Imaging Operations Lead - Clinical Quality & Safety

Kaiser Permanente; Riverside (CA); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Kaiser Permanente in Riverside, CA seeks an Imaging Operations Leader responsible for day-to-day radiology services, ensuring regulatory compliance, auditing quality metrics, and escalating technology and equipment issues.

This leadership role supervises staff, streamlines workflows, and champions patient safety, privacy, and service quality across radiology workflows, RIS data accuracy, and PACS image transmission.

Qualifications

• Minimum one year in a leadership role.
• Associates degree in radiologic-related field or equivalent.
• Experience with radiologic quality and safety standards.

Responsibilities

• Leads and mentors team; drives performance improvement.
• Oversees daily departmental activities and workflows.
• Educates patients and ensures privacy and safety protocols.
• Manages supplies, inventory, and resource allocation.
• Ensures compliance with safety regulations and ALARA principles.
• Guides imaging exam selection and data accuracy in RIS/PACS.

Skills

Leadership

Collaboration

Communication

Education

Associate degree

Tools

RIS

PACS

Job description

Job Summary:

In addition to the responsibilities listed below, this position is also responsible for leveraging foundational knowledge of imaging to ensure day-to-day operations are compliant with all relevant regulations; auditing quality and safety metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) as required by regulatory bodies; aligning protocols and processes with guidelines and best practices; and identifying and escalating technology and equipment issues that arise.

Essential Responsibilities:

• Recommends developmental opportunities for others; builds collaborative, cross-functional relationships. Solicits and acts on performance feedback; provides team members with feedback; and mentors and coaches to drive performance improvement. Pursues professional growth; provides training and development to talent for growth opportunities; supports execution of performance management guidelines and expectations. Implements, adapts, and stays up to date with organizational change, challenges, feedback, best practices and processes. Fosters open dialogue, supports, mentors, engages, and motivates team members on collaboration. Delegates tasks and decisions as appropriate; provides appropriate support, guidance and scope.
• Supervises and coordinates daily activities of designated work team or unit by monitoring the execution and completion of tactical action items and work assignments; ensures all policies and procedures are followed. Aligns team efforts and standards, and measures progress in achieving results; determines and carries out processes and methodologies; resolves escalated issues as appropriate. Develops work plans to meet business priorities and deadlines; coordinates, obtains and distributes resources. Removes obstacles that impact performance; identifies and recommends improvement opportunities; influences teams to execute in alignment with operational objectives.
• Fosters an individualized and compassionate patient care atmosphere by supporting and guiding efforts to educate patients on relevant procedures, facilitating patient cooperation through effective communication and modeling behavior for personnel; implementing appropriate protocols for maintaining patient privacy and confidentiality; assisting, guiding, and overseeing frontline staff in addressing and handling routine and escalated patient questions/concerns for service recovery; and promoting patient well-being and comfort during examination.
• Coordinates the day-to-day operations of the department by assisting with the timely supply and preparation of departmental supplies and disposables for use in assigned areas, including inventory management and adherence to policies/protocols; collaborating with labor partners to improve quality, service, and safety while finding cost-saving opportunities within their team or department; and identifying opportunities for advancing access, service quality, and efficiency through strategic innovation and day-to-day implementation.
• Prioritizes patient and employee safety by ensuring compliance with all internal and external safety-related regulations, policies, and procedures (e.g., National Patient Safety Goals, As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) Principles); adhering to and leading the identification of the most accurate and appropriate safety measures and instructions provided to patients, family members, and hospital staff as required; overseeing the implementation and enforcement of rules, regulations, and standards to improve quality of care, streamline operations, and mitigate risk within their team or department; and resolving standard and non-standard equipment malfunctions, accidents, and/or unsafe conditions to appropriate personnel.
• Promotes adherence to appropriate protocols when performing radiologic/fluoroscopic examinations by leading the evaluation of a patients clinical history with the exam to be performed to screen for contraindications; ensuring patients are received and double identified using appropriate criteria prior to performing the study ordered; encouraging the routine evaluation of the accuracy of data entered and stored in the Radiology Information System (RIS); leveraging a thorough understanding of the features and performance capabilities of the general radiology, fluoroscopy, and portable imaging systems; guiding others when selecting the technical factors that will result in optimum imaging for each patient; managing the successful transmission of images to the Diagnostic Imaging Picture Archive and Communication System (PACS) for Radiologist interpretation; and driving the efficient dismissal of patients for transport at end of procedure, providing assistance as needed.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Minimum one (1) year of experience in a leadership role with or without direct reports.
• Associates degree in Anatomy, Physiology, Biology, radiological science, Healthcare Administration, or a directly related field AND minimum two (2) years of radiologic technology experience or experience in a directly related field OR Minimum three (3) years of radiologic technology experience or experience in a directly related field.

• Radiologic Technologist Certificate (California) required at hire AND American Registry of Radiologic Technologists Certificate - Radiography required at hire

OR

• American Registry of Radiologic Technologists Certificate - Nuclear Medicine Technologist required at hire

OR

• Nuclear Medicine Technologist Certificate required at hire from Nuclear Medicine Technology Certification Board

OR

• Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographer Certificate required at hire

OR

• Registered Vascular Technologist Certificate required at hire

• Basic Life Support required at hire

Preferred Qualifications: