Senior Director, Lab Quality

Providence Health & Services

Portland, OR

JOB DETAILS
SKILLS
Analysis Skills, Best Practices, Business Administration, Business Development, Channel Strategies, Clinical Laboratory, Clinical Medicine, Communication Skills, Community and Social Services, Compensation and Benefits, Continuous Improvement, Cross-Functional, Diversity, Federal Laws and Regulations, Finance, Healthcare, Healthcare Administration, High Reliability, Hospital, Laboratory, Laboratory Management, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Testing, Leadership, Legal, Legal Support Skills, Maintain Compliance, Mentoring, OSHA, Operational Improvement, Operational Support, Pathology, Patient Care, Patient Safety, Performance Analysis, Performance Management, Problem Solving Skills, Procedure Development, Process Improvement, Quality Management, Regulations, Regulatory Compliance, Regulatory Requirements, Reliability Engineering, Reporting Dashboards, Safety/Work Safety, Social Work, Standards Development, State Laws and Regulations, Strategic Planning, Systems Maintenance, Time Management, Willing to Travel
LOCATION
Portland, OR
POSTED
9 days ago

Description

Calling All Esteemed Leaders! Are you a senior laboratory leader with deep expertise in quality, accreditatio, and regulatory compliance who thrives in complex, highly regulated healthcare environments? Do you excel at influencing system‑wide performance, aligning divisional laboratory teams, and ensuring safe, reliable, and high‑quality diagnostic services at scale? If so, this Senior Director, Clinical Laboratory opportunity may be an excellent fit.

The Role

The Senior Director, Clinical Laboratory provides strategic, programmatic, and analytic leadership in partnership with Divisional Executives, supporting divisional laboratory operations through quality oversight, regulatory accreditation programming, and contracting support.

In close collaboration with the System Laboratory Chief Administrative Officer, System Laboratory Team, and Divisional Laboratory Executive Leaders, this role contributes to divisional and regional laboratory operations in the areas of quality management, accreditation readiness, regulatory compliance, and Pathology and Physician Services contracting.

As a member of the Laboratory Executive Team, the Senior Director is accountable for advancing Providence Laboratories' quality policy and overarching goals to ensure that all laboratory departments deliver test results that are:

  • Accurate

  • Timely

  • Compliant with all laws and regulations

  • Affordable

  • Continuously improved

  • Consistent with Providence Health & Services core values

The role provides direct oversight of Divisional Laboratory Quality teams, offering mentorship, guidance, and governance for quality and accreditation activities. The Senior Director also serves as the most senior support for Pathology and Physician Services contracting, ensuring alignment and collaboration with Providence Physician Compensation and the Department of Legal Affairs. In addition, the role partners with System Compliance to proactively identify and resolve compliance issues.

What You'll Do

System Quality Strategy & Accreditation Leadership

  • Develop, implement, and maintain the System Laboratory Quality Plan, ensuring alignment across system, divisional, and ministry‑level quality activities.

  • Ensure laboratories across the system maintain continuous inspection readiness while fostering a just culture.

  • Establish structures, programs, and caregiver development initiatives that support highly reliable laboratory services.

  • Maintain conditions necessary to meet all regulatory requirements related to CLIA, OSHA, and CAP, and ensure compliance with the Laboratory Compliance Program.

  • In collaboration with the Laboratory CMO, develop system‑standardized quality programming that ensures regulatory compliance and high‑quality patient services.

Divisional & Governance Leadership

  • Provide direct oversight and mentorship to Divisional Laboratory Quality teams.

  • Partner with Divisional Laboratory Executive Leaders to ensure quality leaders allocate appropriate time and resources across accreditation cycles.

  • Provide indirect oversight of Providence laboratory leaders in acute‑care settings through the laboratory governance structure.

  • Serve as executive sponsor within laboratory governance, including leadership of high‑complexity testing technical workgroups.

  • Travel as needed to deploy system strategies, support regional needs, and meet aggressive implementation timelines.

  • Assume accountability for divisional quality leadership in support of executive laboratory governance objectives.

Performance Improvement & Analytics

  • Collaborate with senior system leadership on long‑range strategic planning initiatives to improve quality, integration, patient experience, and value.

  • In partnership with the System Lab Senior Director - Operations, Performance Improvement & Integration, develop system‑wide dashboards to drive laboratory performance improvement.

  • Define quality goals and performance plans in collaboration with the System Lab Chief Administrative Officer and Regional Executive Leadership.

