Vice President, Medicine, Quality and Safety

Company : IWK Health

Req ID: 204616 
Department/Program: Medicine, Quality and Safety 
Location: Halifax  
Type of Employment: Permanent Hourly FT (100% FTE)  x 1 position(s)
Union Status: Management, Management/Non Union Bargaining Unit

IWK Health is a respected academic health sciences centre located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, providing tertiary and primary care for two million children, youth, adults and families each year across the Atlantic region. We have a team of approximately 4000 employees, physicians, volunteers and learners at sites across Nova Scotia. People build careers with IWK Health with our focus on training and mentorship opportunities. We recognize each other’s talent and celebrate our successes. We collaborate in modern facilities or virtually from home, align our work to our values, and enjoy access to enhanced benefits and wellness programs. We are proud to support our patients, families and communities and are grateful for the generous donor support we receive.

Promoting an anti-racist environment, and calling out discrimination as we work and provide care, is important to us. We are located in Mi’kma’ki, the unceded and ancestral territory of the Mi’kmaq people. Working in Mi’kma’ki and providing care to those across Atlantic Canada is a shared privilege with the original inhabitants who have lived here for many thousands of years prior to colonization. There are 13 First Nation communities across Nova Scotia, and more than 50 historic African Nova Scotian communities who also have a long, deep, and complex history dating back over 400 years. We have the highest percentage of people with disabilities in the country. Nova Scotia has the highest proportions of transgender and non-binary people than any other province or territory in the country. We are active in our work to eliminate discrimination, but have more work to do to build that trust, acknowledge our biases and reduce the barriers our diverse communities face. We want IWK Health to be a safe and supportive space of equity and belonging in the care we provide and the employment we offer. We welcome all interested persons who self-identify as Indigenous, Black/African Nova Scotians, Persons of Colour, Immigrants/Newcomers, Persons with Disabilities, 2SLGBTQIA+ to apply to support our goal for our workforce to be representative of the patients, families, and communities that we care for at all job levels.

The Opportunity

To help lead transformative change and advance clinical excellence across the health system, IWK Health is seeking a Vice President, Medicine, Quality and Safety to provide strategic leadership in medical governance, physician engagement, and quality care delivery. 

As a member of the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) and reporting directly to the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), you will help shape the future of IWK Health by aligning medical strategy with broader provincial and national priorities. With executive oversight for a portfolio of approximately 400 staff (311 FTEs) and a $28.5 million operating budget, and indirect leadership to a community of nearly 700 physicians and affiliated medical staff, you will also support the organization’s mandate to deliver specialized care for women, children, youth, and genderdiverse individuals across Nova Scotia and the Maritime provinces while championing a culture of clinical excellence, safety, equity, and continuous improvement, ensuring alignment with the organization’s mission to provide world-class, patient- and family-centred care.

Working closely with the ELT, you will help shape and implement IWK’s strategic and operational plans. As a key ambassador of the IWK, you will represent the organization on local and national platforms and collaborate with provincial partners to co-lead clinical services, quality and safety initiatives, and physician workforce planning. Additionally, you will oversee medical governance, enterprise risk, and health information services, ensuring system reliability and sustainability.

This is an opportunity to have a high-impact leadership role that blends clinical insight, strategic vision, and academic excellence to drive meaningful, long-term health system transformation.

Key Areas of Responsibility

As Vice President, you will have oversight and accountability for:

• Strategic leadership
• Physician engagement and resource planning
• Quality and patient safety
• Health system sustainability
• Health system, academic and community leadership and relationship management
• Operations and financial management

The Ideal Candidate

You are a respected, forward-thinking physician leader with a strong track record of progressive leadership experience in complex academic health sciences settings. Ideally, you bring clinical, research, and administrative expertise in a discipline aligned with IWK Health’s mission, along with academic appointments or strong ties to academic or university communities. Additionally, you are licensed to practice medicine in Nova Scotia or are eligible for licensure. Additional qualifications such as a Master’s degree in Health Administration or a related field would be considered an asset.

You are a strategic leader with proven experience overseeing clinical and non-clinical portfolios, including medicine, academic affairs, patient safety, and enterprise risk. Known for your integrity, governance expertise, and system-level impact, you have contributed meaningfully to strategic planning and served as a trusted voice on provincial and national committees. Politically astute with excellent communication skills and media-savvy, you navigate complex environments with diplomacy and clarity, aligning diverse partner groups around shared goals. With a solid foundation in financial management and research, you balance clinical quality with fiscal responsibility.

A visionary yet pragmatic champion of change, you have led major quality and system transformation initiatives, championed physician development, and fostered a culture of high performance and continuous improvement. Grounded in emotional intelligence and sound judgment, you lead with compassion, collaboration, and a steadfast commitment to care excellence.

To explore this opportunity, contact Daniella Sam at dsam@kbrs.ca, Andrea Forbes Hurley at aforbeshurley@kbrs.ca, or Erin MacDonald at emacdonald@kbrs.ca, or apply online at: https://www.kbrs.ca/Career/17483530882240000008jce.

Thank you for your interest in IWK Health.

Please note that we only contact applicants selected for interview/testing. If we invite you to participate in an assessment process (such as an interview or testing) you have the right to request accommodation. Please discuss your needs when invited to the assessment process.

This is a Management/Non Union  bargaining  unit position. Preference is given to bargaining unit employees for unionized positions. Successful applicants changing unions, bargaining units or employment status, are advised to seek clarification regarding their seniority, benefits, and vacation entitlement and/or usage, prior to accepting the position.

An offer of employment is conditional upon the completion and satisfactory results of all applicable background checks and confirmation of credentials.