Implementation Director (Consulting experience required)

Job Purpose:

Our Implementation Team is responsible for turning signed contracts with hospital partners into fully-operational, high-functioning special pharmacy programs. To do this, the Implementation Team works with each hospital partner to fully establish the program, which includes building relationships across the hospital (executives, clinical leadership, physicians, et al), evaluating existing workflows, developing and implementing new processes, working with one or more pharmacies, connecting the hospital site to the Shields central hub, hiring and training team members, communicating then supporting the roll-out of the program, and many other activities.

The Implementation Director is responsible for all efforts related to the company's implementation efforts with hospital partners. This person also helps to expand the breadth of the relationship while working with the hospital partner, so experience with account management and relationship-based selling are helpful. Given the close working relationships and the process/operational work that is required for a successful roll-out, there is significant travel to the hospital partner's location, typically 3-4 days per week.

 Job Duties:

• Serve as the “owner” and primary responsible party for ensuring the successful planning and execution across all aspects of complex specialty pharmacy implementation projects and other assignments
• Define approach to new partner site implementations, develop and drive associated project plans, and serve as primary leader for execution of assigned implementation work; approach the role as “doer” and problem solver as opposed to “reporter” and coordinator 
• Develop effective, collaborative working relationships with key stakeholders at partner health systems (typically director and VP-level health system leaders); ensure that partner relationships are both functional from the perspective of accomplishing day-to-day work and position Shields for long-term account management success
• Own the design and execution of site-based staffing plans by finalizing staffing analysis / plans; hiring, onboarding, and training new associates staffed to newly implemented sites; and serving as interim site manager / director on as needed basis as newly implemented sites go-live
• Manage the process of reviewing existing workflows related to specialty pharmacy program operations (with particular focus on in-clinic operations to support specialty pharmacy patients) and defining go-forward workflows, roles, and responsibilities across a range of operational resources; successfully navigate the health system pharmacy and clinic environments to implement, refine, and optimize newly designed workflows
• Collaborate with Shields IT team to implement IT and data analytics infrastructure for newly established health system partnerships; exhibit effective listening, relationship-building, and organizational skills to ensure that IT resources from Shields and partner sites are able to efficiently collaborate and trouble shoot challenges as they arise  
• Effectively partner with internal Shields teams to ensure that all departments / functional areas involved in an implementation meet deadlines and produce an exceptional quality work product; Shields approaches implementations through a team-based strategy that involves a range of internal stakeholders, but to be successful the Implementation Director must operate as the ultimate point of accountability and provide coaching, guidance, and support to ensure that all relevant internal Shields teams deliver work product that is on-time, appropriately scoped, and valued by the health system partner    
• Demonstrate a willingness and ability to think openly and critically about how to achieve success in new site implementations; Shields partners implement similar specialty pharmacy program models but no two sites are identical, which makes it crucial that the Implementation Director be able approach unique challenges with agility, open-mindedness, and critical thinking
• Autonomously develop high-quality, client-ready materials (e.g., PowerPoint presentations, Excel analysis) to help facilitate meetings with new partners
• Provide internal and external project status reporting, ensuring all stakeholders receive the required level of detail. Actively lead status meetings with the client and project team. Complete weekly reports for customer projects and internal updates

• Other duties as assigned

Experience/ Education:

• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent work experience
• Private Equity and consulting experience; preferably in a healthcare sector
• 5-7 years of experience managing complex projects in healthcare provider organizations; examples could include consulting work focused on health system clients, project / change management roles while employed by a health system, or implementation roles with companies that provide complex, integrated services on behalf of hospital clients
• Strong experience and knowledge related to navigating and executing project-based work in healthcare delivery environment (e.g., hospital, health system, ambulatory care)
• Basic subject matter knowledge spanning finance, operations, information technology, HR, training, and marketing
• Experience managing client relationship including building initial rapport with new clients, providing services / support to various levels of client stakeholder (i.e., from department managers to VP and C-suite level leaders), and helping to drive change management processes that require engagement and alignment with client teams  
• Ability to facilitate meetings in-person and over the phone with an ability to drive discussions towards decisions, actions, and accountability for both internal and external participants
• Ability to both lead and influence both directly and indirectly
• Strong relationship building skills
• Strong problem-solving skills and resourcefulness
• Ability to negotiate and reach compromise, especially in multi-party situations
• Outstanding interpersonal, written and oral communication skills and excellent time management skills
• Proven track record of success in managing multiple projects/multiple presentation deadlines simultaneously
• Detail-oriented, independent and able to adjust to changing priorities
• Capacity to quickly learn details of pharmacy operations from internal experts
• Excellent skills with Microsoft Project, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Willingness to routinely travel 4 days per week, typically to multiple cities each week, with a schedule that may vary from week to week