The Specialty and ER Lead is responsible for shaping the strategy, deployment, operating standards, and growth priorities for VCA's Specialty and Emergency hospital network. This role partners closely with hospital and field leadership, medical operations, specialty and emergency clinical leaders, and cross-functional Support Office teams to design practical, channel-specific solutions that reflect the realities of complex medicine, unpredictable patient flow, referral relationships, and 24/7 emergency care. This is a strategic, hands-on role for a veterinary operations leader who can translate enterprise priorities into field-ready programs, simplify work for hospital teams, and strengthen VCA's ability to deliver exceptional specialty and emergency care for clients, patients, referring veterinarians, and associates.
This role requires associates to work a hybrid schedule out of one of the MVH North America Hub Locations - Vancouver, WA | Santa Monica, CA .
Essential Responsibility/Tasks:
Strategy & Deployment
Develop and execute the strategic roadmap for Specialty and Emergency hospitals, aligning channel-specific priorities with company-wide goals and medical quality expectations.
Translate high-level strategy into clear, actionable deployment plans, timelines, and success metrics.
Partner with field, hospital, medical, and specialty leaders to deploy programs, protocols, workflows, and tools in ways that fit Specialty and ER.
Monitor performance against channel-appropriate KPIs, including access, caseload, staffing, referral capture, client experience, clinical workflow, and economic performance; adjust plans based on data, field feedback, and business needs.
Growth Initiatives
Identify and prioritize growth opportunities across the Specialty and ER network, including service-line expansion, emergency access, specialty capacity, referral development, and integrated care models.
Build business cases for new initiatives, partnering with Finance and Field Operations to size impact and secure investment.
Support the integration, stabilization, and ramp-up of new, acquired, or evolving Specialty and Emergency.
Track veterinary specialty, emergency, referral, academic, and competitive market trends to inform channel strategy and investment priorities.
Associate Experience
Generate and champion ideas that simplify the daily work of specialists, emergency doctors, technicians, client service associates, and hospital leaders - reducing friction, unnecessary variation, and administrative burden.
Gather feedback directly from clinic teams and turn it into practical process, tooling, or workflow improvements.
Partner with Learning & Development, P&O, Medical Leadership, and specialty subject-matter experts to ensure initiatives are supported with practical training, change management, and clear leader guidance.
Serve as a visible, trusted resource for Specialty and ER teams navigating new initiatives, enterprise programs, and channel-specific operating expectations.
Client, Patient & Referring Veterinarian Experience
Design and refine operational standards that elevate the client, patient, and referring veterinarian experience across emergency, specialty, and hybrid hospitals.
Use client feedback, referral partner insights, hospital visits, wait-time trends, transfer patterns, and operational data to identify gaps and opportunities for improvement.
Ensure initiatives balance operational efficiency, clinical complexity, medical quality, and the compassionate experience clients and pets expect during urgent or high-acuity moments.
Improve intake, triage, communication, discharge, referral follow-up, and client service workflows to make the Specialty and ER experience a competitive advantage for VCA.
EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE :
Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree or DVM a plus.
7+ years of experience in veterinary specialty, emergency, multi-site healthcare operations, or a related field, with a track record of leading strategic initiatives in complex clinical environments.
Demonstrated experience deploying programs across multiple locations or a distributed team.
Strong project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously and drive them to completion.
Excellent communication and relationship-building skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels - from clinic associates to executive leadership.
Analytical mindset; comfortable using data to identify opportunities, measure impact, and make recommendations.
Deep understanding of, or strong interest in, specialty medicine, emergency care, referral workflows, hospital operations, and the challenges facing high-acuity clinical teams.
Willingness and ability to travel regularly to hospitals up to 10% of the time, including visits to specialty, emergency.
Openness to digital innovation, including the responsible use of AI and emerging technologies, to improve healthcare delivery, reduce administrative burden, and create a better experience for associates, clients, and patients.
*All degrees will be deemed "or equivalent combination of education and experience" unless absolutely required to do the job (i.e., DVM degree for Veterinarian, Law degree for Attorney, etc.).
PREFERRED SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS:
You've worked directly in or closely with specialty and emergency hospitals and understand the operational realities of high-acuity, referral-based, and 24/7 care environments.
You're energized by solving operational problems and turning them into scalable solutions.
You balance big-picture strategic thinking with a willingness to roll up your sleeves and get into the details.
You put people - associates, clients, and pets - at the center of every decision.
Additional Information: Compensation is negotiable based on education, experience, and other relevant credentials. The US base salary range for this full-time position is $104,393 - $180,077. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location . Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only.
If you are a current associate, you will need to apply through our internal career site. Please log into Workday and click on the Jobs Hub app or search for Browse Jobs.
Benefits: We offer competitive compensation along with a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision and paid vacation/sick days, 401(k), generous employee pet discounts and more!
The information in this position description indicates the general nature and level of work to be performed. It is not designed to be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of associates assigned to this job. Management reserves the right to revise the job description or require that other tasks be performed when the circumstances of the job change (for example, emergencies, change in personnel, workload, or technical development)
We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer - Veterans / Disabled. For a complete EEO statement please see our career page at vcacareers.com
