ACMO for Clinician Experience

Duke Health; Durham (NC); On-site; USD 350,000 - 500,000; Part time

Job summary

Duke Health is seeking the Associate Chief Medical Officer for Clinician Experience to provide executive clinical leadership across its DHIP, CDHIP, and Duke Primary Care.

The role blends part-time leadership with part-time clinical effort for physicians and advanced practice providers, focusing on reducing administrative burden and improving the practice environment. It requires strong collaboration across clinical, operational and IT teams to sustain clinician wellbeing.

Qualifications

• MD/DO/MBBS or equivalent degree required; or advanced practice candidate with NC licensure.
• Active North Carolina medical licensure for physicians or NC licensure for advanced practice candidates.
• Experience in senior leadership within a complex health system or academic medical center.
• Strong leadership and communication skills; ability to engage clinicians and executives.
• Advanced training in healthcare administration, quality improvement, Lean/Six Sigma, informatics, digital health, or clinical leadership.

Responsibilities

• Set and lead clinician experience strategy across DHIP, CDHIP, and Duke Primary Care; establish priorities and governance.
• Identify and remove friction in care delivery; optimize workflows and reduce administrative burden.
• Chair the Clinician Experience Committee and build the Clinician Experience Champion network.
• Translate clinician feedback and workforce data into prioritized, measurable improvements.
• Advise on technology-enabled innovations (AI, ambient documentation) and oversee clinician well-being initiatives.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Change management

Relationship building

Education

MD/DO/MBBS or equivalent

MPH/MHA/MBA or comparable

Tools

AI tooling

Job description

The Associate Chief Medical Officer (ACMO) for Clinician Experience provides executive clinical leadership for clinician experience, professional fulfillment, workforce sustainability, and practice environment improvement across Duke Health Integrated Practice (DHIP), Community DHIP, and Duke Primary Care (DPC). The role is accountable for creating and sustaining the conditions in which clinicians devote their expertise, attention, and energy to patients rather than to administrative complexity, inefficient workflows, or organizational barriers.

This role combines part-time leadership with part-time clinical effort and is open to both physician and advanced practice provider applicants.

Core Responsibilities

• Clinician experience strategy and priorities: Set and lead the clinician experience strategy across DHIP, CDHIP, and Duke Primary Care -- annual priorities, governance, practice environment standards, and closed-loop communication with clinicians about actions taken and results achieved.
• Elimination of systemic barriers to practice: Identify and remove sources of friction in care delivery -- workflow inefficiency, documentation and administrative burden, cognitive load, duplicative work, and unnecessary variation. Includes the operational drivers of daily practice - templates, schedules, work expectations, productivity targets, and indirect work such as in-basket volume - engaged through the CMO accountable for each practice. Partners with the Ambulatory PEX team to ensure that this work is built into other performance improvement projects within the Ambulatory & Practice setting.
• Mobilization of clinicians and operational leaders: Chair the Clinician Experience Committee and build the Clinician Experience Champion network. Partner with operational, nursing, informatics, analytics, quality and safety, human resources, and departmental leaders to redesign work and implement improvements at the practice level.
• Measurement and accountability: Review Culture Pulse results, engagement and burnout assessments, retention and turnover data, and workforce feedback. Translate clinician voice into prioritized opportunities with named operational ownership, measurable interventions, and reported results.
• Clinician experience embedded in organizational, technology, and well-being decisions: Serve as the executive advocate for clinicians in major operational, strategic, and technology decisions, including AI, ambient documentation, automation, and workflow tools. Provide executive oversight of the clinician well-being portfolio led by the Vice President for Clinician Well Being.

Reporting Relationships, Scope, Governance and Effort Allocation

• ACMO reports jointly to the DHIP Chief Medical Officer and the Duke Primary Care Chief Medical Officer.
• Administrative home is DHIP, where performance management and compensation are owned. Decision rights sit with the CMO of the practice in which the work lands.
• ACMO leads the system improvement lane - workflow, technology, documentation, administrative burden and the operational drivers of daily practice.
• The DHIP Vice President for Clinician Well Being reports to the ACMO and leads the wellness and resilience lane. Scope spans DHIP, cDHIP and Duke Primary Care.
• ACMO chairs the Clinician Experience Committee and leads the Clinician Experience Champion network through chairmanship and influence rather than direct reporting. Standing member of the DHIP Medical SLT, the Duke Primary Care medical leadership forum, the DUHS Wellbeing Leadership Council, and the Duke Health Listens Advisory Council.
• Effort allocation is 0.3-0.5 FTE of total professional effort.

Leadership Requirements/Expectations

• Required: MD, DO, MBBS, or equivalent degree from an accredited medical school; or a terminal degree from an accredited nursing or physician assistant program for advanced practice candidates.
• Preferred: Advanced training in healthcare administration, organizational dynamics, quality improvement science, Lean or Six Sigma, informatics, digital health, or clinical leadership.
• Credibility as a respected clinical leader, with the ability to engage clinicians, operational leaders, and executives around clinician experience transformation.
• Strong systems thinking and demonstrated ability to redesign care delivery environments across departments, specialties, and sites of care.
• Deep understanding of burnout drivers, administrative burden, workflow design, operational effectiveness, and clinician retention strategies.
• Ability to translate clinician needs into governance structures, performance measures, improvement priorities, and implementation plans.
• Demonstrated success leading through influence in a complex academic medical center or multi-entity health system.
• Ability to evaluate and guide technology-enabled innovation, including AI and ambient documentation, for its effect on the experience of providing care.
• Ability to analyze clinician feedback, workforce data, and operational metrics and convert findings into action.
• Superb verbal and written communication, change management, conflict resolution, and executive communication skills.

Education And Licensure Requirements/Preferences

• Required: MD, DO, MBBS, or equivalent degree from an accredited medical school; or a terminal degree from an accredited nursing or physician assistant program for advanced practice candidates.
• Preferred: advanced training in healthcare administration, organizational dynamics, quality improvement science, Lean or Six Sigma, informatics, digital health, or clinical leadership.
• Active or eligible medical licensure in North Carolina for physician candidates. Active or eligible advanced practice certification and North Carolina licensure for advanced practice candidates.

Qualifications

• Physician or Advanced Practice Provider clinically active and in good standing at Duke Health
• Significant clinical experience and a demonstrated record of senior leadership in community health, population health, public health, clinical operations, or a related field.
• Experience working effectively in a complex academic health system or similarly matrixed environment.
• Demonstrated ability to build partnerships across clinical disciplines, institutions, and community organizations.
• Strong communication, facilitation, and relationship-building skills.
• MPH, MHA, MBA, or comparable advanced training
• Experience with community health assessments, community-engaged research, social care integration, or quality improvement; and scholarly or teaching experience are preferred.

Duke is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to providing employment opportunity without regard to an individual's age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, (including pregnancy and pregnancy related conditions), sexual orientation, or military status.

Duke aspires to create a community built on collaboration, innovation, creativity, and belonging. Our collective success depends on the robust exchange of ideas- an exchange that is best when the rich diversity of our perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences flourishes. To achieve this exchange, it is essential that all members of the community feel secure and welcome, that the contributions of all individuals are respected, and that all voices are heard. All members of our community have a responsibility to uphold these values.