Executive Director, Medical Education Programs

Stanford University School of Medicine is world renowned for leading edge education, research, patient care and medical advancements.

Within the Stanford School of Medicine, Educational Programs and Services (EPS) plays a central role in advancing the school's educational mission by supporting a broad community of students, trainees, and faculty across the medical education continuum. EPS partners with academic leaders to deliver high-quality programs that prepare future physicians and scientists while fostering innovation in medical education and ensuring an exceptional learning experience for every learner.

Job Purpose

EPS is seeking an Executive Director, Medical Education Programs, to lead the strategic direction, operational excellence, and continuous improvement of the medical education continuum across EPS. This leader drives a cohesive, faculty-centered model, ensuring alignment across program components to support a high-quality educational experience for learners. The role directly oversees approximately 40 staff supporting curriculum delivery and academic coordination. This role will prioritize the integration of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies to support curriculum delivery, enhance educational quality, and improve operational scalability. The Executive Director will ensure that all programmatic efforts are grounded in a student-centered approach and aligned with evolving learner needs. Working in dyad partnership with decanal faculty, this leader will translate academic vision into cohesive, high-functioning operational models. A strong on-campus presence will be essential to support faculty engagement, learner connection, and cross-program integration. Reporting to the Assistant Dean for Educational Programs and Services, the Executive Director is responsible for translating academic vision into sustainable operational models that ensure consistency, compliance, and high-quality educational experiences across departments and clinical sites.

Work Agreement

This position will be based on the Stanford campus

Core Duties

• Direct staff and provide leadership to achieve goals and vision of the organization. Responsible for hiring and retaining staff, career coaching, personal development for direct reports and accountable for the performance of employees.
• Independently initiate and create strategic plans for organization or program(s) managed. Make recommendations that may impact the unit's academic and research capabilities. Identify and resolve strategic issues of substantial significance that affect the overall functioning beyond the immediate unit, consult and advise senior leadership. Oversee allocation of all resources.
• Manage the direction of internal academic and administrative policy development for programs and administrative operations.
• Oversee and/or manage the finances across all sources for the annual budget cycle, including developing, monitoring, analyzing forecasting and reporting to ensure the financial success of the organization.
• Manage and coordinate grants and contracts for the department. Ensure compliance with institutional and external requirements.
• Advise senior management on programmatic and policy development. May provide input to university leadership on institutional academic and administrative policies and guidelines.
• Drive the strategic integration of artificial intelligence and technology-enabled solutions to enhance curriculum delivery, program coordination, and educational outcomes.
• Ensure all program operations are grounded in a student-centered framework, improving the learner experience across courses, clerkships, and longitudinal programs.
• Partner in a dyad model with decanal faculty leadership to operationalize academic priorities, ensuring alignment between curricular vision and program execution.
• Foster strong on-campus engagement with faculty, students, and staff to support program quality, innovation, and responsiveness.
• Utilize data and analytics to evaluate program effectiveness, inform continuous improvement, and support accreditation and quality assurance efforts.

Education & Experience

Bachelor's degree and seven years of relevant experience in administrative and financial management, or combination of education and relevant experience.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Demonstrated leadership and supervisory, planning and change management skills.
• Excellent planning and organizational skills.
• Excellent communication skills. Able to influence people, solve problems, troubleshoot, think creatively and resolve conflicts.
• Advanced financial expertise in accounting budget planning, and financial forecasting.
• Advanced expertise in grants and contract administration.
• Advanced analytical and problem solving skills Strong knowledge of industry standards and/or regulatory requirements.
• Strong negotiation and effective interpersonal skills.
• Attention to detail and accuracy.
• Advanced expertise in business and management computer applications and databases.
• Subject matter expertise for area(s) of responsibility
• Ability to multi-task and manage deadlines.

Desired Qualifications

• Master's degree in education, public administration, public health, counseling, or related field strongly preferred.
• Minimum of 12-15 years of progressively responsible experience in student affairs, student services, or academic administration within higher education or academic medicine.
• Demonstrated success leading large, complex, multi-unit service portfolios.
• Proven experience supervising senior leaders and managing through organizational complexity and change.
• Experience integrating technology, including artificial intelligence, into educational program delivery or administration.
• Demonstrated commitment to learner-centered education and continuous program improvement.
• Experience collaborating closely with faculty leaders in a dyad or shared leadership model.
• Strong track record of building relationships through active, in-person engagement within academic environments.

Physical Requirements

• Constantly perform desk-based computer tasks.
• Frequently sitting.
• Occasionally stand/walk, writing by hand, use a telephone, lift/carry/push/pull objects that weigh 11-20 pounds.
• Rarely sort/file paperwork or parts, rarely twist/bend/stoop/squat.

Working Conditions

Occasional evening and weekend hours.

Work Standards

Interpersonal Skills: Demonstrates the ability to work well with Stanford colleagues and clients and with external organizations.

Promote Culture of Safety: Demonstrates commitment to personal responsibility and value for safety; communicates safety concerns; uses and promotes safe behaviors based on training and lessons learned.

Subject to and expected to comply with all applicable University policies and procedures, including but not limited to the personnel policies and other policies found in the University's Administrative Guide.

The expected pay range for this position is $206,749 to $242,668 per annum.