Director of IT Operations

Onvida Health has retained Kirby Partners to support its search for a Director of IT Operations.

Onvida Health is a not-for-profit hospital system in Yuma, Arizona that includes Yuma Medical Center, a free-standing Emergency Department, a renowned cancer center, a robust institutional research program, expanded care in more than 40 clinic locations, and an extensive robotic surgery program.

Purpose

Building a healthier tomorrow for Yuma County residents and the surrounding southwestern Arizona communities.

Pillars

Onvida Health is focused on creating a healthier future, for their employees, patients, their families and their community. They are committed to long-term growth through these three pillars that support their purpose:

• Putting patients first
• Rooted in the community
• Committed to progress

Onvida Health has been a Mayo Clinic Care Network member since 2012.

Position Overview

The Director of IT Operations leads the IT Service Desk and Field Services teams at Onvida Health, ensuring exceptional delivery of technology support and end-user services. This role oversees the adoption, optimization, and continuous improvement of the ServiceNow platform while ensuring operational excellence, customer satisfaction, and alignment with organizational needs.

The Director is responsible for managing ServiceNow modules (Incident, Request, Change, and Asset Management), developing and enforcing IT support standards and escalation procedures, and driving modernization initiatives across all Onvida Health locations.

The role also includes mentoring a high-performing team, managing vendor relationships for support tools and technologies, collaborating with clinical and business leaders to align IT services with broader goals, and serving as a key incident response leader during major service disruptions.

Core Competencies:

Planning/Vision:

• Provides vision, forward thinking, and strategic planning in a proactive manner while being open-minded and creative in establishing a strategic direction.
• Develops through an integration of ideas of those involved, an organized strategy to achieve both short-term and long-term objectives for the department.
• Effectively communicates strategy to obtain commitment from the responsible individuals.
• Leads the strategic planning process for the department. As plans are developed, these plans and objectives are integrated within the plans of the medical center. The incumbent collaborates with others in leadership, as well as physicians, to identify and evaluate programs and emerging technologies.
• Leads the strategic planning process for IT Service Delivery, incorporating innovative ideas to enhance service quality and user satisfaction.
• Aligns the service delivery roadmap with Onvida Health’s broader strategic initiatives and emerging technologies, such as ServiceNow expansions.

Fiscal Management:

• Demonstrates a personal accountability for financial results through the development of an annual budget and operational plan and management of performance based on the plan.
• Engages staff in efforts to contain costs and improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of services. Understands the basics of health care financial management.
• Establishes budget targets for the department, provides oversight for the process, and holds themselves and other individuals accountable for compliance with the annual budget plan.
• Develops and manages the operational budget for Service Desk and Field Services. Monitors expenses, optimizes resource utilization, and evaluates cost-saving measures, including ServiceNow automation opportunities and vendor management.
• Identifies program or service growth opportunities and methodologies to enhance revenues. Able to manage a volume-adjusted budget.

Customer Service:

• Exhibits unyielding commitment to providing excellent service to patients, physicians, employees, and other customers.
• Demonstrates strong communication skills through effective exchange of information with others, including written and oral communication, active listening, influencing the behavior of others, and building personal rapport.
• Communicates with others in an open and friendly manner, while simultaneously building credibility and rapport.
• Exhibits strong interactive skills through a demonstration of respecting others’ feelings, ideas, and opinions; fosters an open interchange, and displays a genuine understanding and acceptance of others.
• Demonstrates perceptivity regarding others’ feelings, ideas, and opinions.
• Responsible for assuring a respectful work environment. Promotes Patient & Family Centered Care. Sets the tone in the department by communicating values and attitudes that will significantly shape the culture of the group. Models appropriate behaviors and values; sets expectations for respectful behavior with all employees.
• Supports collaboration among patients, families, healthcare practitioners, and healthcare leaders in policy and program development, implementation, and evaluation; in facility design; professional education; and the delivery of care.
• Sets a high standard for user experience by embedding a culture of exceptional customer service throughout Service Desk and Field Services teams.
• Leads initiatives that support Patient &Family Centered Care through technology reliability and responsiveness.

