Executive Director, Practice Operations

A highly respected and growing cosmetic dermatology practice located in downtown Chicago is seeking an experienced Executive Director, Practice Operations to provide senior leadership across all areas of practice operations.

Role Overview

The Executive Director of Practice Operations is the senior-most non-clinical executive responsible for the end-to-end operational performance, scalability, and patient experience delivery of the practice. This role oversees all administrative, operational, brand, patient experience, marketing, revenue, and people functions while partnering closely with physician leadership to support clinical excellence and growth.

The Executive Director ensures that the practice operates as a high-performing, patient-centered, brand-aligned healthcare organization, translating strategic goals into consistent execution across all locations and service lines.

This role ensures the practice functions as a cohesive, scalable enterprise, allowing physicians to focus on delivering outstanding care while the organization delivers a differentiated patient experience, strengthened brand reputation, sustained growth, and a fair, equitable, psychologically safe, respectful, and unbiased workplace. 

Scope of Authority

• Operational and Administrative oversight across the practice, with shared decision making with Practice Owner
• Budget ownership and performance accountability for all non-clinical functions
• Managerial authority for staffing models, workflows, vendors, and systems, with shared decision making with Practice Owner
• Strategic partner in oversight and organization of external service operations
• Strategic partner to physician leadership

Key Responsibilities

1. Practice Operations & Performance

• In conjunction with Directors, oversee and lead all day-to-day administrative and operational functions across clinical, cosmetic, and procedural services.
• Work with Directors to establish and optimize workflows for scheduling, intake, patient flow, service delivery, and post-care follow-up.
• Ensure overall operational readiness for dermatology, cosmetic procedures, lasers, injectables, and plastic surgery services.
• Standardize operating procedures across providers and locations while allowing for clinical variation where required.
• Ensure a fair, equitable, psychologically safe, respectful, and unbiased workplace.
• Organize, staff, and oversee operation in support of outside practice service relationships (MSO).

2. Patient Experience & Brand Delivery

• Oversee the Sr. Director of Practice Brand & Patient Experience, ensuring the brand promise is consistently delivered through patient interactions, service standards, and workplace environment.
• Champion patient-centered design across the full patient journey — from first contact to long-term retention.
• Ensure service excellence aligns with clinical values, regulatory requirements, and ethical marketing standards.
• Ensure MSO service excellence aligns with clinical values, regulatory requirements, and ethical marketing standards.

3. Financial & Revenue Performance

• Oversee practice operating budgets, forecasting, and cost controls.
• Partner with Revenue Cycle leadership to optimize billing, collections, payer mix, and cash-pay performance.
• Collaborate with Marketing and Experience leadership to drive patient acquisition, conversion, retention, and lifetime value.
• Monitor KPIs including visit volume, utilization, cancellation rates, cosmetic conversion, and margin by service line, and others.
• Monitor and report on MSO performance.

4. Leadership, Culture & Talent

• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing director-level leadership team.
• Foster a culture of accountability, service excellence, and continuous improvement.
• Ensure staffing models, onboarding, training, and performance management support growth and patient satisfaction.
• Serve as the primary escalation point for non-clinical issues and complex operational challenges.

5. Strategic Planning & Growth

• Translate physician and ownership vision into executable operational strategy.
• Develop and maintain plans for continuous practice growth
• Lead operational planning for new services, technologies, providers, and locations.
• Evaluate and implement systems (EMR optimization, CRM, patient communication platforms).
• Partner in strategic planning of MSO operation and growth
• Support M&A integration, partnerships, or platform expansion when applicable.

6. Governance, Compliance & Risk

• Ensure operational compliance with healthcare regulations, privacy standards, and payer requirements.
• Partner with physician leadership on quality, safety, and risk mitigation.
• Oversee vendor contracts, facilities, and non-clinical compliance functions.

Relationship to Physician Leadership

• Acts as primary operational partner to the Medical Director and physician owner(s).
• Does not manage physician clinical decision-making.
• Ensures operational systems support clinical efficiency, autonomy, and excellence.
• Facilitates alignment between clinical priorities and business realities.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Administration, Business, Operations, or related field; Master’s degree preferred (MHA, MBA or similar).
• 10 years of progressive healthcare operations leadership, with senior responsibility in an ambulatory, specialty, or private practice setting.
• Demonstrated experience leading multi-disciplinary director-level teams.
• Strong understanding of dermatology, aesthetic medicine, or procedural practice operations strongly preferred.

Core Competencies Required

• Executive leadership & systems thinking
• Operational rigor & execution excellence
• Patient-centered service design
• Financial stewardship
• Cross-functional influence and alignment
• Change management and growth leadership
• People leadership

Preferred Experience & Skills

• Experience in dermatology, cosmetic surgery, plastic surgery, aesthetics, or cash-pay healthcare models.
• Financial acumen with P&L ownership and performance management.
• Proven ability to scale operations while maintaining service quality.
• High emotional intelligence and credibility with physician leaders.
• Data-driven decision-maker with comfort using dashboards and performance metrics.

Success Metrics (Illustrative)

• Improved patient satisfaction and retention
• Increased operational efficiency and provider utilization
• Achievement of revenue and margin targets
• Reduction in access barriers, cancellations, and operational errors
• Strong engagement and performance of director-level leadership team

Compensation

TBD based on candidate

Employment Type

Full-time