Position Summary:

The VP, Innovation and AI Strategy is a member of the IS&T Sr. Leadership Team, and is responsible for two large-scale portfolios, and their complementary intersections: Innovation and AI. The VP, Innovation and AI Strategy is responsible for technology centric innovation, in an organization striving to transform healthcare.

The role will lead cross functional teams across matrix environments to ensure AI solutions are effectively integrated into clinical and operational processes, to enhance patient outcomes, and empower data-driven decision-making. At this intersection of Innovation and AI, the VP, Innovation and AI strategy manages a software development team, that supports internal innovation initiatives, rapid prototyping, a portfolio of legacy applications, and future AI development efforts. The role partners both internally and externally to the organization, and a deep understanding of AI technologies, healthcare regulations, and emerging industry trends is essential for success in this role.

Key Responsibilities:

Talent Leadership:
• Effectively recruits and retains talent for continuous support of the aligned business areas.
• Fosters a team-based environment that collaborates across multiple disciplines to focus on continuous improvement and engagement.
• Monitors and recognizes performance of team members and supports people in professional development.
• Engages with team members to answer day to day operational questions and guidance.

Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement:
• Work closely with the CDIO and other executive leaders to align AI strategies with broader IT and business transformation goals.
• Build partnerships with academic institutions, AI research labs, and healthcare technology companies to stay ahead of industry advancements.
• Advocate for a culture of innovation, fostering AI and tech literacy and adoption across the organization.

AI Strategy & Leadership:
• Champions and operates the AI Center of Excellence to concentrate resources needed to evaluate, select, implement and monitor AI tools in an ethical, responsible way. The AI COE serves to educate our communities with the ‘art of the possible’ based on advances in AI, and novel applications.
• Working with peers on the IS&T Sr. Leadership Team, evangelizes and promotes initiatives to transform care delivery, quality and safety, patient experience and operational efficiency.
• Develop and implement a comprehensive AI strategy aligned with the organization's business and digital transformation goals. Designs strategy that aligns internal/external innovation ecosystems.
• Oversees the design, development, and deployment of AI models and solutions, ensuring scalability and integration with existing systems.
• Builds and leads a cross-functional team of data scientists, engineers, and healthcare professionals to build AI-powered tools and platforms for healthcare applications.
• Establishes frameworks for AI governance, risk management, and model monitoring to ensure responsible AI usage.
• Partners with key internal stakeholders; cultivate external relationships accretive to the innovation strategy.
• Identifies and evaluates emerging AI trends and technologies to drive innovation in healthcare services, operations, and patient care.
• Identifies opportunities for strategic partnerships with startups, academic institutions, and technology providers.

Innovation & Digital Transformation:
• Working closely with the VP, Performance Improvement, the role evaluates internal innovations against external markets. Develops go-to-market and/or business plans to expand dissemination and value.
• Collaborate with clinical, IT, and business stakeholders to identify high-impact AI use cases across the organization.
• Cultivates industry partnerships with vendors to develop new or extend existing solutions.
• Supports RRH’s portfolio of startup companies, serving as the connector, navigator and champion advocating for bidirectional interests.
• Develops and operates accelerator/incubator program in collaboration with external partner Rochester Institute of Technology.
• Lead healthcare innovation initiatives, enhancing patient experiences, predictive analytics, and personalized medicine.
• Collaborate with clinical, IT, and business stakeholders to identify high-impact AI use cases across the organization.
• Drive automation and process optimization using AI, machine learning (ML), large-language-models and natural language processing (NLP) solutions.

Finance and Regulatory:
• Collaborates with leadership to achieve or exceed expected financial performance.
• Partners with financial subject matter experts in budget formulation and variance analysis.
• Monitors operations to ensure compliance with budget and financial improvement initiatives.
• Collaborates with subject matter experts and leadership to ensure compliance with quality and all regulatory and reporting requirements.

Desired Attributes:
• Advanced degree (MS, PhD, MBA) in AI, Data Science, Healthcare Informatics, Computer Science, or a related field preferred.
• Experience with Epic, clinical decision support tools, and real-time patient monitoring solutions.
• Familiarity with cloud-based AI platforms (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud), NLP, and generative AI models.
• Proven track record of implementing solutions in a healthcare setting, such as predictive analytics, clinical decision support, or workflow automation.
• Strong understanding of healthcare data, interoperability standards (FHIR, HL7), and compliance requirements.
• Experience in leading cross-functional teams and managing projects from concept to deployment.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Knowledge of cloud computing, big data, and digital health trends is a plus.

Minimum Qualifications:
• Bachelor's degree required.
• 10+ years of experience in healthcare technology, AI strategy, or innovation leadership roles required.
 

EDUCATION:

LICENSES / CERTIFICATIONS: 

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

For disease specific care programs refer to the program specific requirements of the department for further specifications on experience and educational expectations, including continuing education requirements.

Any physical requirements reported by a prospective employee and/or employee’s physician or delegate will be considered for accommodations.

PAY RANGE:

CITY:

POSTAL CODE:

The listed base pay range is a good faith representation of current potential base pay for a successful full time applicant. It may be modified in the future and eligible for additional pay components. Pay is determined by factors including experience, relevant qualifications, specialty, internal equity, location, and contracts.

Rochester Regional Health is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
Minority/Female/Disability/Veterans by a prospective employee and/or employee’s Physician or delegate will be considered for accommodations.