What does a director of clinical operations do?
A director of clinical operations is responsible for monitoring the overall operations of a clinic facility, ensuring the efficiency of staff performance in providing the best quality care services for the patients. Directors of clinical operations enforce safety guidelines and security procedures during operations for everyone's strict compliance to prevent hazards and unforeseen circumstances within the premises. They also assist in clinical trials, as well as reviewing medical procedures, recommending strategic plans to improve medical approaches. A director of clinical operations handles the clinic budget, allocates adequate resources for every department's needs, and tracks medical inventory reports.
Director of clinical operations responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real director of clinical operations resumes:
- Create, QA, and manage universal test codes to all commercial, regional and hospital laboratory dictionaries.
- Manage all clinical aspects of billing and collections, including appeals of denials by Medicare, Medicaid, and insurance companies.
- Achieve employee performance and satisfaction providing supervision supporting excellence in documentation, a collaborative approach with providers and compassion for members.
- Work with the development teams and CRO partners to drive and accelerate the execution of clinical studies for assign assets.
- Conduct in depth account analysis on ROI, efficiency, and profitability.
- Ensure all centers are Medicare compliant and follow Medicare rules for IDTF's centers.
- Recognize for implementing new care management model to reduce utilization and preserve Medicare and health plan days.
- Re-Work operating procedures for improve CRO performance, resulting in fast study start up & more efficient study conduct.
- Process flow development for medical oncology department.
- Perform ongoing FDA and advisory committee meeting interactions for clinical strategy development.
- Initiate strategic communication logistics for operational consistency and collaborative marketing outreach between multiple sites.
- Unblemish record from several FDA audits representing exceptional levels of quality, subject safety and data integrity.
- oversee and coordinate daily operations of skil therapy services for multiple outpatient and sub-acute rehabilitation facilities in Ohio.
- Initiate end-of-month processing/balancing, electronic/paper billing, electronic statements, and reactivation of accounts; prepare payroll entry.
- Budget responsibility of 45MM for operations and projects; cultivate new logistics strategy, culture development and overall profitability.
Director of clinical operations skills and personality traits
We calculated that 13% of Directors Of Clinical Operations are proficient in Clinical Operations, Patients, and Healthcare. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Detail oriented, and Technical skills.
We break down the percentage of Directors Of Clinical Operations that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Clinical Operations, 13%
Perform recurring gap analysis within clinical operations and take specific measures to improve efficiency and GCP compliance in a heavily-regulated industry.
- Patients, 10%
Developed new clinical respiratory services policy and procedures which allowed for implementation of care for high risk respiratory patients at home.
- Healthcare, 7%
Reviewed, developed and implemented polices and protocols in alignment with current healthcare industry trends and corporate requirements.
- Patient Care, 5%
Directed the management team, clinical staff in providing quality patient care, operational procedures, personnel development and customer satisfaction.
- GCP, 4%
Prepared global investigator training meeting presentations for all studies (GCP, SAE, and Good Documentation Practices).
- Project Management, 4%
Collaborated with matrix functional managers to facilitate successful clinical project management operations with support from medical directors and chief medical officer.
"clinical operations," "patients," and "healthcare" are among the most common skills that directors of clinical operations use at work. You can find even more director of clinical operations responsibilities below, including:
Analytical skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a director of clinical operations to have is analytical skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "medical and health services managers review and evaluate healthcare metrics for ways to improve efficiency and meet goals." Directors of clinical operations often use analytical skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "unblemished record from several fda audits representing exceptional levels of quality, subject safety and data integrity. "
Detail oriented. Another essential skill to perform director of clinical operations duties is detail oriented. Directors of clinical operations responsibilities require that "medical and health services managers must pay attention to detail." Directors of clinical operations also use detail oriented in their role according to a real resume snippet: "prepared for and led the clinical interactions with the fda during its onsite bla-oriented audit resulting in no fda 483. "
Technical skills. This is an important skill for directors of clinical operations to perform their duties. For an example of how director of clinical operations responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "medical and health services managers must stay up to date with advances in healthcare technology, such as the coding and electronic health record (ehr) systems their facility adopts." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a director of clinical operations: "provided technical mentoring and practical guidance to clinical operations and project management staff. ".
