Associate Director, Patient Workflow Operations

About Carlsmed Our mission is to improve outcomes and decrease the cost of healthcare for spine surgery and beyond. The Carlsmed aprevo® personalized surgery platform is designed to improve the standard of care for spine surgery one patient at a time.

Position Description Carlsmed is seeking an Associate Director Patient Workflow Operations to lead operational performance and process excellence across the end-to-end patient-specific workflow.

This role is responsible for execution across Image Intake, Patient-Specific Modeling, and Case Design, ensuring alignment of regional operations to company objectives. The Associate Director reports into the SVP Operational Excellence and leads Associate Managers overseeing performance metrics, vendor partnerships, capacity planning, and process standardization to support scalable growth.

This leader will partner cross-functionally with Commercial, Engineering, Manufacturing, and Quality to ensure predictable throughput, operational discipline, and readiness for future product expansion.

Responsibilities

Functional Leadership & Performance Ownership

• Lead Associate Managers responsible for regional pipeline execution and operational performance.
• Own aggregate performance against case design and approval metrics, including turnaround time, quality, and throughput.
• Monitor system-wide backlog, capacity, and workload distribution to ensure predictable and scalable execution across regions.

Vendor Strategy & Governance

• Lead operational governance of outsourced Image Intake and Patient-Specific Modeling partners.
• Define and monitor service level agreements (SLAs), quality standards, and performance KPIs.
• Conduct vendor performance reviews and drive corrective actions to address quality or throughput issues.
• Evaluate vendor capacity and scalability to support business growth.

Process Architecture & Continuous Improvement

• Define and standardize end-to-end workflows across the Patient-Specific Value Stream.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives to reduce cycle time, rework, and operational variability.
• Partner with Process Innovation to implement scalable systems, automation, and platform enhancements.
• Ensure operational readiness for New Product Introduction (NPI).

Capacity Planning & Resource Strategy

• Forecast workload and staffing needs in partnership with Commercial and Finance.
• Develop capacity models to support demand growth and regional scalability.
• Identify operational constraints across internal and outsourced functions and implement solutions.

Cross-Functional Integration

• Partner with Commercial leadership to align case prioritization and service levels.
• Collaborate with Engineering, Manufacturing, and Quality to resolve systemic execution risks.
• Ensure alignment between Digital Platforms and operational execution.

Skills

• Strong functional leadership and team development capability.
• Systems-level operational thinking.
• Data-driven decision-making.
• Vendor performance management expertise.
• Process design and continuous improvement mindset.
• Strong cross-functional communication and influence skills.

Qualifications

• Bachelors degree in engineering, operations, or related technical field required; advanced degree preferred.
• 8 years of experience in operations, engineering, or technical program leadership within a regulated environment (medical device preferred).
• Demonstrated experience leading technical managers and cross-functional teams.
• Experience managing outsourced partners or vendor relationships.
• Strong understanding of operational workflows involving technical design, modeling, or engineering deliverables.
• Experience with operational scaling, capacity planning, or process improvement initiatives.

Equal Opportunity Employer Carlsmed is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status. Carlsmed is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities in our recruiting process. If you need any assistance or accommodations due to a disability, please let us know.

Compensation We are pleased to provide a competitive salary and benefits. Our benefits reflect our investment in the overall health and well-being of our employees and their families, including:

• Paying 100% of monthly healthcare, dental, & vision insurance premiums.
• A 401k plan with employer matching.
• Unlimited PTO.

The expected salary range is $175,000 - $200,000 annually. Compensation may vary based on related skills, experience, and relevant key attributes.