Reporting to the Manager of Dosimetry and the Director of Clinical Physics Operations, the Lead Dosimetrist assists with the oversight of the dosimetry operations of the Department of Radiation Oncology. This leadership role is responsible for leading, performing, and delegating patient-specific medical dosimetry tasks. The Lead Dosimetrist provides organizational (i.e. scheduling of treatment planning) and technical (e.g. how to best use software) guidance to staff dosimetrists, ensures team adherence to departmental policies, and helps prepare the team for integration of future innovations such as artificial intelligence, remote dosimetry, and other technologies. Working closely with Physicists, the Lead Dosimetrist is instrumental in driving clinical excellence, safety, efficiency, and innovation.
Job Description:
Primary Duties And Responsibilities
- Patient Care: Perform and delegate patient-specific dosimetry tasks, ensuring safe and accurate radiation treatments. Work alongside radiation oncologists and physicists to support simulation, image processing, and treatment planning.. Participate and/or leads departmental chart reviews (patient care rounds).
- Treatment Planning: Responsible for most treatment sites and techniques. Collect and analyze patient data and design optimal approaches for treatments. Responsible for basic dose calculation and 3D, IMRT, SBRT, SRS/SRT. Support and evaluate the implementation of advanced treatment planning procedures such as SBRT/SRS and Adaptive RT. Interact with radiation oncologists to define target volumes and critical structures. Lead the implementation of new techniques and treatment modalities for radiation therapy.
- Leadership and Management: Serve as a key member of the dosimetry team. Collaborate on process improvements and strategic planning. Guide the dosimetrist group in integrating new technologies, including AI-assisted planning and remote dosimetry workflows. Participate in departmental quality improvement initiatives and committees.
- Teaching, Training, and Research: Provide or delegate training and educational support for dosimetry students, physician residents, physics residents, and radiotherapy students. Keep the dosimetry team informed of departmental policies, procedures, and innovations. Help train new staff. Assist in national accreditation process for the department. When appropriate, participate in research and development projects in collaboration with faculty members. Participate in clinical research and data submissions for clinical trials and national protocols.
Knowledge, Skills And Abilities
- Demonstrated broad understanding of clinical dosimetry including most treatment sites and techniques.
- Positive attitude, strong work ethic, and ability to work collaboratively in multidisciplinary team.
- Strong problem-solving skills and desire to drive safety, efficiency, and quality improvements.
- Advanced knowledge of treatment planning principles, dose calculation algorithms, plan optimization, beam geometry, and machine/MLC characteristics across photon and electron energies.
- Proficiency with enterprise TPS and OIS platforms (e.g., Eclipse/ARIA, RayStation, MOSAIQ) including contouring, image fusion/registration, and plan evaluation tools; familiarity with Epic integration and oncology workflow.
- Expertise in SBRT/SRS planning, immobilization considerations, PTV/OAR trade-offs, heterogeneity corrections, and end-to-end plan QA in conjunction with Physics.
- Knowledge of clinical protocols, dose constraints, and evidence-based guidelines (e.g., QUANTEC/NTO concepts, RTOG/NRG protocols) and ability to apply them to individualized plans.
- Working knowledge of AAPM task group recommendations (e.g., TG-101, TG-142 interface awareness, TG-263 nomenclature, TG-275 plan check considerations) and ASTRO/ACR practice parameters relevant to dosimetry practice.
- Competence in DICOM-RT standards, data integrity, and safe data transfer between imaging, planning, and delivery systems.
- Ability to design and standardize planning templates, checklists, and peer-review processes to improve safety, reduce variability, and increase throughput.
- Scripting and automation skills (e.g., ESAPI, Python, RayStation scripting) to streamline routine planning tasks and checks preferred.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making abilities; able to balance clinical priorities, quality constraints, and operational timelines in a fast-paced environment.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills; able to collaborate effectively with physicians, physicists, therapists, nurses, and IT to achieve consensus and resolve issues.
- Strong organizational and time management skills with attention to detail and documentation accuracy; adept at managing multiple cases and competing deadlines.
- Commitment to patient safety, quality, and confidentiality; maintains professionalism and resilience under pressure.
- Programming skills required, particularly for developing scripts and automation tools to improve treatment planning workflows.
Minimum Job Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree required.
- Completion of a Medical Dosimetry Program (post-BSc degree) required.
- Master’s degree in Dosimetry, Physics, Computing or Math preferred.
- 4 years of clinical experience in medical dosimetry required.
- Demonstrated broad competence leadership and management experience in a clinical dosimetry setting required.
License/Certification/Registration Required
- Current board certification in Medical Dosimetry (CMD) required.
Patient Contact
- Yes, may have occasional contact with radiation therapy patients, as requested by therapists and physicians.
Pay Range:
$135,000.00 USD - $180,000.00 USD
The pay range listed for this position is the annual base salary range the organization reasonably and in good faith expects to pay for this position at this time. Actual compensation is determined based on several factors, that may include seniority, education, training, relevant experience, relevant certifications, geographyof work location, job responsibilities, or other applicable factors permissible by law.
As a health care organization, we have a responsibility to do everything in our power to care for and protect our patients, our colleagues and our communities. Beth Israel Lahey Health requires that all staff be vaccinated against influenza (flu) as a condition of employment.
