Job Purpose: The Lead Quality and Patient Safety Specialist serves as a subject matter expert and organizational leader for quality, patient safety, and risk reduction initiatives across the agency. This role partners with clinical, programmatic, and operational leaders to design, implement, and sustain systems that promote safe, high-quality, and compliant care using evidence-based practices and a Just Culture framework.

The Lead Quality and Safety Specialist plays a critical role in fostering a culture of safety, driving continuous quality improvement, supporting regulatory and accreditation readiness, and reducing harm through proactive identification and mitigation of risk.

Essential Job Functions:

(Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions.)

• Design, implement, and continuously improve standard processes for reporting, reviewing, and analyzing near misses and adverse events using a Just Culture and systems-based approach.
• Serve as a champion for a culture of safety by conducting regular safety rounds and partnering with front-line staff to identify risks, improvement opportunities, and best practices.
• Lead quality and safety improvement initiatives to reduce risk and quality and safety gaps identified through partnership with program teams, compliance investigations/audits, contract reviews, and/or accreditation reviews.
• Establishes and maintains quality standards, ensuring that clinical services meet organizational, state, and federal regulations while promoting a culture of safety and excellence
• Lead the development, implementation, and ongoing monitoring of the agency’s Infection Prevention and Control Plan in alignment with regulatory and public health guidance.
• Coordinate accreditation, licensing, and regulatory readiness efforts, including audits, surveys, and corrective action plans.
• Support emergency and continuity planning and risk assessment for the agency.
• Collaborate with facilities department to maintain environmental and life safety requirements.
• Collaborate with human resources and program leaders regarding clinical training
• Other duties as assigned

Required Education, Experience, Certifications, Licensure and Credentials: (Where appropriate, education and/or experience may be substituted)

Minimum Required Education: Master’s degree in a healthcare- related or quality/safety discipline. Bachelor’s degree in a relevant discipline may be considered with combination of additional 2 years of experience.

Minimum Required Experience: 5-7 years of experience in quality, patient safety, risk management, or performance improvement. 3 years of experience performing those duties within a healthcare or social services environment

Experience in leading cross-functional improvement initiatives across the whole of an organization or agency and team leadership experience preferred.

Required License/Certification/Registration: Current or eligible for relevant professional certification (e.g. CPPS, CPHQ, CPHRM) or willingness to obtain within 1 year of hire.

Travel Type: Up to 25%

Knowledge  – Skills  – Abilities:

• • Systems Thinking: Strong ability to assess risk across complex care environments
  • Demonstrated knowledge of Just Culture, high-reliability principles, and continuous quality improvement methodologies.
  • Ability to build trust and effective working relationships across clinical, operational, and administrative teams.
  • Enable staff to grow and succeed through feedback, instruction, and encouragement.

Physical Requirements, Visual Acuity, and Work Conditions:

Physical Requirements: Exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or a negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects, including the human body. Sedentary work involves sitting most of the time.

Visual Acuity: The worker is required to have close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal.

Working Conditions: The work environment can be busy and noisy in program areas and/or in the community settings.