Lead Physician, Clinical Practice & Academic Partnerships

Position Summary

The Lead Physician, Clinical Practice & Academic Partnerships is an executive clinical leader responsible for driving enterprise-wide clinical governance, establishing gold-standard practice models, and leading high-level academic and health system partnerships across all Roots sites. Reporting directly to the Chief Medical Officer, this role exercises broad authority in setting clinical education strategies, refining quality standards, and aligning medical protocols with complex managed care environments. Lead Physician, Clinical Practice & Academic Partnerships directly manages the Faculty Practice program, integrating resident/student precepting and direct patient care alongside enterprise-wide clinical stewardship. This role can be 80-100% time and there is flexibility regarding location (San Jose and/or Oakland). Great work-life balance and no after-hours call.

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic Clinical Governance & Practice Standards

• Clinical Policy Leadership: Direct the development, implementation, and continuous evolution of clinical policies, medical protocols, and scope-of-practice guidelines across all Roots clinics and specialized programs.
• Enterprise Standardization: Drive consistency across care delivery sites by identifying clinical variances and institutionalizing standard operating procedures aligned with the Roots "Gold Standard" of care.
• Managed Care & Regulatory Alignment: Act as the lead executive physician for managed care quality standards, audit responses, scope-of-practice compliance, and health plan clinical alignment.

2. Faculty Practice Management & Direct Patient Care

• Faculty Practice Leadership: Serve as the clinical lead and operational head of the Roots Faculty Practice, managing preceptor workflows and patient care delivery within the academic clinical track.
• Clinical Precepting & Teaching: Provide direct, hands-on clinical precepting and supervision for residents, medical students, and advanced practice trainees during assigned Faculty Practice sessions 2-3 days per week.
• Direct Clinical Care & Panel Management: Maintain an active direct patient care panel (either integrated within Faculty Practice or as dedicated clinical sessions) modeling clinical excellence, top-of-license care, and complex patient management.
• Clinical Workflow Integration: Utilize direct clinical and faculty practice hours to pilot, test, and refine novel EHR templates, care models, and clinical protocols prior to enterprise rollout.

3. Academic Partnerships & Health System Strategy

• Academic & Clinical Pipeline Leadership: Architect and steward strategic relationships with academic medical centers, nursing schools, and residency/fellowship programs to build sustainable workforce and training pipelines.
• Health System & Managed Care Coordination: Partner with external health systems, health plans, and regional safety-net stakeholders to improve clinical coordination, joint practice standards, and provider retention initiatives.
• Scholarship & Research Integration: Lead the clinical integration of academic grants, research initiatives, and evidence-based innovations tailored to regional community needs.

4. Enterprise Medical Education & Workforce Advancement

• Clinical Education Architecture: Oversee the organizational strategy for provider onboarding, continuous medical education (CME), and advanced clinical mentorship across MD, DO, NP, and PA cadres.
• Provider Coaching & Supervision Strategy: Systematize peer-review models, high-level clinical coaching, and provider development pathways to foster clinical retention and top-of-license practice.
• Advanced EHR & Workflow Strategy: Direct the clinical architecture of electronic health record (EHR) workflows, ensuring documentation standards optimize clinical quality, regulatory compliance, and care efficiency.

• Enterprise Stewardship: Ability to think strategically across systems, balancing clinical quality with long-term organizational sustainability.
• Executive Communication: High-level diplomacy and negotiation skills to engage colleagues, health plan executives, and institutional partners.
• Clinical Authority & Mentorship: Demonstrated mastery in clinical decision-making, provider coaching, and fostering a culture of continuous learning.
• Regulatory & Managed Care Expertise: Deep understanding of Medi-Cal managed care, community clinic regulations, and quality performance frameworks.

• Licensure: Active, unencumbered California license as a Physician (MD or DO). (Board Certification in Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, or related primary care specialty required).
• Education: Graduate of an accredited Medical School (MD/DO).
• Experience: 5–7 years of clinical practice in primary care or community health settings preferred.