Director, Family Support

The Director, Family Support is accountable for the successful operation of the Family Support (FS) department. This role is responsible for planning, developing, implementing, and evaluating strategies and performance indicators tailored to obtaining organ donor authorization and providing excellent support to families.  The Director ensures regulatory compliance and financial sustainability, leading a team of leaders who manage the day-to-day operations of the Family Support team.  

LifeCenter Northwest seeks a strategic leader with experience managing and guiding a team of managers.

Leadership Responsibilities 

• Participates in the annual strategic and operations planning process as the accountable leader for Family Support and ensures implementation of annual departmental goals and objectives.
• Responsible in partnership with the Operations Directors team for the development and implementation of the Organ Donation Services (ODS) strategic plan and ensures the initiatives are carried out to achieve optimal organ and tissue donation rates.
• Is responsible for operations of Family Support, including compliance with all current federal, state, and/or local laws and/or regulations, including those of the Center for Medicare Services (CMS), Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (UAGA), and the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations (AOPO) Standards.
• Develops and ensures consistent application and compliance with departmental policies and procedures all ODS Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Policies (POLs), and Work Instructions (WIs).
• Is responsible for strategy development and execution related to improving authorization rate and family support services.
• Ensures ongoing training, support, and performance evaluation programs for family services team members.
• Participates in a strong collaboration with the Director team to achieve organizational objectives for organ and tissue donation outcomes.
• Works in concert with Quality Department and others to reduce risk and ensure quality processes are in place.
• Responsible for continuous process improvement. Develops measures of success and utilizes data reports to improve processes and overall outcomes in relation to department performance.
• Responsible for ongoing departmental audit preparation.
• Develops, manages, and leads the departmental budget.  Routinely engages in processes to improve management of costs and potentially reduce costs and involves Family Support Managers as appropriate.
• Partners closely with the Communications and Community Relations team on projects impacting family support, hospital partnerships and performance metrics.
• Manages and leads assigned staff to plan, organize, and monitor the implementation of effective family support strategies that will improve donation outcomes.
• Ensures effective implementation of departmental strategic initiatives.
• Monitors departmental Key Performance Indicators and guides the development of plans to maintain or improve performance.
• Manages ongoing performance feedback and personal development plans.
• Identifies areas of opportunities for staff development or improvement and initiates action to address with a strong focus on staff retention.
• Provide effective coaching to engage, support, and motivate leaders and staff to realize their greatest potential in service of LifeCenter’s mission.

Supervision

This position directly supervises Family Support Managers and requires the supervision of employees in any part of LifeCenter Northwest’s multi-state donation service area.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• In this capacity, and with the influence this position carries across the organization, this individual must actively foster an organizational culture based on collaboration, support, and constructive communication, i.e., organization skills, ability to work effectively under deadline constraints, effective written and verbal communication skills, judgment and problem-solving skills, education and training skills.
• Excellent knowledge of writing and editing standards, including grammar, punctuation, spelling, and vocabulary.
• This individual must demonstrate operating knowledge of computers with a demonstrable, intermediate-level skill (at a minimum) with email, Word, Excel, and other comparable software programs.
• This position may require the ability to operate specialized equipment, such as audio-visual equipment.

Behavioral Requirements 

The employee in this position must uphold the core values of LifeCenter; these include:

• Integrity: We are trustworthy, reliable, respectful, and accountable.
• Collaboration: We work in partnership with others, seeking to understand and be understood, and finding common ground and shared goals to build upon together.
• Courage: We take personal responsibility and face challenges head-on.
• Service: Through professionalism and dedication, we honor our commitment to serve others and our obligation to be good stewards of the gift of life.

Physical Activities/Requirements 

• Travel is essential to this position; consequently, the employee must be prepared to travel by automobile and airplane.
• This position requires the manual dexterity sufficient to effectively operate phones, computers, and other office equipment.
• The individual must have the ability to speak clearly using the English language to accurately convey information and be able to hear at normal speaking levels both in person and over the phone.
• This position is required to follow hospital immunization, health screening, and background check requirements. Immunizations and tests will be provided by LifeCenter as required.
• The employee is required to move up to 25 pounds with or without assistance.

Anticipated Weekly Time Commitment

This is a full-time position requiring on-call availability and evening/weekend work.

Education, Experience, & Requirements

• A minimum of 5 years of experience in a management position is required.
• A minimum of 5 years relevant work experience in the health care industry is required.
• A Bachelor’s degree in biological or social sciences or related field.
• Master’s degree preferred (e.g., Social Work, Psychology, Divinity, Health Care Leadership, Communications).
• Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) experience is preferred.
• Experience in an acute care hospital setting is preferred.
• Leadership and supervisory skills preferred.
• Requires a valid driver’s license and access to an insured automobile or the ability to arrive and depart from work and work-related functions at expected times.
• Proof of COVID-19 vaccination, or applicable medical or religious exemption, will be required as a condition of employment upon offer.

LifeCenter Northwest offers medical, dental, vision, basic life insurance, accidental death & dismemberment insurance, long-term disability insurance, and travel accident insurance. Employees have the option of enrolling in the following supplemental or voluntary plans: life insurance, short-term disability, accident insurance, hospital indemnity, critical illness coverage, and pet insurance. Employees enrolled in our 403(b) program will receive an employer match of up to 7% after one year, employees are auto-enrolled at 3% and may change their enrollment at any time. LifeCenter encourages all employees to find balance and well-being and provides all employees access to an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and provides a quarterly Wellness Reimbursement. Employees enjoy paid holidays throughout the calendar year and earn 119 hours of PTO annually (to start) as well as Health Time Off hours that is earned 1 hour per 30 worked, paid living donor leave, two weeks paid jury duty leave after 6 months of service, and three weeks of paid parental leave after one year of service is complete. A comprehensive review of benefits can be found at https://lcnw.org/about/employment-opportunities/.

The pay range for this role is provided above. Where a candidate’s compensation falls within this range is based on several bona fide factors such as experience, tenure, and other specialized knowledge. LifeCenter Northwest is committed to providing its employees equitable and competitive compensation.

This position is eligible for additional compensation to the base pay rate, in the form of a Management Incentive Bonus.

LifeCenter Northwest is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer.