Dental - Dental Operations Manager

Marana Health is seeking a Dental Operations Manager to join the Dental team at the Marana Main Health Center, located in the heart of Marana, AZ.

The Dental Operations Manager serves as the operational business leader for Marana Healths dental service line, partnering with the Senior Dental Director to drive service line growth, financial performance, patient access, and whole-person healthcare integration. This position oversees front-end operations, provider utilization, scheduling optimization, revenue cycle performance, payer relationships, and cross-service collaboration while ensuring an exceptional patient experience.

The Dental Operations Manager standardizes operational processes across dental locations, strengthens vendor and payer relationships, partners with Revenue Cycle to improve billing and reimbursement performance, and leverages operational and financial data to support organizational sustainability and advance strategic initiatives.

Marana Health is a Federally Qualified Community Health Center (FQHC), with 11 sites in Tucson and Pima County. Our mission is to improve our community by providing exceptional, whole-person healthcare.

The following qualifications are required:

• Associate degree in Healthcare Administration, Business Administration, or a related field.
• Minimum of one (1) year supervisory and administrative experience in a medical/dental clinic environment
• Basic Life Support (BLS) certification (may be completed with MH upon hire)
• First Aid certification (may be completed with MH upon hire)
• Fingerprint Clearance Card through the Arizona Department of Public Safety
• Current Arizona driver's license with clean driving record and proof of current vehicle insurance (39-month MVR will be run by MH)

The following qualifications are preferred:

• Bachelor's degree in Healthcare Administration, Business Administration, or a related field.
• Experience with Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC)
• Experience with AthenaOne
• Bilingual (English/Spanish)

Equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered if applicable and must be directly related to the functions and body of knowledge required to successfully perform the job.

This position has the following supervisory responsibilities:

Provides operational leadership and direction for assigned functions. Leads operational initiatives, coordinates cross-functional activities, and collaborates with leaders and staff to support departmental and organizational objectives. Does not have direct supervisory responsibility.

The ideal candidate will also possess the following knowledge, skills, and abilities:

• Strong knowledge of dental practice operations, including front office, back office, and clinical support functions.
• Knowledge of patient access strategies, scheduling optimization, insurance verification, authorization workflows, and revenue cycle operations.
• Knowledge of healthcare reimbursement methodologies, payer operations, and regulatory requirements impacting dental operations.
• Ability to develop and maintain collaborative relationships with vendors, payer organizations, and community partners to support operational excellence and business growth.
• Strong business acumen with the ability to analyze operational and financial data to improve departmental performance and support organizational sustainability.
• Ability to develop and implement operational strategies that improve patient access, provider productivity, chair utilization, financial performance, and patient satisfaction.
• Ability to evaluate operational metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) and develop action plans that improve business performance.
• Ability to lead organizational change, standardize workflows across multiple dental locations, and implement continuous operational improvements.
• Demonstrated leadership skills with the ability to coach, mentor, influence, collaborate with, and develop employees while promoting accountability, teamwork, and professional growth.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills with the ability to prioritize competing demands and make sound operational decisions.
• Strong interpersonal, customer service, and communication skills with the ability to build collaborative relationships with providers, staff, patients, community partners, payers, and external organizations.
• Ability to collaborate effectively across Medical, Behavioral Health, Pharmacy, Womens Health, Nutrition, and other service lines to support integrated, whole-person healthcare.
• Proficiency with electronic health records, practice management software, Microsoft Office Suite, and other business applications.
• Demonstrates professionalism, integrity, accountability, cultural competence, and commitment to creating an inclusive workplace where employees, patients, and community members are treated with dignity, fairness, and respect.
• Working knowledge of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), and the ability to appropriately leverage AI tools to improve operational efficiency, accuracy, and decision-making while maintaining data privacy and confidentiality.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Provides strategic and operational leadership for Marana Healths dental service line by partnering with the Senior Dental Director to improve business performance, patient access, service line growth, financial sustainability, and the overall patient experience.
• Accountable for achieving operational, financial, and service line performance goals through effective planning, resource management, and continuous process improvement.
• Leads initiatives to improve patient access, provider utilization, scheduling efficiency, chair utilization, and overall clinic performance.
• Identifies and implements workflow improvements that increase patient acquisition, patient retention, provider capacity, and organizational efficiency.
• Partners with Marketing, community partners, referral sources, and organizational leadership to expand awareness of dental services, strengthen referral relationships, and support continued service line growth.
• Develops and maintains collaborative relationships with AHCCCS health plans, commercial payers, referral partners, community organizations, vendors, and external stakeholders to improve patient access, referral pathways, authorization processes, operational performance, and service line growth.
• Provides operational leadership, coaching, and guidance to support consistent workflows, employee engagement, accountability, and operational excellence.
• Provides operational oversight of the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile dental program, including coordination of schedules, staffing, equipment, operational workflows, community partnerships, and collaboration with internal and external stakeholders to expand access to care and support organizational outreach initiatives.
• Oversees patient flow, provider scheduling, and clinic operations to maximize productivity, efficiency, and patient satisfaction.
• Oversees front-office operations, including scheduling templates, registration accuracy, insurance verification, authorization workflows, referral management, billing support, collections, cash handling, reconciliation, and reporting processes.
• Develops strategies to improve third next available appointments, same-day scheduling opportunities, referral conversion, no-show reduction, and provider schedule utilization.
• Monitors operational dashboards and key performance indicators, including provider productivity, chair utilization, patient access, third next available appointments, cancellation rates, no-show rates, payer mix, collections, financial performance, and patient satisfaction, and develops action plans to improve business performance.
• Partners closely with Revenue Cycle, Finance, Contracting, Patient Financial Services, and payer representatives to improve billing processes, reimbursement, revenue capture, reduce denials, identify payer trends, and resolve operational barriers impacting financial performance.
• Partners with Eligibility Services to maximize insurance enrollment, AHCCCS eligibility, Marketplace enrollment, Sliding Fee Scale utilization, and financial assistance opportunities to improve patient access and support organizational sustainability.
• Monitors revenue cycle activities to ensure accurate documentation, charge reconciliation, reimbursement, financial accountability, and compliance with organizational standards.
• Assists with budget planning, purchasing, vendor management, inventory oversight, equipment planning, and resource allocation to support efficient and fiscally responsible clinic operations.
• Ensures dental equipment, technology, supplies, and other operational resources are maintained to support uninterrupted patient care.
• Leads efforts to strengthen integration between Dental, Medical, Behavioral Health, Pharmacy, Womens Health, Nutrition, and other service lines to support whole-person healthcare.
• Collaborates with operational and clinical leaders to improve cross-service referrals, warm handoffs, care coordination, and multi-service utilization.
• Develops, implements, and standardizes departmental policies, procedures, workflows, and best practices across dental locations to improve consistency, scalability, regulatory compliance, and service delivery.
• Leads continuous quality improvement initiatives through workflow analysis, performance data review, and implementation of best practices that improve efficiency, patient experience, and business performance.
• Conducts audits to ensure regulatory compliance, financial accountability, data integrity, and adherence to organizational policies and procedures.
• Coordinates departmental meetings and communicates organizational initiatives, operational priorities, performance expectations, and strategic objectives.
• Identifies staff training and professional development opportunities to strengthen leadership, operational capabilities, and employee growth.
• Investigates and resolves employee, patient, provider, and operational concerns in a timely, professional, and solution-focused manner.
• Maintains effective communication and collaborative relationships with providers, leadership, internal departments, external organizations, community partners, and payers.
• Oversees clinic safety initiatives, emergency preparedness activities, and required safety drills while promoting a safe environment for patients, visitors, and staff.
• Maintains knowledge of healthcare regulations, reimbursement requirements, payer requirements, and industry best practices to support effective clinic leadership.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Benefits:

Marana Health's vision is to be the premier provider and employer in community health. To support our mission and vision in our community, Marana Health believes health and well-being must start at home. Therefore, employees have many opportunities to care for our own health and wellness with benefits such as:

Medical, Dental, and Vision

403(b) with employer contribution

Short-term disability and other benefits

Paid time off including 11 holidays plus vacation and sick leave accrual

Paid bereavement, jury duty, and community service time

Education reimbursement ($3,000 per year for full-time)

Marana Health will recruit, hire, train, and promote persons in all job titles without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. In addition, all personnel actions such as compensation, promotion, demotion, benefits, transfers, staff reductions, terminations, reinstatement and rehire, company-sponsored training, education and tuition assistance, and social and recreational programs will be administered in accordance with the principles of equal employment opportunity.