Director of Central Operations at Balboa United / Balboa Nephrology

At Balboa Nephrology, you’ll play a critical role in shaping the systems and teams that directly impact patient access and care coordination. You’ll lead diverse, remote-based teams that serve as the backbone of our operations. We are a physician-led, patient-focused organization that values innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement.

You will have the opportunity to:

• Lead teams central to patient access and care coordination.
• Drive process excellence and use data to improve efficiency and performance.
• Champion innovative technology solutions that reduce workload and simplify workflows.
• Develop supervisors into strong future leaders.
• Work in a collaborative, mission-driven environment where your leadership directly improves patient and provider experiences.

Why work for us?

• Balboa Nephrology is the largest kidney care practice in California and participates in a national Medicare program focused on value-based care.
• Through our joint venture with Evergreen Nephrology we are a growing organization with opportunities for professional and personal growth.
• We will help you grow in your leadership experiences while learning the new value-based care world.
• Comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental & vision on the 1st of the month 30 days after hire.
• Employer contribution of up to 10% of annual pay for your 401K.
• Generous paid time off plus 8 paid holidays, a birthday float day off and a mental health day!
• Company paid life insurance.
• Join a fast-growing field - employment of medical and health services managers is projected to grow 32 percent from 2020 to 2030, much faster than the average for all occupations.
• Voted 4 years in a row as a Top Workplace of San Diego 2020-2024!

Our Values: Patient-centered I Accountability I Respect I Innovation I Data-Driven

Our Mission: to consistently deliver superior care – Balboa Care – to every patient with kidney disease.

Work Location: Hybrid at our La Jolla, CA office

The Director of Central Operations will oversee Balboa Nephrology’s central, remote-based operations teams, including Inbound New Patient Referrals (inbound referrals), Clinical Referrals (outbound referrals and authorizations), Dialysis Placement, and Renal Education Coordination. This leader will ensure each team operates effectively and consistently while fostering a positive, collaborative environment where employees feel valued and supported.

The Director will directly manage frontline telephonic employees while also mentoring and developing the supervisors assigned to each team. They must balance process discipline and data analysis with people-first leadership—cultivating a culture of trust, accountability, innovation, continuous improvement, and professional growth. This role requires both a deep understanding of operations and the ability to inspire and empower teams to do their best work in service of patients and providers.

Key Responsibilities/Essential Job Duties:

Operational Excellence & Process Optimization

• Oversee daily operations across referral management, dialysis placement, and renal education programs, ensuring high quality and efficient workflows.
• Conduct time studies to measure task duration, identify bottlenecks, and establish baseline productivity standards.
• Design, implement, and refine standard operating procedures to drive consistency across all teams.
• Leverage data to forecast volume trends, model capacity, and align resources to organizational needs.
• Actively challenge the status quo by evaluating existing workflows and identifying opportunities for improvement.
• Explore and embed innovative technology solutions that simplify processes, reduce administrative workload, and create sustainable efficiencies.
• Champion a mindset of continuous improvement by encouraging teammates to bring forward ideas and pilot new approaches.
• Partner with executive leadership to identify and implement process improvements that enhance patient and provider experience.

Data-Driven Performance Management

• Work with data team to build and maintain dashboards to track volume, productivity, turnaround time, and quality across all teams.
• Use data to identify high- and low-performing individuals and implement coaching and performance improvement plans.
• Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure operational efficiency, staff productivity, and service quality.
• Provide regular reporting and insights to executive leadership on performance trends, risks, and opportunities.

Team Leadership & Talent Development

• Lead with empathy, approachability, and a commitment to creating a supportive work environment.
• Directly manage central operations staff across multiple functions, ensuring clear expectations while recognizing and celebrating successes.
• Mentor and coach supervisors to grow into effective leaders, providing opportunities for professional development and leadership experience.
• Foster engagement and belonging in a remote/call-center-like environment by building team connections and ensuring employees feel supported and heard.
• Partner with HR to support employee well-being, growth, and retention, emphasizing career development pathways.
• Model Balboa’s values by inspiring teams through mission-driven leadership and demonstrating the positive impact their work has on patient care.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Serve as the primary liaison between Central Operations and clinical, field, and business office teams to ensure alignment and seamless coordination.
• Partner with IT, data analytics, and clinical leadership to enhance reporting, technology, and workflow tools.
• Support organizational initiatives such as patient access improvements, referral conversion, and value-based care goals.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Administration, Business, or related field (Master’s degree preferred).
• 7+ years of progressive operations leadership experience, with at least 3 years managing large, remote/call-center-style teams.
• Strong background in process optimization, time studies, and data-driven capacity planning.
• Proven success using dashboards, KPIs, and reporting to drive team and organizational performance.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor and develop supervisors and staff into high-performing leaders and contributors.
• Exceptional people management skills with the ability to inspire, coach, and hold teams accountable.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate complex data into actionable insights.
• Experience in healthcare operations strongly preferred.

Pay Range: $120,000 – $172,000 annually, inclusive of base salary and target bonus

Other considerations:

• Background check required
• Travel to other sites located within San Diego County may be required
• Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.
• Supervisory duties – Yes

Language Skills

While performing duties, the employee is regularly required to talk, hear, read, write, type and respond in English and understand clinical/medical vocabulary written and spoken.

Vision Requirements

Vision requirements include close vision, ability to adjust focus, and see color.

Physical Demands

Physical requirements may vary slightly and should be reviewed with your manager. In general, this position requires the ability to lift up to 35 pounds unassisted; ability to stand for extended periods of time and to perform repetitive stooping, walking, stretching, reaching and some sitting; ability to use full range of body motions required to lift patients, wear a lead apron, and lift and move supplies. Must be able to safely ascend and descend stairs as a core part of the job, with or without reasonable accommodation, when no elevator or lift is present.

Work Environment

Job required tasks routinely involve a potential for mucous membrane or skin contact with blood, body fluids, tissues or potential spills or splashes. Use of appropriate personal protection measures is required for every healthcare provider in these positions. Require to routinely use standard office equipment such as laptop, computer, mouse, and photocopier.

About Balboa United

Beginning in 1973, Balboa has grown from two physicians to a comprehensive nephrology team of 52 board certified physicians and 8 advanced practitioners. On January 1, 2018, Balboa Nephrology Medical Group (BNMG) launched Balboa United, a full-service medical practice management services organization. From one small office, BNMG now has 24 clinical offices throughout San Diego, Imperial, Orange and Riverside counties. In addition to office and hospital-based patient care, Balboa physicians manage the dialysis treatments of approximately 4,500 patients at 88 dialysis centers and conduct Nephrology based clinical research at 6 centers throughout Imperial and San Diego counties (California Institute of Renal Research).

• EEO Statement Balboa United is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions on the basis of merit. We want to have the best available person in every job. Our Company policy prohibits unlawful discrimination based on race, color, creed, religion (including religious dress & grooming), sex (including pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions), gender (including gender identity and gender expression), marital status, registered domestic partner status, military status, age, national origin or ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition (including cancer and genetic characteristics), genetic information, sexual orientation, or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. We also prohibit unlawful discrimination based on the perception that anyone has any of those characteristics or is associated with a person who has or is perceived as having any of those characteristics. The Company is committed to compliance with all applicable laws providing equal employment opportunities. This commitment applies to all persons involved in our operations and prohibits unlawful discrimination by any employee of Balboa United, including managers and co-workers. If you believe you have been subjected to any form of unlawful discrimination, submit a written complaint to your manager or Human Resources (HR). Your complaint should be specific and should include the names of the individuals involved and the names of any witnesses. If you need assistance with your complaint, or if you prefer to make a complaint in person, contact the Company's Human Resources Department. We will immediately undertake an effective, thorough, and objective investigation and attempt to resolve the situation.