Operational Management / Quality in Everything We Do:

• Exhibits a commitment to operational management and completing tasks through personal initiative and persistence. Demonstrates an ability to plan, organize, coordinate, prioritize, balance workload, and follow through to achieve institutional and individual goals and objectives.
• Demonstrates use of good judgment and sound decision-making (common sense, intuition, data collection, analytical skills, impact evaluation, communications) to systematically address problems, define alternate solutions, negotiate, and facilitate implementation of solutions.
• Able to balance the need for consensus and involvement with the need for decisiveness and action. Provides consistent and open encouragement to trying new and creative approaches, yetis  willing to make a decision and take a stand. Contributes new ideas and new ways of thinking to improve departmental performance and services. Identifies need for change and develops/accepts creative approaches and solutions.
• Participates in performance improvement activities, and by challenging processes, eliminates inefficient/ineffective procedures and waste by collaborating with co-workers or across departments to improve processes. Implements an effective and ongoing program to monitor, evaluate, and improve the quality of services delivered.
• With the assistance of direct reports, develops processes and procedures that are effective, efficient, and aligned with organizational goals and values. Responsible for coordinating and integrating intra-hospital services. Ensures the division has qualified staff and the needed resources in order to deliver safe, quality care and outcomes.
• Establishes performance standards with which to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of services. Drives the establishment of performance metrics, service benchmarks, and quality assurance initiatives within IT Service Delivery. Implements continuous service improvement processes based on user feedback, data analytics, and ServiceNow reporting.

System Thinking:

• Ability to see how individual actions contribute to the overall good of the institution. Understands and is able to communicate how individual and department goals overlap with Onvida Health’s goals.
• Demonstrates commitment to the good of the organization while maintaining congruence with commitment to the department.
• Able to recognize and use information about organizational climate and key individuals to accomplish legitimate organizational goals.
• Aware of the importance of timing, politics, and group processes in managing change.
• Able to balance department needs with the hospital’s needs. Skillful at reconciling the two without sacrificing the critical needs of either.
• Works collaboratively with a variety of key stakeholders to achieve team, department, and Onvida Health’s goals. Demonstrates an ability to align departmental goals with the larger vision of Onvida Health. Understands how IT Service Delivery operations impact clinical, operational, and administrative workflows across the organization.

Human Resources Management:

• Able to develop others through setting clear expectations, mentoring and coaching, and holding others accountable for results.
• Utilizing workforce analysis, identifies required competencies needed for effective management of human resources, and is able to identify short and long-term staffing needs.
• Conducts oneself in an honest, credible, trustworthy manner consistent with Onvida Health’s values. Demonstrates an integration of values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors through an acceptance of responsibility and accountability for an individual’s own actions.
• Ensures that the workforce has the necessary skills to accomplish the work required to achieve the objectives of the department.
• Partners with Human Resources to develop long-term human resource plans, anticipating future needs and developing employees able to meet those challenges. Fosters an open working environment for easy access to express ideas and concerns. Demonstrates and expects open
  communications.
• Promotes an environment that is open and collaborative while keeping the team focused on a common goal. Builds rapport, encourages teamwork, and creates an environment where employees may feel empowered. Leads workforce development efforts by mentoring, coaching, and providing clear career progression pathways for Service Desk and Field Services staff.
• Partners with HR to forecast staffing needs based on service demands and future technologies.

Community:

• Leverages the unique system capabilities (hospital and community providers) to increase value for external and internal customers and eliminate barriers to care.
• Participates in community involvement.
• Champions community involvement in the department and throughout the organization.
• Promotes and encourages community involvement throughout the department. Incorporates community goals in overall departmental goals. Demonstrates involvement in community events and hospital partnerships. Maintains appropriate continued education as it relates to the role.

Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Healthcare Administration, or related field required. Master’s degree preferred.

Experience:

• 7+ years of progressive IT leadership experience, including 3+ years managing Service Desk or Field Services.
• 3+ years of experience configuring and optimizing ServiceNow platform modules.
• Experience working in a healthcare environment, with knowledge of hospital and clinic operations, clinical workflows, and regulatory requirements.

About Yuma, Arizona

Endless sunshine, effortless living

Yuma sits along the Colorado River in Arizona’s far southwest corner, bordering both California and Mexico. Guinness World Records recognizes it as the sunniest city in the world. The city experiences a desert climate, characterized by mild winters and hot summers. With a relatively low cost of living, short commutes, and access to outdoor amenities, Yuma provides opportunities for year-round recreation, including golfing, hiking, boating, and fishing. Weekend getaway options include Joshua Tree National Park, Palm Springs resorts, and the beaches of San Diego, all within about a three-hour drive. Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, just an hour north, offers hiking and mountain views.

Rich local culture

Yuma’s deep roots as a key crossing point of the Old West give it a strong sense of place and community. Residents enjoy a vibrant Mexican culture, historic downtown charm, and events that bring neighbors together, from art walks to the annual Yuma Medjool Date Festival.

An agricultural hub

Yuma produces nearly 90% of the leafy greens eaten in the U.S. each winter. This thriving agricultural industry supports a robust local economy, providing residents with the opportunity to enjoy fresh, farm-to-table dining options year-round.

Procedure for Candidacy

Final candidates should expect two interviews with Kirby Partners recruiters (including a video conference interview). You may be asked to complete our “Executive Profile” and submit references to be considered for presentation to the search committee.