Staff Headcount: 35

Meet ARC-PA

The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) serves as the nation’s independent accrediting organization for physician assistant (PA) educational programs. At its core, ARC-PA exists to ensure that future PAs receive a high-quality education by establishing accreditation standards and evaluating programs across the country. Its work ultimately supports one important goal: preparing competent healthcare professionals who will provide exceptional care to patients.

Behind that mission is a team of dedicated professionals who are passionate about excellence, collaboration, and continuous improvement. As a fully remote, financially stable organization, ARC-PA has built a culture rooted in integrity, accountability, and service. The team partners closely with PA programs, offering guidance, conducting accreditation reviews and site visits, and helping institutions navigate the accreditation process with consistency and transparency.

As the physician assistant profession continues to grow, ARC-PA is investing in its own future as well. The organization is strengthening its leadership team, expanding operational capacity, and implementing new technologies, including Salesforce, to improve efficiency, enhance collaboration, and better support PA programs nationwide. It’s an exciting season of growth, creating meaningful opportunities for leaders who want to shape the future of healthcare education while serving an organization with a clear and lasting mission.

About the VP of Program Operations

The Vice President of Program Operations is a newly established Executive Leadership position reporting directly to the President and CEO. This leader is charged with overseeing the day-to-day administrative and accreditation workflows, standardizing processes, and building organizational scalability. A major immediate focus is restructuring the Accreditation Services (AES) department, resolving operational bottlenecks, and documenting clear Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). The AES department features a split culture of highly detail-oriented, long-tenured "old timers" and newer hires who currently work in silos. The VP of Program Operations must break down these silos, establish cross-training, and help the team transition from manual spreadsheets to a centralized Salesforce environment. 

The VP of Program Operations' responsibilities include:

• Strategic Operational Leadership: Develops and implements operational strategies that align with ARC-PA’s mission, identifies organizational risks, and establishes performance metrics.
• Workflow Optimization: Leads process-improvement initiatives to help alleviate staff fatigue, streamline operations, and establish clear Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
• Accreditation Operations Oversight: Directs accreditation-related administrative support functions, scheduling, and program reviews to ensure they are delivered in a timely, consistent, and highly accurate manner.
• System Modernization & Automation: Identifies opportunities for automation and collaborates closely with IT leadership to implement tools—specifically assisting the team in transitioning manual spreadsheets into a centralized Salesforce environment.
• Staff Leadership & Department Culture: Leads, mentors, and develops the Accreditation Services (AS) staff, fostering cross-training and helping to break down historic communication silos.
• Budget & Vendor Management: Manages operational budgets, oversees contracts with external service vendors, and ensures compliance with relevant regulations.

What you bring

The following describes many of the characteristics of the ideal candidate for the VP of Program Operations:

Education and Experience

• A Bachelor's degree in business administration, healthcare administration, organizational leadership, public administration, PA studies, or a related discipline; OR a Master's degree in a related discipline (including PA studies).
• At least seven (7) years of progressively responsible operational leadership experience if holding a Bachelor's degree.
• At least five (5) years of progressively responsible leadership experience if holding a Master's degree.
• PA Credentials: Current or former certified PA (PA-C) and graduate of an ARC-PA accredited PA program (preferred)
• Demonstrated success leading enterprise technology functions within complex organizations.
• Proven experience leading organizational change, driving technology initiatives, and managing large-scale transitions.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Accreditation Operations & Standards: In-depth understanding of national accreditation operations, ARC-PA Standards, and the broader higher education or regulatory environment.
• Process Improvement Methodologies: High-level knowledge of process improvement frameworks, operational analytics, and business workflow optimization.
• Operational & Technology Systems: Strong comprehension of how to integrate technology, automation, and enterprise platforms (specifically Salesforce) into daily operational workflows to eliminate manual bottlenecks.
• Regulatory & Administrative Governance: Knowledge of how to manage administrative budgets, navigate legal vendor contracts, and ensure compliance with organizational policies.
• Strategic Operational Leadership: Proven skill in designing, implementing, and measuring operational strategies that align with long-term organizational scaling.
• Project & Budget Management: Expertise in coordinating multi-layered projects, establishing performance metrics, and managing departmental expenditures.
• Change Management: Demonstrated skill in guiding teams through operational transitions, particularly in breaking down communication silos and centralizing shared systems.
• Crucial Communication & Interpersonal Relations: Exceptional communication and relationship-management skills, with the ability to resolve complex stakeholder issues and mediate internal team conflicts.
• Balancing Strategy and Execution: The ability to seamlessly pivot between high-level strategic planning and hands-on, detail-oriented operational execution.
• Leading Distributed Teams: The ability to mentor, develop, and drive accountability within a fully remote or distributed workforce.
• Fostering Collaborative Cultures: The ability to build trust, cross-train staff, and integrate a department composed of both long-tenured employees and new hires.
• Data-Informed Decision Making: The ability to utilize operational metrics and data analysis to solve processing bottlenecks and fatigue.

Personal Characteristics & Qualifications

• Meticulously Organized & Detail-Oriented: This leader must thrive on structure and be highly capable of juggling multiple, non-stop, overlapping schedules (site visits, quarterly reports, and commission meetings) without letting details slip.
• Silo-Breaker & Patient Unifier: The Accreditation Services department has a cultural split between highly protective, long-tenured "old timers" and newer administrative hires. The VP of Program Operations must be patient, inclusive, and skilled at breaking down silos to foster cross-training.
• Collaborative and Open-Minded: Rather than dictating rules from a spreadsheet, this leader must have a fresh eye for strategic process improvement and a willingness to brainstorm solutions collectively with the staff.
• Change-Agent with High Emotional Intelligence: Because the department has historically clung to individual manual spreadsheets, the VP of Program Operations must be exceptionally skilled at guiding sensitive staff through technology transitions (specifically Salesforce adoption) without creating defensiveness.