The Senior Nursing Director, Ambulatory Non‑Oncology provides enterprise nursing leadership for ambulatory clinical services across OHSU, ensuring consistent, high‑quality, safe, and patient‑centered nursing care for adult and pediatric non‑oncology populations. This role supports a large, complex ambulatory enterprise inclusive of primary care, specialty care, procedural services, and medically complex populations.

 

• Requires prioritization of multiple projects, activities, and assignments.
• Frequent interruptions in an environment of frequent change and fluctuations.
• May be exposed to excessive auditory and visual stimulation.
• For inpatient units: accepts 24/7 accountability and responsibility to include possibility of stepping into patient care or clerical role, as needed. For outpatient or special service-type units: accountability and responsibility for overall program during and after hours of operation and overall program coordination, including stepping into a clinical or clerical role as needed.
• May be required to attend out of town conferences according to hospital travel and reimbursement policies.
• Subject to computer work for several hours as needed
• Must be able to deal with competing needs and priorities of internal and external customers including ensuring safe conditions for patients, families and staff.
• Exercises the ability to implement a flexible work schedule to meet the unit needs and to create a work-life balance

As a Registered Nurse leader, the Senior Nursing Director advances professional nursing practice through OHSU’s Professional Practice Model and professional governance structures, aligning nursing clinical accountability with ambulatory operational performance in partnership with Ambulatory Operations and Medical Leadership. The role establishes and oversees ambulatory nursing standards, care delivery models, staffing frameworks, competency pathways, escalation structures, and workforce governance to ensure reliability, safety, and consistency across clinics.

 

The Senior Nursing Director provides direct leadership and accountability for designated ambulatory nursing and programmatic leaders, including the Oregon Poison Center Nurse Manager and the Oregon Poison Center Program Director, and holds director‑level responsibility for adult and pediatric non‑oncology ambulatory nursing practice across the enterprise. The role exercises both direct and dotted‑line oversight of leaders to ensure coherent execution of nursing standards, workforce strategies, and performance expectations while preserving essential operational partnerships.

 

The Senior Nursing Director partners with physician leaders, Ambulatory Operations executives, and Quality, Finance, and Strategy teams to translate clinical nursing expertise into sustainable operational performance, strengthening access, workforce engagement, productivity, regulatory readiness, and cost stewardship. As the ambulatory enterprise continues to mature, this role supports a future state in which selected dotted‑line relationships may transition to solid‑line reporting to simplify accountability and further strengthen nursing governance, consistent with the OHSU Health Strategic Plan.

 

Decisions and actions adhere to the American Nurses Association Code of Ethics; the ANA Nursing Administration: Scope and Standards of Practice; the Oregon State Board of Nursing Nurse Practice Act; and the Nurse Executive Competencies developed by the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL). The Senior Nursing Director models OHSU’s Culture of Safety by fostering a Just, Reporting, Learning, and Engaged/Informed culture.

 

Leadership, System Governance & Enterprise Strategy
•Provide enterprise nursing leadership to design, lead, and mature ambulatory nursing governance   structures, including planning and facilitating leadership forums, councils, and workgroups that enable   informed, timely, and accountable decision making across the system.
•Chair or co-chair system level ambulatory nursing councils, setting strategic direction, aligning priorities, reducing unwarranted variation, and ensuring accountability across clinics, service lines, and regions.
•Serve as a senior escalation and decision-making layer, reinforcing appropriate nursing governance, clarifying decision rights, and enabling timely issue resolution while optimizing escalation to the Ambulatory   CNO.
•Advance interdisciplinary alignment by partnering with medical, operations, ancillary, informatics, and   enterprise leaders to drive integrated, patient centered ambulatory care models and shared accountability   for outcomes.
•Lead practice driven clinical informatics strategy for ambulatory nursing, ensuring nursing workflows,   documentation standards, decision support, reporting, and technology optimization are clinically sound,   operationally aligned, and supportive of high reliability care delivery.
•Represent ambulatory nursing in enterprise and executive forums to identify, evaluate, escalate, and   resolve clinical, operational, workforce, digital, and strategic issues, translating system strategy into   actionable nursing priorities.
•Provide nursing leadership for ambulatory system design and transformation initiatives, including growth,   standardization, digital enablement, and care model evolution, ensuring nursing impact and readiness are   integrated into enterprise decisions.
Operational & Financial Performance

