Patient Safety Program Lead

UNC Health; Goldsboro (NC); On-site; USD 102,631,000 - 147,403,000; Full time

Job summary

UNC Health is seeking a Patient Safety Program Manager to join the Unified Quality team. This role advances a high-reliability approach to patient safety across UNC Health, collaborating with clinical, operations, quality, risk, and accreditation leaders to identify risks and drive improvements.

You will support multiple sites, lead event reviews, and promote a culture of safety with data-driven insights, education, and Just Culture principles. Travel within North Carolina is required as needed.

Qualifications

• Requires a bachelor's degree in nursing, public health, healthcare administration, epidemiology, human factors, psychology, engineering, quality/patient safety, or another healthcare-related field.
• Completion of the IHI Open School patient safety curriculum or UNC Health-designated patient safety education within three months of hire.
• Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS) certification required within two years of hire.
• Minimum five years of clinical or healthcare experience in patient safety, quality improvement, risk management, clinical operations, or related field.
• Experience leading interdisciplinary teams, facilitating event reviews or improvement work, and managing projects or data is required.
• Experience supporting multiple sites or working in a matrixed health system is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Implements UNC Health patient safety strategy, standards, tools, and governance processes at assigned sites. Manages projects from planning through implementation and evaluation, supporting reliable system practice while accounting for local operational needs.
• Serves as a primary patient safety resource and liaison for assigned sites. Builds trusted relationships with site leaders and frontline teams, provides consultation, and escalates urgent or unresolved safety risks through defined system channels.
• Leads or supports review of safety events and conditions, including root cause analyses, learning from defects, and proactive risk assessments. Applies patient safety science, human factors, and systems thinking in partnership with Risk Management, Quality, and operational leaders.
• Facilitates interdisciplinary teams and difficult conversations to identify contributing factors, reach sound decisions, and develop strong corrective actions. Challenges ineffective processes and influences change without relying on direct authority.
• Tracks corrective actions and improvement plans for timeliness, completion, effectiveness, and sustained performance. Identifies barriers, recommends course correction, and escalates inadequate or overdue actions when appropriate.
• Collects, analyzes, and communicates safety event, culture, and performance data. Identifies trends and variation within and across sites, develops actionable insights, and supports transparent learning while maintaining applicable confidentiality requirements.
• Advances a culture of safety and high reliability through education, coaching, and consultation related to Just Culture, TeamSTEPPS, psychological safety, reporting, teamwork, and organizational learning.
• Supports administration and use of the Patient Safety Culture Survey, including communications, interpretation of results, leader consultation, action planning, and monitoring of improvement efforts.
• Participates in system and site patient safety committees and governance forums. Develops agenda content and reports, communicates decisions, completes follow-up, and promotes shared learning and spread of effective practices across UNC Health.
• Maintains knowledge of regulatory and accrediting requirements, National Patient Safety Goals, external measurement programs, current research, and emerging patient safety practices. Helps translate requirements and evidence into system policies, education, and standard work.
• Collaborates across Unified Quality and with clinical, operational, Risk Management, and other partners to align patient safety work with organizational priorities and reduce duplication or conflicting approaches.
• Travels within North Carolina to UNC Health sites as required. Overnight travel is estimated at up to five nights per month, although travel will not occur every month. Travel frequency is subject to change based on organizational needs.

Skills

Analytical skills

Project management

Facilitation

Consultation

Conflict management

Written communication

Presentation skills

Education

Bachelor's degree in nursing/related healthcare field

IHI Open School patient safety curriculum completion

CPPS certification within two years

Tools

Excel

PowerPoint

Event-reporting systems

Data visualization tools

Job description

UNC Health is seeking a Patient Safety Program Manager to join the Unified Quality team. This role advances a high-reliability approach to patient safety across UNC Health, collaborating with clinical, operations, quality, risk, and accreditation leaders to identify risks and drive improvements.

You will support multiple sites, lead event reviews, and promote a culture of safety with data-driven insights, education, and Just Culture principles. Travel within North Carolina is required as needed.