Communication skills. Another crucial skill for a director of clinical operations to carry out their responsibilities is "communication skills." A big part of what directors of clinical operations relies on this skill, since "medical and health services managers must convey information to their staff, other healthcare workers, and, sometimes, patients and insurance agents." How this skill relates to director of clinical operations duties can be seen in an example from a director of clinical operations resume snippet: "facilitated transparent communication with, and management of, pharma / cro / vendor alliances. "
Leadership skills. Another skill commonly found on director of clinical operations job descriptions is "leadership skills." It can come up quite often in director of clinical operations duties, since "medical and health services managers hire, train, and direct staff." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day director of clinical operations responsibilities: "monitor key benchmarks with clinical leadership partners to ensure efficient, effective clinical operations, while improving profit margin. "
The three companies that hire the most director of clinical operationss are:
- AccentCare10 directors of clinical operations jobs
- Veeva Systems9 directors of clinical operations jobs
- Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc.8 directors of clinical operations jobs
Choose from 10+ customizable director of clinical operations resume templates
Build a professional director of clinical operations resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your director of clinical operations resume.
Compare different directors of clinical operations
Director of clinical operations vs. Processing manager
A processing manager or business process manager is an executive who assesses and improves business processes. Processing managers collaboratively work across different departments of the enterprise. They assess, design, execute, monitor, and control business processes. It is their responsibility to make sure that the outcomes of the business process go along with the strategic goals of the company. They are expected to have leadership skills, management skills, customer service skills, attention to detail, and strong communication skills.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a director of clinical operations are more likely to require skills like "clinical operations," "patients," "healthcare," and "patient care." On the other hand, a job as a processing manager requires skills like "continuous improvement," "sigma," "strong analytical," and "quality standards." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Processing managers tend to make the most money working in the pharmaceutical industry, where they earn an average salary of $109,975. In contrast, directors of clinical operations make the biggest average salary, $139,321, in the pharmaceutical industry.The education levels that processing managers earn slightly differ from directors of clinical operations. In particular, processing managers are 9.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a director of clinical operations. Additionally, they're 3.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Director of clinical operations vs. Laboratory director
A Laboratory Director is responsible for the overall operation and administration of the laboratory. They examine data, create reports, manage the staff, and ensure that the lab facility operates in accordance with the regulatory provisions of the government and the organization.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, director of clinical operations responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "clinical operations," "healthcare," "gcp," and "project management." Meanwhile, a laboratory director has duties that require skills in areas such as "clinical laboratory," "test results," "laboratory services," and "chemistry." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
On average, laboratory directors earn a lower salary than directors of clinical operations. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, laboratory directors earn the most pay in the media industry with an average salary of $111,230. Whereas directors of clinical operations have higher pay in the pharmaceutical industry, with an average salary of $139,321.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Laboratory directors tend to reach lower levels of education than directors of clinical operations. In fact, they're 5.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 3.6% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Director of clinical operations vs. Wellness director
Typically working at gyms and health centers, a wellness coordinator utilizes their health and fitness expertise by designing and developing health programs involving workout and diet plans. Among their responsibilities include performing research and analysis to identify the clients' needs, gathering and analyzing information to determine the strengths and weaknesses of current programs, and implementing solutions against problem areas. They must also liaise with internal and external parties, coordinate staff, and develop strategies to optimize program operations, ensuring efficiency and client satisfaction.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from director of clinical operations resumes include skills like "clinical operations," "patients," "healthcare," and "gcp," whereas a wellness director is more likely to list skills in "quality care," "direct supervision," "cpr," and "oversight. "
Wellness directors earn the best pay in the health care industry, where they command an average salary of $59,882. Directors of clinical operations earn the highest pay from the pharmaceutical industry, with an average salary of $139,321.Most wellness directors achieve a lower degree level compared to directors of clinical operations. For example, they're 9.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 3.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Director of clinical operations vs. Medical director
A medical director is responsible for handling the overall supervision of different medical departments, managing the coordination between medical teams to ensure smooth operations and achieve high-quality care services for the patients. Medical directors enforce strict guidelines and safety measures for everyone's adherence. They also implement medical care programs, recruit medical staff, inspect the adequacy of medical equipment, respond to patient's inquiries and concerns, and oversee the facilities' procedures. A medical director manages the budget of the department, allocating equal resources to address every need.
Types of director of clinical operations
Updated January 8, 2025