•Direct responsibility for Oregon Poison Center end-to-end budget cycle.
•Partner with Ambulatory Operations, Medical Leadership, and Finance to support ambulatory operational   performance by contributing nursing insight to key performance indicators, including access, throughput,   cancellations, session preservation, ambulatory utilization, labor productivity, and cost per visit.
•Collaborate with physician and operations leaders to align nursing staffing models with patient demand,   clinic templates, and clinical dependency requirements.
•Provide nursing leadership in fiscal planning through participation in operating and capital planning,   forecasting, and resource prioritization in partnership with Finance and Strategy.
•Lead nursing contributions to labor governance, including premium pay mitigation strategies, RN   productivity, timekeeping integrity, and effective deployment of float and flexible staffing resources.
Clinical Quality, Safety & Professional Practice

•Provide executive nursing leadership to ensure a safe, high quality ambulatory care environment that   advances patient  and family centered care, care reliability, and evidence based nursing practice across   clinics.
•Champion and operationalize OHSU’s Professional Practice Model, professional governance, shared decision   making, autonomy, accountability, and engagement across ambulatory nursing teams.
•Establish and oversee ambulatory nurse sensitive quality and safety indicators, partnering with quality,   operations, and medical leadership to monitor performance, identify variation, and advance improvement   strategies that strengthen outcomes and experience.
•Drive ambulatory nursing strategies for onboarding, competency validation, and clinical development,   ensuring a prepared, competent, and adaptable workforce aligned with evolving models of care.
•Lead enterprise ambulatory nursing regulatory preparedness, ensuring readiness for accreditation,   licensure, and regulatory requirements through standardized approaches, gap mitigation, and sustained compliance.
•Apply systems thinking to align workflows, processes, technology, and interdisciplinary teams in support of      consistent, high reliability ambulatory nursing care delivery.
People Leadership, Workforce Planning & Culture

•Recruit, onboard, and develop nursing leaders; establish clear expectations; conduct routine 1:1s, l         leadership meetings, and annual evaluations.
•Coach, mentor, recognize, and hold leaders accountable through timely feedback, corrective action, and          performance recognition.
•Optimize workforce planning through nursing led staffing methodologies, skill mix strategies, and capacity      planning to support access and sustainability.
•Promote an inclusive, transparent, and engaged culture that supports RN retention, professional identity,        and well being.

Professionalism, Education & Innovation

•Advance professional nursing practice through mentorship, leadership development, and lifelong learning.
•Support clinical innovation, practice improvement, and integration of evidence based approaches across     ambulatory settings.
•Engage in reflective leadership practice and model continuous performance improvement.

 

• Master’s degree in nursing 
• Minimum 10 years’ experience in nursing leadership, including directly supervising nurses.
• Demonstrated ability to plan, organize and execute moderately complex business plans
• Demonstrated financial analysis and fiscal management skills
• Effective communication, and the ability to successfully manage interpersonal relationships in high stress, fast paced environment
• Experience that demonstrates the ability to successfully work in partnership with physicians
• Experience that demonstrates the ability to meet stringent deadlines in a dynamic environment
• Must have proven skills in project management and matrix management
• Demonstrates skill in problem solving
• Exceptional interpersonal communication skills, both written and oral
• Able to build consensus; demonstrates collaborative management style.
• Mastery of software programs including Word and Excel
• Professional certification in nursing leadership (e.g. Nurse Executive/Administrator) within two years of hire
• Unencumbered Oregon RN license

 

• Doctorate degree in nursing leadership
• 5 years of management experience in Ambulatory Nursing
• Professional certification in nursing leadership-e.g. Nurse Executive/Administrator

This position also comes with great benefits! Some highlights include:

• Comprehensive health care plans that cover 100% for a full-time employee and 88% for dependents for .75 FTE and higher.
• $50K of term life insurance provided at no cost to the employee
• Two separate above market pension plans to choose from
• Paid time off- 208 hours per year (full-time), prorated for part-time
• Extended illness bank- 64 hours per year, prorated for part-time
• 9 paid holidays per year
• Three weeks of paid parental leave
• Adoption assistance program (up to 5k)
• Substantial Tri-met and C-Tran discounts
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Innovative Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

We are Oregon's only public academic health center.

In addition to caring for patients, we lead groundbreaking research. We also train the next generation of health care professionals. As Portland's largest employer, we give you opportunities to learn and advance in a system of hospitals and clinics across Oregon and Southwest Washington.

All are welcome.

OHSU welcomes people of all ages, ethnicities, genders, national origins, religions and sexual orientations. We are striving to build an anti-racist, multicultural institution and encourage people with diverse backgrounds to apply.

To request reasonable accommodation, contact askhr@ohsu.edu