Senior Director, High Reliability

Community Health Systems; Franklin (TN); On-site; USD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Community Health Systems seeks a Sr Director of High Reliability to lead organization-wide strategies reducing preventable errors and embedding HRO principles across clinical and operational settings.

The role designs and drives a safety framework, fosters a just culture, and coaches leaders to implement reliable error-prevention practices, with governance reporting to executives and the Board.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Nursing, Healthcare Administration, Business Administration, or related field.
• 5–7 years of progressive leadership experience in patient safety, quality improvement, or operational reliability.
• Deep knowledge of high-reliability principles and regulatory standards (e.g., Joint Commission).
• CPPS/CRE/CPHQ or Lean Six Sigma Green/Black Belt preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead development, execution, and alignment of a system-wide high-reliability and safety strategy.
• Embed high-reliability principles into daily operations, huddles, and leadership rounds.
• Cultivate a transparent, Just Culture that encourages incident reporting and psychological safety.
• Coach leaders and teams on human factors, high-reliability behaviors, and error-prevention tools.
• Supervise and mentor safety specialists and data analysts; report KPIs to governance bodies.

Skills

High-Reliability Principles

Human factors engineering

Statistical process control

Regulatory compliance

Education

MSN / MHA / MBA or related

Job description

Job Summary

The Sr Director of High Reliability leads organization-wide strategies to eliminate preventable errors, foster a robust safety culture, and embed high-reliability organization (HRO) principles across complex operational and clinical settings. This role directs the design, execution, and continuous improvement of the organization’s high-reliability framework. Collaborating closely with executive, clinical, and operational leaders, the Director deploys safety behaviors, analyzes operational risk, and drives a transparent culture of continuous learning toward a target of zero preventable harm.

Key Responsibilities & Duties

Strategy & Framework Deployment

• Lead the development, execution, and continuous alignment of a system-wide high-reliability and safety strategy.

• Embed core high-reliability principles (preoccupation with failure, reluctance to simplify, sensitivity to operations, commitment to resilience, and deference to expertise) into daily operational routines, huddles, and leadership rounding.

• Ensure alignment between HRO strategies, clinical operations, and regulatory oversight (e.g., Joint Commission standards).

Culture of Safety & Leadership Coaching

• Champion a transparent, non-punitive culture of safety and Just Culture that encourages open incident reporting and psychological safety.

• Design simulation-based training programs and coach frontline managers, physician leaders, and executive leadership on human factors science, high-reliability behaviors, and reliable error-prevention tools.

• Drive executive and management engagement in structured safety behaviors (e.g., tiered huddles, visual management boards, "Stop the Line" protocols).

• Develop all educational material related to HRO principals and operationalizing HRO across the enterprise.

Team Leadership & Governance

• Directly supervise, mentor, and build high-performing teams of safety specialists, HRO practice coaches, and clinical/operational data analysts.

• Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) and report reliable progress metrics to executive leadership, clinical councils, and the Board of Directors.

Position Requirements & Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Nursing (MSN), Healthcare Administration (MHA), Business Administration (MBA), or a related technical/engineering field required.

• 5 to 7 years of progressive leadership experience in patient safety, quality improvement, or operational reliability. Demonstrated experience leading direct teams as well as matrixed multidisciplinary projects.

• Deep knowledge of high-reliability principles, human factors engineering, statistical process control, and regulatory compliance (e.g., Joint Commission standards).

• Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS), Certified Reliability Engineer (CRE), Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ), or Lean Six Sigma Green/Black Belt preferred

Core Competencies

• High-Reliability Science: Advanced knowledge of human factors engineering, error proofing, and error-prevention techniques.

• Influential Leadership: Ability to inspire culture change and build consensus across multidisciplinary executive and clinical teams.

• Data Analysis & Synthesis: Proficiency in translating complex safety data into actionable improvement plans and executive dashboard reporting.

Equal Employment Opportunity

This organization does not discriminate in any way to deprive any person of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect the status of any employee because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, citizenship, veteran status, or military or uniformed services, in accordance with all applicable governmental laws and regulations. In addition, the facility complies with all applicable federal, state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment. This applies to all terms and conditions of employment including, but not limited to: hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training. If you are an applicant with a mental or physical disability who needs a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process, contact the director of Human Resources at the facility to which you are seeking employment; Simply go to http://www.chs.net/serving-communities/locations/ to obtain the main telephone number of the facility and ask for Human Resources.