Area Safety & Quality Officer - Healthcare

Job Type: Permanent / Direct HireSalary: $216,700 – $255,000 per yearLevel: Director / Senior DirectorTravel: Approximately 20%✅About the RoleWe are seeking an experienced Area Safety & Quality Officer to provide strategic leadership and oversight for clinical quality, patient safety, risk management, regulatory compliance, and healthcare improvement programs across a small- to medium-sized service area.The successful candidate will serve as a senior subject matter expert, partnering with executive leadership, medical staff, practitioners, operational teams, regulators, and external organizations to improve clinical outcomes, reduce healthcare risks, and maintain compliance with applicable healthcare standards and regulations.✅Key Responsibilities* Provide strategic oversight of quality, safety, and risk management programs across assigned healthcare service areas.* Lead the development and implementation of clinical quality improvement programs and initiatives.* Monitor quality, safety, operational, and performance metrics and lead improvement activities.* Serve as a subject matter expert on clinical quality management, healthcare regulations, and compliance requirements.* Guide the use of evidence-based guidelines and criteria to improve clinical outcomes and patient care.* Direct accreditation, licensing, regulatory, and survey-readiness activities.* Partner with medical staff on peer review, practitioner performance review, and clinical oversight processes.* Develop systems to reduce medical errors, care delivery risks, patient safety incidents, and adverse outcomes.* Lead patient safety programs involving significant events, safety hazards, accidents, incidents, threats, and other serious events.* Oversee quality-of-care complaints, investigations, reviews, grievances, and sensitive patient case matters.* Analyze trends in complaints, claims, appeals, incidents, and quality reviews to identify areas requiring corrective action.* Develop and oversee corrective action plans based on clinical audits, utilization reviews, patient satisfaction surveys, claims, and other quality assessments.* Apply root cause analysis, failure mode and effects analysis, and other risk assessment methods to significant events and near misses.* Oversee infection prevention and control programs, including outbreak investigation, surveillance, prevention, and containment.* Serve as a senior point of contact during significant infection outbreaks and advise leadership on appropriate response strategies.* Provide guidance on infection control considerations related to facility design, renovation, and construction.* Develop and maintain patient safety and quality improvement standards, policies, procedures, and monitoring systems.* Use healthcare databases, claims information, patient discharge data, vital statistics, and other sources to identify trends and support data-driven decisions.* Present quality, safety, infection control, risk, and compliance findings to executive leadership and other stakeholders.* Lead regulatory audits and surveys and serve as a primary organizational contact during onsite evaluations.* Maintain continuous survey readiness and ensure required documentation and reporting are available.* Collaborate with internal departments, practitioners, technology teams, external vendors, regulatory organizations, and other stakeholders.* Develop and deliver training programs related to quality, safety, compliance, regulations, and process improvement.* Identify barriers to improvement and recommend changes to policies, systems, technology, and processes.* Support strategic planning related to population health, healthcare access, patient outcomes, and cost-effective care.* Build and maintain collaborative relationships across clinical and administrative functions.* Lead and develop teams while supporting talent development, performance management, coaching, and succession planning.* Manage operational or project budgets and allocate resources in alignment with organizational objectives.✅Required Qualifications* Master's degree in Business, Healthcare, Public Administration, or a directly related field.* 10+ years of experience in clinical and management roles within a health plan, multifaceted healthcare system, or multi-provider healthcare environment.* 7+ years of healthcare experience when applying the Master's degree pathway.* 8+ years of experience in a clinical setting, healthcare administration, or related field.* 9+ years of leadership experience, with or without direct reports.* 4+ years of experience managing operational or project budgets.* 6+ years of experience working with databases and spreadsheets.* 4+ years of experience delivering training programs.* Strong knowledge of clinical quality improvement, patient safety, healthcare risk management, and regulatory compliance.* Experience with healthcare quality metrics, audits, investigations, and performance improvement.* Strong understanding of healthcare regulatory and accreditation requirements.* Ability to analyze complex healthcare data and translate findings into actionable recommendations.* Strong executive communication, presentation, and stakeholder-management skills.* Strong leadership, project management, analytical, and problem-solving abilities.* Ability to manage multiple priorities in a complex healthcare environment.* High level of professional judgment and confidentiality.* Certification* A Professional Healthcare Quality Certificate must be obtained within 24 months of hire.✅What We're Looking ForThe ideal candidate will bring senior-level healthcare leadership experience with a strong background in clinical quality, patient safety, risk management, regulatory compliance, healthcare operations, and quality improvement.Candidates should be comfortable working with executive leadership and medical staff, analyzing healthcare data, leading regulatory activities, managing complex improvement programs, and influencing teams across multiple clinical and administrative functions.📍 TravelThis position requires approximately 20% travel within the assigned service area and related locations.