Vice President - Operations Central Zone

Nova Scotia Health Authority; Halifax; On-site; CAD 250,000 - 313,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Travel insurance

Pension plan

Wellness programs

Job summary

Nova Scotia Health Authority seeks an inspiring Vice President of Operations Central Zone to lead complex health services in Halifax. The role partners with the Zone Medical Lead in a dyad to set strategy, oversee delivery, and drive continuous improvement across ambulatory, community, acute and continuing care.

The position requires a master’s level degree in health, business or public administration, senior health leadership experience, and strong skills in communication, project management,

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Health, Business, or Public Administration required.
• Post-secondary education in health discipline preferred; equivalencies considered.
• Certified Health Executive (CHE) asset.

Responsibilities

• Provide day-to-day executive leadership for Zone programs in dyad with Zone Medical Lead.
• Develop Zone plans, priorities and performance agreements; drive service quality outcomes.
• Manage the Zone’s multi-million dollar operating budget and resources.
• Represent the Zone with internal and external stakeholders and community organizations.

Skills

Communication skills

Project management

Operational acumen

HR & financial planning

Leadership

Education

Master’s degree in Health/Business/Public Administration

Job description

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Vice President - Operations Central Zone

Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia

Department: VP Operations CZ

Type of Employment: Permanent Full-time

Posting Closing Date: 16-Sep-26

About the Opportunity

Reporting to the President and CEO, the Vice President of Operations works closely with the Zone Medical Lead as the most senior operational and medical executives within a Nova Scotia Health Zone. Together, they are jointly accountable for providing the vision and leadership required to align and implement strategic priorities, as well as deliver and evaluate quality, accessible, sustainable, integrated, and coordinated health programs and services within the zone.

The Vice President of Operations and the Zone Medical Lead operate within a dyad executive leadership model in which an operational leader and a medical leader are partnered in a shared decision-making relationship. Generally, the Vice President of Operations provides the operational health services perspective, while the Zone Medical Lead provides medical leadership. Together, they make major decisions and recommendations related to the delivery of health services. While their responsibilities and accountabilities overlap significantly, each role maintains distinct areas of focus.

The Vice President of Operations and the Zone Medical Lead jointly establish plans for the effective and efficient implementation, operationalization, management, and monitoring of provincially integrated clinical care initiatives and services, as well as quality improvement and performance measurement programs. In addition, the dyad provides executive leadership for the administration of zone-specific priorities and initiatives.

The Vice President of Operations and Zone Medical Lead must enable and support a provincial health system that is committed to change, continuous improvement, process redesign, and innovation to deliver on its commitment to excellence and enhanced performance. The dyad also leads rigorous performance management and improvement activities.

As the executive leaders of one of Nova Scotia Health's four zones, the Vice President of Operations and the Zone Medical Lead are jointly responsible and accountable for:

• Ensuring the effective, integrated, coordinated, and seamless delivery of ambulatory, community, acute, and continuing care within the Zone, and across the provincial health system.

Leading the development and successful implementation of integrated Zone plans that align with Nova Scotia Health's vision, values, goals, and strategic priorities.

Managing the Zone's financial, human, and capital resources effectively and responsibly.

Building, nurturing, and facilitating the relationships necessary to collaborate effectively with diverse internal and external stakeholder groups.

Accountabilities

Strategic Leadership

• Contributes to the development, implementation, and evaluation of Nova Scotia Health's strategic and operational plans to support integrated, patient-focused care across Zones.
• Ensures health services and activities align with Nova Scotia Health's strategic objectives, clinical policies and quality standards.
• Provides senior clinical leadership and advocacy for major infrastructure projects impacting service delivery.
• Promotes collaboration and resource-sharing across Zones to support safe, effective and consistent patient care.
• Builds strong relationships with executive and senior clinical/business leaders and identifies issues with province-wide impact.
• Champions innovation, integration and continuous improvement in patient-focused care.

Zone Operational Leadership

• Provides day-to-day executive leadership and oversight of Zone programs, services and activities in partnership with the Zone Medical Lead through the dyad model
• Develops Zone plans, priorities and performance agreements and drives achievement of service, quality and performance outcomes.
• Ensures effective integration of Zone programs and services with other Zones and provincial services.
• Develops and manages the Zone’s multi-million-dollar operating budget, including prioritizing resources, addressing unmet needs and communicating financial decisions.
• Oversees physical resources, facilities, capital planning, functional planning and space planning.
• Establishes performance management and accountability systems to monitor and improve Zone performance.
• Represents the Zone internally and externally and builds relationships with key stakeholders and community organizations.

People, Workforce & Organizational Leadership

• Develops staff through professional development, collaboration, and effective workforce utilization.
• Leads and manages unionized, management, and exempt employees across multidisciplinary health and administrative functions in a 24/7 operating environment.
• Provides leadership for health service contracts, assigned provincial programs, and embedded corporate/non-clinical services.
• Ensures effective staff, physician, practitioner, volunteer, and stakeholder communication and engagement.
• Models and integrates the dyad leadership model to support accessible, high-quality, and sustainable patient care.
• Provides oversight of the health facilities leadership function, ensuring appropriate 24/7 responsiveness and readiness.

About You

• A minimum of a master's level preparation in Health, Business, or Public Administration, or a related program is required.
• Post-secondary education in a health discipline is preferred. Equivalencies of education and experience will be considered.
• Certified Health Executive (CHE) is considered an asset.
• Senior experience in health care, including community-based care and/or population health.
• Successful record of achievement as a leader, including extensive experience in improvement and innovation in service delivery in a large and diverse range of health functions.
• Strong project management and operational acumen, with demonstrated skills related to systems planning, project execution, system performance and monitoring.
• Adept problem solver, results-driven, with a focus on details and issues management.
• Exceptional communication and presentation skills, both verbal and written, with tact and diplomacy, and ability to navigate complex relationships with multiple stakeholders to achieve objectives.
• Strong human resource and financial planning experience and competencies, with experience in resource management, budgets and long-term financial planning.
• Ability to exercise initiative and vision, be resourceful, work independently, work cooperatively, adapt easily to changes in direction and to provide effective leadership.
• Experience engaging, mentoring, and empowering teams and stakeholders in a collaborative, participative manner to respond to the mission, vision, goals, and objectives.

Hours

• Permanent full-time position; 75 hours biweekly

Compensation and Benefits

Pay Scale Type: Executive

Band: VP (level 4)

Hourly Rate: $128.21 - $160.27

Annual Salary: $250,016 - $312,519

Successful candidates may be eligible for a comprehensive benefits package, which includes health, dental, and travel insurance; long-term disability and life insurance coverage; and a defined benefit pension plan. Additional wellness, development and employee support programs may also be available.

What you'll love about Nova Scotia Health

Nova Scotia Health is more than the province's largest provider of health services; we're a team driven by excellence in health, healing and learning. Across hospitals, health centres and community programs, our people deliver innovative, high-quality care that impacts lives across Nova Scotia and Atlantic Canada.

From vibrant city life to scenic coastal communities, Nova Scotia offers a lifestyle as rewarding as the work itself. At Nova Scotia Health, you'll find meaningful career opportunities, supportive teams and the work-life balance to enjoy everything our beautiful province has to offer. Join us and discover why so many people are choosing to call Nova Scotia home.

Nova Scotia Health is committed to being a workforce that is free of discrimination, values diversity, and is representative, at all job levels, of the people we serve. We encourage all qualified applicants who self-identify as Indigenous, Black/African Nova Scotian, Persons of Colour, Foreign Nationals/Newcomers, Persons with Disabilities, 2SLGBTQIA+ to apply and self-identify.