness for regulatory surveys, audits, and trauma designation requirements in partnership with quality and compliance teams.
• Promotes a culture of patient and workforce safety, continuous learning, and just culture across all emergency settings.
• Integration Across the Continuum
• Works closely with hospital operations, medical groups, and care delivery leaders to design and implement alternatives to the emergency department, including observation and care at home models.
• Partners with EMS, transfer center, and bed management leaders to ensure right patient, right time, right location, and right level of care.
• Strengthens coordination between EDs, inpatient units, specialty services, and ambulatory partners to improve transitions of care.
• Leadership & Change Management
• Leads complex, cross functional initiatives without direct authority, influencing regional and local leaders through governance and partnership.
• Acts as a change agent to support operational redesign in high acuity, high complexity environments.
• Coaches and mentors emerging leaders and supports leadership development across ED operations.

Experience

Basic Qualifications

• Minimum ten (10) years of progressive leadership experience in healthcare operations, including emergency department or other 24/7 acute care environments.

Education

• Bachelors or four (4) years of experience in a directly related field.
• High School Diploma or General Education Development (GED) required.

License, Certification, Registration

• N/A

Additional Requirements

• Demonstrated experience leading multi site or system level clinical operations in a complex health system.
• Strong knowledge of emergency services operations, patient flow, regulatory requirements, and quality improvement.
• Proven ability to lead large scale operational change through influence and partnership.

Preferred Qualifications

• Masters degree (MHA, MBA, MPH, Nursing, or related discipline) preferred.

Primary Location: California,Oakland,Ordway

Scheduled Weekly Hours: 40

Shift: Day

Workdays: Mon-Fri

Working Hours Start: 08:00 AM

Working Hours End: 05:00 PM

Job Schedule: Full-time

Job Type: Standard

Worker Location: Flexible

Employee Status: Regular

Employee Group/Union Affiliation: NUE Executives|NUE|Non Union Employee

Job Level: Director/Senior Director

Department: Po/Ho Corp - Hospital Systems Ops - 0308

Pay Range: $ - $ / year

Kaiser Permanente strives to offer a market competitive total rewards package and is committed to pay equity and transparency. The posted pay range is based on possible base salaries for the role and does not reflect the full value of our total rewards package. Actual base pay determined at offer will be based on labor market data, internal alignment, and a candidate's years of relevant work experience, education, certifications, skills, and geographic location.

Travel: Yes, 75 % of the Time

Work Setting: Flexible

Worker location must align with Kaiser Permanente's Authorized States policy.

Kaiser Permanente is an equal opportunity employer committed to fair, respectful, and inclusive workplaces. Applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic or status.