Senior Director, Perioperative Services - 141564

UC San Diego Health; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 275,000 - 310,000; Full time

Job summary

UC San Diego Health seeks a Senior Director of Perioperative Services to lead perioperative operations at Jacobs Medical Center. You will report to the CAO for Perioperative Services and guide Directors, Managers, and leaders toward strategic and operational excellence.

Responsibilities include improving access, capacity, workforce effectiveness, financial stewardship, and quality across ORs and related services, with strong collaboration with physicians and clinical teams.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Nursing with 10+ years in perioperative or complex surgical operations.
• CA RN license required with advanced hospital operations knowledge.
• Strong leadership, governance, and communication skills across disciplines.
• Experience partnering with physicians, nursing, and administration at academic centers.
• Ability to translate strategy into operational improvements and growth.
• Knowledge of regulatory requirements and compliance environments.

Responsibilities

• Provide executive oversight for perioperative operations, ensuring safe, efficient care delivery.
• Translate organizational strategy into priorities, performance goals, and action plans.
• Lead Directors, Managers, and other leaders, fostering accountability and collaboration.

Skills

Leadership

Healthcare operations

Strategic planning

Communication

Nurse leadership

Regulatory knowledge

Education

Bachelor's degree in Nursing

Registered Nurse in California

Tools

CNOR (preferred)

Lean Six Sigma (preferred)

Regulatory compliance knowledge

Job description

Payroll Title

NURSE SVC MGR 3

Department

PERIOPERATIVE SERVICES

Hiring Pay Scale

$275,000-$310,000 / Year

Worksite

Jacobs Medical Center

Appointment Type

Career

Appointment Percent

100%

Union

Uncovered

Total Openings

1

Work Schedule

Days, 8 hrs/day, Monday-Friday

#141564 Senior Director, Perioperative Services

Filing Deadline

Tue 10/6/2026

UC San Diego values and welcomes people from all backgrounds.

UC San Diego values and welcomes people from all backgrounds. If you are interested in being part of our team, possess the needed licensure and certifications, and feel that you have most of the qualifications and/or transferable skills for a job opening, we strongly encourage you to apply.

Reassignment Applicants: Eligible Reassignment clients should contact their Disability Counselor for assistance.

Description

The Senior Director of Perioperative Services provides senior operational leadership for perioperative services at UC San Diego Health's flagship hospital, Jacobs Medical Center. Reporting to the Chief Administrative Officer for Perioperative Services, this executive leads a large, complex, multidisciplinary organization through subordinate Directors, Managers, and other operational leaders and is accountable for translating strategic priorities into operational results.

Operating with a high degree of autonomy, the Senior Director is responsible for the performance of perioperative operations across assigned areas, including patient access, capacity management, workforce effectiveness, financial stewardship, quality and safety, regulatory compliance, and strategic growth initiatives. The position serves as a key member of the Perioperative Executive Leadership Team and partners closely with physician, nursing, anesthesia, administrative, academic, and operational leaders to ensure alignment with UC San Diego Health's mission and organizational objectives.

KEY RESPONSIBILITES

Operational Leadership

• Provide executive oversight for perioperative operations, ensuring safe, efficient, and patient-centered delivery of care.
• Translate organizational strategy into operational priorities, performance goals, and actionable implementation plans.
• Lead and develop a team of Directors, Managers, and other operational leaders, fostering accountability, collaboration, and operational excellence.
• Serve as the senior operational escalation point for complex operational issues and critical decision-making.

Performance, Access, and Growth

• Drive performance across perioperative services with a focus on access, throughput, capacity management, resource utilization, patient experience, and operational efficiency.
• Partner with clinical and administrative leaders to optimize operating room utilization, procedural capacity, and growth initiatives.
• Lead large-scale operational improvement efforts that enhance efficiency, reliability, and service delivery across multiple departments and disciplines.

Financial and Resource Stewardship

• Oversee operating and capital budgets and ensure responsible management of labor, supplies, equipment, and other resources.
• Utilize operational and financial data to guide decision-making, improve performance, and identify opportunities for growth and efficiency.
• Support capital planning and strategic investments that advance organizational priorities and long-term operational needs.

Quality, Safety, and Regulatory Compliance

• Ensure operational systems and processes support high-quality care, patient safety, and regulatory readiness.
• Partner with quality, compliance, infection prevention, risk management, and clinical leadership teams to address operational and patient care priorities.
• Lead corrective actions and improvement initiatives arising from safety events, regulatory findings, operational challenges, or identified risks.

Leadership and Strategic Partnership

• Build strong, collaborative relationships with physician leaders, faculty, nursing leaders, and administrative partners.
• Support the clinical, educational, research, and academic missions of a leading academic medical center.
• Represent Perioperative Services in executive committees, organizational initiatives, and strategic planning efforts.
• Foster a culture of accountability, innovation, continuous improvement, inclusion, and employee engagement.

Leadership Expectations

The successful candidate will be a highly collaborative and results-driven healthcare executive with demonstrated experience leading large, complex clinical operations. This leader must be able to effectively balance strategic vision with operational execution, develop high-performing teams, build trusted partnerships across disciplines, and drive measurable improvements in quality, service, financial performance, and patient outcomes.

The Senior Director is expected to maintain a visible leadership presence, make data-informed decisions, champion innovation and continuous improvement, and advance solutions that best serve patients, providers, staff, and the broader mission of UC San Diego Health.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Nursing and minimum of 10 years of progressive relevant healthcare experience, including substantial leadership within perioperative, surgical, procedural, or complex acute-care operations.
• Registered Nurse in the State of California.
• Advanced knowledge of hospital operations in a multi-hospital setting; knowledge of appropriate professional standards for the multidisciplinary team.
• Advanced communications and interpersonal skills to promote an effective model of shared governance among multiple disciplines. Ability to motivate and engage all levels of staff regarding patient care programs, strategies, and organizational mission and values.
• Advanced leadership, fiscal and operations management skills. Ability to develop nurse leaders in their adoption and promotion of a shared governance model of collaboration.
• Ability to develop a systems strategic plan and implementing that vision across a large, complex organization.
• In-depth knowledge of a broad scope of relevant regulatory requirements, as well as legislative, accreditation, licensing and compliance environments.
• Demonstrated experience working directly with senior executives, physicians, faculty, and clinical department leadership.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced Degree in Nursing or relevant area.
• Five or more years leading through subordinate managers, with demonstrated responsibility for complex multidisciplinary operations.
• Senior leadership experience within a large academic medical center or integrated health system.
• Multi-departmental perioperative leadership experience.
• Experience overseeing multiple perioperative disciplines including OR, Preoperative Services, PACU, Sterile Processing, Ambulatory Surgery, Supply Chain, Surgical Scheduling, and/or Business Operations.
• Experience leading significant organizational transformation, growth, construction, capital planning, technology implementation, or enterprise performance-improvement initiatives.
• Certification in relevant area preferred (CNOR, CSSM, NEA-BC, FACHE)
• Lean Six Sigma or equivalent performance-improvement certification.
• Current UC San Diego Health employee.

SPECIAL CONDITIONS

• Must be able to work various hours and locations based on business needs.
• Employment is subject to a criminal background check and pre-employment physical.

Pay Transparency Act

Annual Full Pay Range: $196,100 - $402,700 (will be prorated if the appointment percentage is less than 100%)

Hourly Equivalent: $93.92 - $192.86

If employed by the University of California, you will be required to comply with our Policy on Vaccination Programs, which may be amended or revised from time to time. Federal, state, or local public health directives may impose additional requirements.

If applicable, life-support certifications (BLS, NRP, ACLS, etc.) must include hands-on practice and in-person skills assessment; online-only certification is not acceptable.

UC San Diego Health is the only academic health system in the San Diego region, providing leading-edge care in patient care, biomedical research, education, and community service. Our facilities include two university hospitals, a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, Shiley Eye Institute, Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center, the only Burn Center in the county, and dozens of outpatient clinics. We invite you to join our team!

Applications/Resumes are accepted for current job openings only. For full consideration on any job, applications must be received prior to the initial closing date. If a job has an extended deadline, applications/resumes will be considered during the extension period; however, a job may be filled before the extended date is reached.

To foster the best possible working and learning environment, UC San Diego strives to cultivate a rich and diverse environment, inclusive and supportive of all students, faculty, staff and visitors. For more information, please visit UC San Diego Principles of Community.

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected status under state or federal law.

For the University of California’s Anti-Discrimination Policy, please visit: https://policy.ucop.edu/doc/1001004/Anti-Discrimination

UC San Diego is a smoke and tobacco free environment. Please visit smokefree.ucsd.edu for more information.

UC San Diego Health maintains a marijuana and drug free environment. Employees may be subject to drug screening.

Misconduct Disclosure Requirement

As a condition of employment, the final candidate who accepts an offer of employment will be required to disclose if they have been subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct; or have filed an appeal of a finding of substantiated misconduct with a previous employer.

• “Misconduct” means any violation of the policies governing employee conduct at the applicant’s previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment, or discrimination, as defined by the employer. For reference, below are UC’s policies addressing some forms of misconduct:
• UC Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy
• UC Anti-Discrimination Policy
• Abusive Conduct in the Workplace