Make a difference in people’s lives every day. When you join UCLA Health, you’ll be working at an institution that provides leading-edge care to the people of L.A. and throughout the world. We provide our team members with the environment and support to do amazing work, because each and every one of them plays a vital role in our commitment to care.
UCLA Health runs and operates over 280 outpatient clinics located in Southern California with over 3,000,000 outpatient encounters annually. The Patient Access Organization (PAO) serves as the centralized access team for UCLA Health’s ambulatory enterprise, ensuring timely, convenient, and equitable access to care for patients and the communities we serve. Our teams oversee high-volume centralized scheduling and call center operations, new patient referral intake and navigation, enterprise template and capacity management, workforce training and quality oversight, and scheduling pathways and technology optimization, including decision tree development and digital innovations. We operate at the intersection of operations, technology, and clinical partnership to align supply and demand, streamline workflows, and continuously improve how patients enter and engage with UCLA Health.
The Director, Access Strategy and Operations, serves as a strategic and operational partner to the Senior Director of Patient Access, providing enterprise-level support to advance performance, accountability, and transformation across the Patient Access Organization. This role strengthens initiative governance, execution tracking, and leadership alignment across centralized scheduling, referral intake, capacity management, and access optimization functions. The Director, Access Strategy and Operations, is responsible for driving execution of complex initiatives, ensuring alignment across access functions, auditing quality and outcomes, and enabling leaders to deliver consistent, high-quality results at scale. This role establishes structured operating cadence, audits work products for quality and readiness, coordinates cross-functional initiatives, and ensures timely delivery of strategic priorities across a complex, matrixed health system environment. Operating with significant autonomy and influence, this individual acts as an integrator, connecting strategy to execution, surfacing risks and gaps, and ensuring priorities move forward on time and with rigor. The role partners closely with the Patient Access Organization Directors, Administrators, Supervisors, and Access Performance Coaches, as well as cross-disciplinary stakeholders across the health system, to improve the end-to-end patient access journey.
$105,700- $234,500
- Bachelor’s Degree in Healthcare Administration, Business, Organizational Development, Education, or related field or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience required. Master’s degree preferred or a minimum of 8-12+ years of progressive leadership experience in healthcare operations, access, ambulatory services, or large-scale service organizations.
- 8+ years (required) – Progressive healthcare operations leadership experience. Demonstrated advancement in responsibility within ambulatory operations, patient access, service line operations, or large-scale service organizations.
- 5+ years (required) – Experience leading complex, cross-functional initiatives. Direct experience managing enterprise-level projects involving clinical stakeholders, IT, finance, patient experience, or revenue cycle teams.
- 5+ years (required) – Experience operating in a matrixed health system environment. Proven ability to influence without direct authority across departments and leadership levels.
- 3+ years (required) – Experience supporting or advising senior executive leadership. Experience preparing executive-level materials, driving strategic initiatives, and managing high-visibility priorities.
- 3+ years (preferred) – Experience with patient access operations (centralized scheduling, referral intake, capacity management, call center operations, or workflow optimization)
- 3+ years (preferred) – Experience in performance management, quality auditing, or operational governance. Demonstrated ability to establish accountability structures, review work products for rigor, and standardize operational processes.
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“The environment is nurturing and fosters growth. When I come to work, I know what I'm doing matters.”
VINCENT, Sr. CLS Specialist, Toxicology
MONICA
I've been blessed to touch so many lives through my serving. It's a privilege to uplift other employees with words of encouragement and a smile.
SOZIT
The first thing i noticed when i joined the team was how everyone is very welcoming and friendly with supportive management. I did not feel like an outsider.
EDGAR
Once I joined, I knew UCLA Health was THE place to be due to the growth potential and training offered
RENE
If you want to grow professionally, this is the right place for you.
ERA
We are family here. We support each other. We collect together.
ELIZABETH
It’s so diverse and inclusive here. There’s always the opportunity to share your thoughts. It's a place where you feel you belong.
JERRY
Your career path at UCLA Health will enable you to follow a myriad of avenues and turns. It opens up a wide variety of opportunities.
ORLANDO
There’s a togetherness and higher level of commitment to teamwork at UCLA Health. We are several groups and teams that work together with a common goal which is to improve our patients experience.
KATHERINE
UCLA Health is a supportive, collaborative, and purposeful environment where leadership is invested in your growth and creating real opportunities. And knowing that what we do matters gives a real sense of purpose.
DR. ISLA GARRAWAY
UCLA has incredible resources and a team science approach. The ability to work with collaborative teams and access the amazing resources around campus is the best part about being at UCLA.
RADU
UCLA is very diverse in its personnel as well as its many research fields studied
JENNA
UCLA Health provides so many opportunities to exchange ideas, share moments and grow. I have learned a lot about team management and relationship building.
SHARON
I was looking for a job to further my career and continue to improve and learn as a therapist.
TARO
I have been blessed to be surrounded by supportive colleagues who aspire me to be the best version of myself.
Awards & recognition
