Chief Administrative Officer, Faculty Practice

University of Chicago; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 200,000 - 270,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Chicago seeks a Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) for Faculty Practice to lead the administrative and operational execution of the physician enterprise across UCFP in partnership with UCM. The role focuses on governance, strategy, and cross-functional leadership to safeguard academic mission and financial stewardship.

Reporting to senior academic finance leadership, the CAO directs clinical operations, workforce management, and policy development while aligning physician

Responsibilities

• Serve as the senior administrative leader of the UCFP and the BSD/UCFP administrative partner to the CCO.
• Represent the faculty practice in enterprise governance; prepare and lead UCFP Board and Committee agendas, materials, and discussions.
• Lead through influence across functions owned by Finance, the Health System, and BSD central - convening stakeholders, aligning priorities, and holding the enterprise to shared goals and metrics.
• Own the faculty-practice governance structure, committees, and decision rights, in partnership with the UCFP President, Vice-President and faculty leadership.
• Direct, through the ED, Clinical Operations & Physician Compensation, the administrative operation of the practice, provider capacity and utilization, physician compensation plan design and administration, and clinical effort allocation.
• Engage physicians, departmental leaders, and system partners to design and implement modernized practice models, elevating the physician voice in operational decisions.
• Ensure, through the ED, Clinical Operations & Physician Compensation and its Program Administration function, that provider recruitment management aligns planned expansions with UCM strategy and operations (clinic and operating-room deployment).
• Provide executive leadership for the Allied Health and APP workforce through the dual management of the Chief of Advanced Practice including work force expansion, establishing role expectations, compensation and incenti

Job description

Department

BSD ADM - Administration

About the Department

The University of Chicago biomedical enterprise comprises three entities - the Biological Sciences Division (BSD), the University of Chicago Medicine (UCM), and the Pritzker School of Medicine - one of the nation's leading academic medical institutions and at the forefront of discovery, education, and clinical care since 1927.

The BSD is the largest academic unit within the University: a $1.6B+ division of ten basic science departments, fifteen clinical departments, and numerous centers and institutes, with over 1,300 faculty and 3,000 staff across the research, education, and clinical missions. The Division's clinical enterprise is delivered through the University of Chicago Faculty Practice (UCFP).

Job Summary

The Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Faculty Practice is the senior-most administrative leader of the University of Chicago Faculty Practice (UCFP) and the administrative partner to the physician leadership of the practice. Reporting to the Vice Dean for Academic Finance & Administration and working in a formal dyad with the President of the Faculty Practice & Vice Dean of Clinical Affairs and the Vice President of the Faculty Practice, the CAO leads the administrative and operational execution of the physician enterprise across the UCFP and, in partnership with UCM, the ambulatory and physician-network agenda.

As the physician enterprise consolidates under the UCM Chief Clinical Officer (CCO), the CAO is the BSD/UCFP administrative counterpart in that dyad - translating enterprise clinical strategy into faculty-practice execution while safeguarding the academic mission, faculty governance, and the Division's financial stewardship. A defining feature of the role is that much of its mandate is exercised through influence rather than direct control: substantial portions of clinical operations, revenue cycle, managed care, and enterprise analytics are owned by Central Finance, the Health System, or BSD central. The CAO leads by convening, aligning, and holding the enterprise to shared goals.

The CAO leads a team spanning clinical operations and physician compensation administration, practice transformation, program administration and workforce management, and advanced practice provider (APP) leadership, and co-chairs the standing Joint Finance-Operations Operating Review with the CFO.

This at-will position is wholly or partially funded by contractual grant funding which is renewed under provisions set by the grantor of the contract. Employment will be contingent upon the continued receipt of these grant funds and satisfactory job performance.

Responsibilities

Physician-Enterprise Administrative Leadership

Serve as the senior administrative leader of the UCFP and the BSD/UCFP administrative partner to the CCO, jointly accountable for translating enterprise clinical and ambulatory strategy into faculty-practice execution.

Represent the faculty practice in enterprise governance; prepare and lead UCFP Board and Committee agendas, materials, and discussions.

Lead through influence across functions owned by Finance, the Health System, and BSD central - convening stakeholders, aligning priorities, and holding the enterprise to shared goals and metrics.

Governance, Policy & Strategy

Own the faculty-practice governance structure, committees, and decision rights, in partnership with the UCFP President, Vice-President and faculty leadership.

Advise UCFP President, Vice President and BSD Vice Dean for Finance and Administration on key priorities, opportunities, barriers and risks.

Develop and maintain administrative policies and standards for the faculty practice; lead succession planning and contribute to the definition of system chair roles with the Dean's office and UCM. Serve as the faculty-practice interface to philanthropy and development for clinical programs.

Operations, Growth & Workforce

Direct, through the ED, Clinical Operations & Physician Compensation, the administrative operation of the practice, provider capacity and utilization, physician compensation plan design and administration, and clinical effort allocation.

Engage physicians, departmental leaders, and system partners to design and implement modernized practice models, elevating the physician voice in operational decisions Direct, through the SD, Physician Strategy & Practice Integration, the practice's growth, care-model transformation, digital and AI-enabled ways of working, and the operationalization of new hires.

Ensure, through the ED, Clinical Operations & Physician Compensation and its Program Administration function, that provider recruitment management aligns planned expansions with UCM strategy and operations (clinic and operating-room deployment).

Provide executive leadership for the Allied Health and APP workforce through the dual management of the Chief of Advanced Practice including work force expansion, establishing role expectations, compensation and incenti