  • Review and monitor laboratory outreach programs for compliance with applicable federal and state regulations.

Contracting, Compliance & Resource Coordination

  • Provide senior leadership oversight for Pathology and Physician Services contracting processes.

  • Ensure effective collaboration with Physician Compensation and Legal Affairs to support compliant contracting.

  • Partner with System Compliance to proactively identify and correct laboratory compliance risks.

  • Direct deployment of complex, cross‑functional resources, including REH, LIS/IT, HR, Finance, Clinical Institutes, and vendor partners.

  • Initiate new procedures supporting Business Development, Quality Management, Patient Safety, and Quadruple Aim initiatives.

Mission & Values Integration

  • Actively support and integrate Providence mission and core values into all leadership decisions and daily activities.

  • Promote patient safety, reliability, and continuous improvement as foundational elements of laboratory operations.

What You'll Bring

Education & Certification

  • Bachelor's Degree in Laboratory Science or a related scientific field, or equivalent education/experience.

  • Master's Degree in Health Administration or Business Administration (preferred) .

  • Advanced technical degree (preferred) .

  • Medical Laboratory Scientist (ASCP) or equivalent (required upon hire) .

  • Professional certifications strongly preferred, including:

  • Certified Quality Auditor (CQA)

  • Diplomate in Laboratory Management (DLM)

  • Qualification in Laboratory Safety (QLS)

Leadership & Experience

  • 10+ years of experience in a clinical laboratory environment.

  • 8+ years of leadership experience with strong emphasis on Quality Management.

  • 5+ years as a systems‑level thinker with long‑term planning experience.

  • Demonstrated success working in environments with strong regulatory oversight.

  • Multi‑facility laboratory leadership experience (preferred) .

  • Acute or hospital‑based clinical laboratory leadership experience (preferred) .

Professional & Leadership Competencies

  • Proven ability to develop and execute a system‑level laboratory quality strategy.

  • Strong change‑management capability and reputation as a visible change champion.

  • Demonstrated success aligning divisions, systems, and multidisciplinary teams.

  • Excellent relationship‑building skills with physicians, physician leaders, and executives.

  • Data‑driven decision‑maker comfortable making complex, high‑impact decisions.

  • Skilled at navigating political, regulatory, and economic complexity.

  • Results‑oriented, resilient leader able to manage competing priorities under pressure.

  • Strong communication, facilitation, and influence skills to drive consensus and action.

Why Join Us?

  • Lead laboratory quality at scale: Influence system‑wide quality, accreditation, and safety outcomes.

  • Drive reliability: Advance inspection readiness and high‑reliability laboratory operations.

  • Partner strategically: Collaborate with executive, clinical, and governance leaders.

  • Impact patient care: Ensure accurate, timely, and safe diagnostic testing.

  • Serve a mission that matters: Advance compassionate, high‑quality care aligned with Providence values.

Ready to Shape the Future of Healthcare?

If you are a results‑driven laboratory executive ready to elevate quality, accreditation, and regulatory excellence across a complex health system, we encourage you to explore this opportunity.

The full pay range is listed in accordance with applicable law. Final compensation will be determined based on qualifications, experience, organizational compensation alignment, and the approved hiring department budget for the position. This position may also be eligible for incentive compensation and benefits.

At Providence we believe in the importance of human connection and the impact of in-person collaboration towards team cohesion and caregiver engagement. Further, we want our leaders to live in or near the communities we serve. Therefore, leaders applying for this role will be required to work and live within a reasonable commuting distance to the service area they support and lead.

About Providence

At Providence, our strength lies in Our Promise of "Know me, care for me, ease my way." Working at our family of organizations means that regardless of your role, we'll walk alongside you in your career, supporting you so you can support others. We provide best-in-class benefits and we foster an inclusive workplace where diversity is valued, and everyone is essential, heard and respected. Together, our 120,000 caregivers (all employees) serve in over 50 hospitals, over 1,000 clinics and a full range of health and social services across Alaska, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas and Washington. As a comprehensive health care organization, we are serving more people, advancing best practices and continuing our more than 100-year tradition of serving the poor and vulnerable.

Posted are the minimum and the maximum wage rates on the wage range for this position. The successful candidate''s placement on the wage range for this position will be determined based upon relevant job experience and other applicable factors. These amounts are the base pay range; additional compensation may be available for this role, such as shift differentials, standby/on-call, overtime, premiums, extra shift incentives, or bonus opportunities.

