Senior Director, Operations Innovation

Posting Date

04/30/2025

2000 16th Street, Denver, Colorado, 80202, United States of America

DaVita is a healthcare company committed to an unwavering pursuit of a healthier tomorrow for our patients, teammates, and physician partners. As a leader in kidney care, we have a unique opportunity to redefine care delivery for over 250,000 patients — while shaping the future of value-based care.

The Senior Director of Operations Innovation will drive enterprise-level initiatives that shape DaVita’s future operating model — with a significant focus on pharmaceutical strategy as a critical pillar of our Village strategy.

This leader will play a key role in ensuring patients benefit from timely access to safe, effective, and cost-conscious therapies by proactively planning for emerging drugs, guiding formulary evolution, and anticipating regulatory shifts. By aligning clinical innovation with operational excellence and economic stewardship, this role directly supports improved patient outcomes and long-term sustainability.

This role interfaces frequently with DaVita’s executive leadership, government affairs, pharmacy operations, clinical leadership, and external partners to drive sustainable transformation in care delivery and medication management.

Pharmaceutical Strategy Leadership

• Lead DaVita’s pharmaceutical strategy across dialysis modalities, including evaluation and integration of new drugs, biosimilars, and evolving therapeutic options.
• Serve as a trusted strategic advisor to executive leadership and partner closely with the C-suite to shape long-term transformation efforts.
• Partner with pharmacy operations, nephrology leaders, and payor strategy teams to develop an enterprise view on cost-benefit tradeoffs for new therapies.
• Proactively assess the impact of FDA approvals, pipeline therapies, and CMS regulations on clinical protocols, reimbursement models, and operational workflows.
• Oversee formulary strategy in coordination with clinical leadership and pharmacy operations, ensuring optimal alignment of safety, efficacy, cost, and patient access.
• Translate complex regulatory, scientific, and health economic inputs into clear, actionable recommendations for executive stakeholders.
• Drive internal education and cross-functional alignment to ensure key decision-makers are equipped to balance financial, clinical, and operational trade-offs.
• Collaborate with government affairs and policy teams to anticipate and respond to changes in reimbursement, coverage policy, or federal guidance.
• Support program leads in translating strategic pharmaceutical initiatives into scalable programs, ensuring alignment with clinic/field workflows, patient experience, and enterprise goals.
• Build, coach, and manage a high-performing team of professionals across innovation, operations, clinical improvement, and digital strategy.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and 12+ years of progressive leadership experience
• 5+ years in a strategy, transformation, or operations leadership role

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated ability to assess health economic tradeoffs, interpret clinical data, and translate regulatory guidance into strategic business decisions.
• Demonstrated success in leading enterprise-wide change, including multi-site and matrixed implementations
• Proven ability to influence and build consensus at the executive level
• Deep understanding of process improvement, clinical operations, and technology integration
• Experience leading large cross-functional teams, including direct and indirect reports
• MBA, MPH, MHA, or similar graduate degree
• Six Sigma, Lean, and/or PROSCI change management certification
• Experience leading or significantly contributing to pharmaceutical strategy, formulary management, or drug pipeline planning in a healthcare setting
• Experience participating in or supporting cross-functional P&T (Pharmacy & Therapeutics) committees or product evaluation boards
• Exposure to external partnerships (such as with pharmaceutical manufacturers, PBMs, or specialty pharmacies)

Here is what you can expect when you join our Village:
• A "community first, company second" culture based on Core Values that really matter.
• Clinical outcomes consistently ranked above the national average.
• Award-winning education and training across multiple career paths to help you reach your potential.
• Performance-based rewards based on stellar individual and team contributions.
• A comprehensive benefits package designed to enhance your health, your financial well-being and your future.
• Dedication, above all, to caring for patients suffering from chronic kidney failure across the nation. Enter text here
Join us as we pursue our vision "To Build the Greatest Healthcare Community the World has Ever Seen."
Why wait? Explore a career with DaVita today.
Go to http://careers.davita.com to learn more or apply.

What We’ll Provide:

More than just pay, our DaVita Rewards package connects teammates to what matters most. Teammates are eligible to begin receiving benefits on the first day of the month following or coinciding with one month of continuous employment. Below are some of our benefit offerings.

• Comprehensive benefits: Medical, dental, vision, 401(k) match, paid time off, PTO cash out
• Support for you and your family: Family resources, EAP counseling sessions, access Headspace®, backup child and elder care, maternity/paternity leave and more

• Professional development programs: DaVita offers a variety of programs to help strong performers grow within their career and also offers on-demand virtual leadership and development courses through DaVita’s online training platform StarLearning.

At DaVita, we strive to be a community first and a company second.  We want all teammates to experience DaVita as "a place where I belong."  Our goal is to embed belonging into everything we do in our Village, so that it becomes part of who we are. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and comply with state and federal affirmative action requirements. Individuals are recruited, hired, assigned and promoted without regard to race, national origin, religion, age, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, protected veteran status, or any other protected characteristic.

This position will be open for a minimum of three days.

Salary/ Wage Range

$133,300.00 - $195,700.00 / year

Compensation for the role will depend on a number of factors, including a candidate’s qualifications, skills, competencies and experience. DaVita offers a competitive total rewards package, which includes a 401k match, healthcare coverage and a broad range of other benefits. Learn more at https://careers.davita.com/benefits  

Colorado Residents: Please do not respond to any questions in this initial application that may seek age-identifying information such as age, date of birth, or dates of school attendance or graduation. You may also redact this information from any materials you submit during the application process.  You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information.