Assistant Director, Preceptor Engagement

About the Work Unit:

The Clinical Affairs unit supports VUSN academic programs by overseeing clinical placement operations, compliance, contracting, and external partnerships.  The unit operates in a complex, highly regulated, multi-jurisdictional environment requiring coordination across state Boards of Nursing, accrediting bodies, clinical partners, and internal stakeholders.

Key Functions and Expected Performance:

Department Budget Oversight and Fiscal Management

• Develop and manage the annual Preceptor Engagement Department Budget.
• Oversee all financial allocations related to preceptor incentives, recognition awards, preceptor gifts. adjoint faculty materials, engagement programming and recognition events.
• Monitor budget performance and spending trends.
• Prepare quarterly and annual financial reports for the Assistant Dean of Clinical Affairs.
• Routinely coordinate with VUSN Finance to review expenditures, forecast future needs, ensure compliance with university purchasing and gift policies and support annual budget planning cycles.
• Evaluate return on investment for incentive and engagement initiatives.
• Recommend strategic reallocations based on utilization data and growth trends.

Preceptor Recruitment Strategy and Pipeline Development

• Design and implement a comprehensive regional and national preceptor recruitment strategy.
• Develop specialty-based recruitment plans aligned with program growth and workload data.
• Establish and maintain relationships with alumni, health systems, private practices, and professional partnerships.
• Represent VUSN at conferences and professional events to cultivate long-term preceptor partnerships.
• Create structured outreach campaigns and track engagement metrics.

Preceptor Engagement, Retention and Relationship Management

• Develop and maintain a centralized preceptor relationship management system.
• Standardize onboarding and communication touchpoints.
• Implement tiered retention strategies based on preceptor engagement history.
• Develop structured preceptor training modules to increase preceptor confidence and participation.
• Collaborate with faculty to ensure consistent preceptor feedback loops.

Incentive Program Management

• Design and administer structured monetary and non-monetary incentive programs.
• Evaluate peer benchmarking data to inform incentive models.
• Ensure transparent criteria for eligibility and distribution of incentives.
• Monitor participation and retention outcomes linked to incentive structures.
• Present annual incentive strategy recommendations to leadership.

Recognition and Event Leadership

• Plan and execute annual and specialty-based preceptor recognition events.
• Oversee event logistics including venue coordination, catering, budget tracking, vendor management, speaker coordination, continuing education components and virtual participation options.
• Identify and coordinate keynote speakers and faculty presenters.
• Evaluate event outcomes and refine engagement programming.

Data, Reporting and Strategic Metrics

• Establish Key Performance Indicators related to preceptor recruitment growth, retention rates, incentive utilization, event participation, and specialty coverage gaps.
• Collaborate with the Director of Clinical Affairs Operations to develop dashboards.
• Provide quarterly strategic engagement reports.
• Use data to inform budget and resource allocation decisions.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Collaborate with VUSN Clinical Affairs leadership and staff as well as faculty and specialty directors.
• Serve as centralized engagement liaison for system-level preceptor relationships.
• Support coordinated institutional outreach strategy to avoid duplicative efforts.

Supervisory Relationships:

• This position has no direct supervisory responsibility currently.  This position reports administratively and functionally to the Assistant Dean for Clinical Affairs.

Education and Certifications:

• Bachelor's degree or relevant job experience required
• Master's degree preferred (Nursing, Healthcare Administration, Business or related field)

Experience and Skills:

• Five years of experience in healthcare options, program management, relationship management or academic clinical environments.
• Demonstrated experience managing budgets and coordinating with finance teams.
• Advanced Practice Nursing experience preferred.
• Experience in academic clinical placement environments preferred
• Experience managing event budgets or professional recognition programming preferred.
• Familiarity with Exxat or similar systems preferred.