Providence offers a comprehensive benefits package including a retirement 401(k) Savings Plan with employer matching, health care benefits (medical, dental, vision), life insurance, disability insurance, time off benefits (paid parental leave, vacations, holidays, health issues), voluntary benefits, well-being resources and much more. Learn more at providence.jobs/benefits.

Applicants in the Unincorporated County of Los Angeles: Qualified applications with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with the Unincorporated Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act.

Requsition ID: 428758 Company: Providence Jobs Job Category: Clinical Laboratory Job Function: Clinical Care Job Schedule: Full time Job Shift: Day Career Track: Leadership Department: 4007 SS CC PROG SRVC LAB Address: WA Renton 1801 Lind Ave SW Work Location: Providence Valley Office Park-Renton Workplace Type: Hybrid Pay Range: $92.79 - $148.35 The amounts listed are the base pay range; additional compensation may be available for this role, such as shift differentials, standby/on-call, overtime, premiums, extra shift incentives, or bonus opportunities.

About the Company

P

Providence Health & Services

Our Mission is more than just words.

About Us

As the third largest not-for-profit health system in the United States, we are committed to providing for the needs of our communities – especially for those who are poor and vulnerable – across Alaska, California, Montana, Oregon and Washington.

Our system includes more than 82,000 caregivers (all employees) serving in a diverse range of ministries from birth to end of life, including acute care, physician clinics, long-term and assisted living, palliative and hospice care, home health, supportive housing and education.

Where we serve

We operate 34 hospitals, 600 physician clinics, 22 long-term care facilities, 19 hospice and home health programs and 693 supportive housing units in 14 locations. Our health plan serves our caregivers and other large employer groups covering 513,000 members.

On any given day, we care for more than 1,200 people in our long-term care settings, more than 4,000 in our hospitals and more than 15,000 in our clinic settings. Daily, we serve more than 7,000 people in our many home health and palliative care programs and almost 800 in supportive housing. We touch more than five times as many lives in non-acute settings as we do in the traditional hospital setting.

A tradition of caring for everyone

When the Sisters arrived in the Pacific Northwest in 1856, they came to answer a call for help from a new pioneer community. What they found were many communities in need of service, and so with dedication to the Mission and collaboration with like-minded partners, their ministry grew to what is now a five-state health system.

Providence Health & Services continues a tradition of caring that the Sisters of Providence began more than 158 years ago. The cornerstone of our Mission is to provide compassionate care that is accessible for all – especially those who are poor and vulnerable.

We believe making a difference is one of our greatest rewards.

Caring is what we do.

Our benefits help us care for our employees and their families by supporting their wellness and providing tools that promote financial security and professional growth.*

Benefits:

  • Medical, dental and vision insurance coverage that start on your first day
  • Retirement program that helps you prepare for your future
  • Life and AD&D insurance
  • Health Reimbursement and Savings Accounts (HRA, HSA, FSA)

Well-being:

  • Health assessment and personal coaching to help you meet your goals
  • Incentives for participation in healthy activities
  • Caregiver Assistance Program (for employees) offering work/life services, resources and expertise when you need it
  • Weight management, tobacco cessation and diabetes programs

Work/Life Balance:

  • Volunteers in Partnership program to match you with volunteer opportunities that support our communities
  • Support for life events such as birth, adoption, marriage or other changes to your family
  • Ergonomics and injury prevention to promote safe work environments
  • Paid time off
  • Disability benefits

Career and Development:

  • Tuition reimbursement to support your education as you tackle your career goals

Awards and Recognition

Healthcare Excellence

We are deeply honored that Providence facilities have been distinguished with national awards and certifications. At Providence Health & Services, our dedication to excellence is evident in the service our people demonstrate every day. Here, you’ll find an environment built on the core values of respect, compassion, justice, excellence and stewardship. They are at the heart of everything we do...and others have noticed.

JD Power and Associates Distinguished Hospital Award for Service Excellence  '100 Best Companies to Work For' -Oregon Business magazine  Cardiac Surgery Excellence Award

'100 Best Companies for Working Mothers' Award  Magnet Hospital for Excellence in Nursing Services - American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC)  Five-Star Hospital Award

'100 Top Hospitals' - Solucient  Award of Excellence in Healthcare Quality - Qualis Health  Thomson Reuters '100 Top Hospitals' Award

'Washington's 100 Best Companies' - CEO magazine  'Distinguished Hospital Clinical Excellence 2017

COMPANY SIZE
500 to 999 employees
INDUSTRY
Healthcare Services
FOUNDED
1859
WEBSITE
http://www.providence.org/