Associate Vice President, Risk Prevention and Management

Froedtert ThedaCare Health

Location: Menomonee Falls, WI or Neenah, WI (Hybrid)

Bring Your Leadership in Risk Prevention, Patient Safety, and Organizational Resilience to One of Wisconsin's Largest Integrated Health Systems

At Froedtert ThedaCare Health, we are seeking an accomplished healthcare leader to serve as our Associate Vice President, Risk Prevention and Management. This is a unique opportunity to combine strategic leadership, operational influence, and mission-driven impact within one of the Midwest's leading nonprofit integrated health systems. This role will help shape the enterprise approach to risk prevention, claims management, patient safety collaboration, and organizational learning across a complex, multi-entity healthcare organization serving communities throughout Wisconsin.

Reporting to the Senior Vice President, Legal Affairs, the AVP, Risk Prevention and Management leads the enterprise Risk Prevention and Management function and serves as a key member of the legal leadership team. The AVP provides strategic oversight of risk prevention, event response, claims administration, litigation support, insurance programs, and organizational risk integration and mitigation efforts while partnering closely with executive leaders, operational teams, clinical leaders, and key stakeholders across the health system.

As a trusted advisor to senior leadership, this role offers significant visibility and influence in system decision-making, patient safety initiatives, operational excellence, and organizational transformation. The AVP plays an integral role in strengthening a culture of safety, accountability, transparency, and continuous learning while supporting the organization's High Reliability Organization (HRO) journey.

The AVP is responsible for leading a multidisciplinary team of risk management, claims, insurance, and risk prevention professionals while driving excellence in risk management practices, organizational learning, and performance improvement. This leader will help strengthen a system-wide function supporting multiple hospitals, physician organizations, ambulatory sites, and affiliated entities across Wisconsin.

What You'll Do

As Associate Vice President, Risk Prevention and Management, you will:

• Lead the enterprise Risk Prevention and Management program across the health system, ensuring consistent integration, alignment, and standardization of risk prevention and management practices across hospitals, clinics, physician organizations, and business entities.
• Establish system-wide risk prevention strategies, priorities, and performance expectations that support organizational objectives, strengthen a culture of safety, and advance the system's High Reliability Organization (HRO) journey.
• Identify emerging legal, regulatory, operational, clinical, financial, and reputational risks and develop proactive mitigation strategies that reduce exposure and strengthen organizational resilience.
• Provide executive leadership support and guidance regarding serious safety events, disclosure practices, event reviews, root cause analyses, and risk mitigation strategies that promote learning, transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Oversee the investigation, evaluation, management, and resolution of professional liability, general liability, workers' compensation, and other claims while ensuring consistent processes and organizational learning.
• Develop and monitor risk management metrics, dashboards, benchmarking, performance indicators, and reporting frameworks that support informed decision-making and continuous improvement.
• Provide executive oversight for professional liability, general liability, captive insurance, excess insurance, and other enterprise insurance programs.
• Partner with internal and external legal counsel regarding claims, litigation, alternative dispute resolution, and complex risk-related matters.
• Oversee claims management processes, reserve strategies, vendor relationships, outside experts, and third-party service providers.
• Analyze claim and loss trends to identify opportunities for system-wide learning, risk reduction, process improvement, and cost containment.
• Lead the development and implementation of standardized risk management policies, procedures, workflows, and best practices across regions and entities.
• Partner with Quality, Patient Safety, Compliance, Human Resources, Medical Staff Leadership, and Operations leaders to improve organizational outcomes and strengthen enterprise risk management capabilities.
• Lead enterprise education and training programs focused on risk awareness, patient safety, disclosure practices, event response, and loss prevention.
• Foster a collaborative, service-oriented culture focused on accountability, innovation, organizational learning, and high performance.

What Makes This Role Unique

This position offers the opportunity to:

• Influence patient safety, risk prevention, and organizational resilience strategies across one of the state's largest nonprofit integrated healthcare systems.
• Lead an advanced system function spanning risk prevention, claims management, litigation support, insurance oversight, patient safety collaboration, and organizational learning.
• Shape the future of the organization's High Reliability Organization journey while driving meaningful improvements in safety, quality, and performance.
• Partner directly with executive leadership, physicians, legal counsel, operational leaders, and clinical teams on issues critical to the organization's long-term success.
• Develop and mentor a highly skilled team of risk management, claims, insurance, and prevention professionals.
• Drive meaningful organization wide change that positively impacts patients, providers, team members, and communities throughout Wisconsin.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree required.
• Minimum eight (8) to ten (10) years of progressively responsible experience in healthcare risk management, claims management, patient safety, legal affairs, insurance administration, healthcare operations, or a related field.
• Minimum five (5) years of leadership experience leading teams, programs, or functions within a complex healthcare environment.
• Demonstrated knowledge of professional liability claims management, healthcare operations, patient safety principles, insurance programs, and healthcare regulatory requirements.
• Experience leading enterprise-wide initiatives involving multidisciplinary stakeholders and complex organizational structures.
• Demonstrated success mentoring and developing professionals while leading organizational change and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Strong business acumen with the ability to balance patient safety, legal risk, operational priorities, financial stewardship, and organizational objectives.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, relationship-building, influencing, and executive leadership skills.

Candidates will be required to reside and work within Froedtert ThedaCare Health's Wisconsin expansive service area.

Preferred

• Juris Doctor (JD) or Master's degree in Healthcare Administration (MHA), Nursing, Risk Management, Business Administration, Public Health, or a related field.
• Experience supporting integrated health systems, healthcare organizations, academic medical centers, or similarly complex organizations.
• Experience overseeing professional liability, general liability, captive insurance, excess insurance, and risk financing programs.
• Knowledge of High Reliability Organization (HRO) principles, patient safety methodologies, event review processes, and performance improvement frameworks.
• Experience partnering with legal counsel, insurance carriers, third-party administrators, and external service providers on claims and litigation matters.
• Proven ability to lead change, improve organizational performance, and develop high-performing teams.
• Demonstrated success implementing organization wide risk management, process improvement, governance, technology, and service delivery innovations.