Job Description

The Director of Operations serves as the day-to-day operational leader for the University of Tennessee Health Sciences College of Dentistry satellite dental school clinic in Kingsport, Tennessee. This is a full-time non-tenure Open Rank Professor. The clinical facilities support D4 predoctoral student rotations and an Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) program. This role ensures safe, efficient, and student-centered academic program and clinical operations while advancing an outstanding patient experience. The Director of Operations also leads operational planning for an upcoming buildout of additional clinic and student space, partnering closely with college academic, clinical, and administrative stakeholders. This position reports directly to the Executive Associate Dean in the College of Dentistry.

Responsibilities

• Oversee daily clinic readiness.
• Ensure smooth coordination among faculty, residents, students, assistants, sterilization/dispensing, and administrative teams.
• Coordinate clinic coverage plans and operational needs with program and clinic leadership.
• Directly supervise program faculty and senior clinical staff.
• Assist in teaching and supervising dental hygiene students, predoctoral students, and residents.
• Support hiring, onboarding, training, and performance management in coordination with HR.
• Ensure adherence to infection prevention, OSHA, HIPAA, radiation safety, and institutional policies.
• Coordinate incident reporting, patient concerns/grievances, and corrective action planning.
• Maintain audit-ready operational documentation, logs, and required training records.
• Implement cost controls while protecting educational quality and patient care standards.
• Develop and manage clinic operating budget areas (supplies, service contracts, staffing, minor equipment).
• Monitor operational KPIs (e.g., chair utilization, visit volume, no show rates, cycle time, patient satisfaction).
• Serve as the operational representative for design, construction, and space planning discussions.
• Develop transition plans to maintain clinic operations during construction (phasing, temporary workflows, noise/dust mitigation).
• Liaise with main campus and satellite stakeholders (clinic leadership, business office, facilities, IT, compliance, academic programs).
• Build feedback loops with faculty, residents, students, and staff to identify bottlenecks and improve performance.
• Prepare operational updates, dashboards, and briefing materials for leadership meetings.
• Directly supervise program faculty and senior clinical staff.

Qualifications

EDUCATION: DDS, DMD, or equivalent from an accredited institution.

EXPERIENCE: Demonstrated operations leadership experience in a clinical, healthcare, or dental setting. Experience supervising staff. Working knowledge of clinical compliance expectations (infection control, HIPAA, OSHA, safety practices). Strong project coordination skills; ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment. Excellent communication and relationship-building skills across clinical, academic, and administrative teams.

LICENSES: Dental license in Tennessee or eligibility for licensure.

DEPARTMENTAL PREFERENCES:

• Experience in a teaching clinic or academic health environment supporting learners (students/residents).
• Experience with dental clinic systems/workflows (sterilization, instrument flow, chair utilization, scheduling templates).
• Experience supporting or leading a clinic expansion, renovation, or buildout project.

This role collaborates closely with college clinic leadership, faculty/resident leadership, predoctoral rotation leadership, front office and clinical staff teams, and central partners (facilities, IT, finance, HR, compliance).

For benefits information, please visit

https://www.uthsc.edu/hr/benefits/documents/benefits-preview-packet.pdf