Senior Director of Education

Position Overview

The American College of Lifestyle Medicine is seeking a Senior Director of Education to lead its education enterprise in a remote, full-time role. This senior leader will shape the long-range vision, operating model, and strategic direction for a broad set of learning programs that support the spread of lifestyle medicine throughout healthcare.

The position sits on the senior leadership team and is accountable for building forward-looking, evidence-based educational experiences that help healthcare professionals apply lifestyle medicine in real clinical settings. The role combines strategy, portfolio oversight, financial responsibility, team leadership, and cross-functional collaboration to advance ACLM’s organizational goals.

In addition, this leader acts as the organization’s key education thought partner, spotting new developments in healthcare learning, encouraging innovation in instructional design, and helping maintain ACLM’s standing as a global leader in lifestyle medicine education.

Reporting Structure

This role reports to the Chief Integration Officer and is part of the Education department.

Core Leadership Duties

• Contribute as a senior leader to enterprise strategy, yearly planning, budget development, and organization-wide initiatives.
• Create and implement a long-term direction for the education portfolio that supports ACLM’s mission and strategic plan.
• Guide executive leadership on new opportunities, risks, and trends shaping healthcare education and workforce development.
• Build a department culture centered on collaboration, innovation, accountability, and ongoing improvement.

Education Portfolio Strategy, Innovation, and Quality

• Set strategic direction for ACLM’s education portfolio, including academic offerings, continuing education, and maintenance of certification for physicians and other health professionals.
• Determine which programs should be expanded, redesigned, launched, or retired based on mission fit, learner needs, financial viability, and market demand.
• Promote modern learning methods such as competency-based education, digital learning, artificial intelligence, simulation, coaching, and experiential formats.
• Ensure programs meet strong standards for scientific accuracy, instructional quality, learner engagement, and measurable results.
• Maintain alignment with accreditation rules, regulatory expectations, and evidence-based education practices.
• Define and track performance indicators that measure learner success, program effectiveness, and broader organizational impact.
• Use data, stakeholder input, research, and evaluation findings to drive continuous improvement.
• Review and adopt new technologies and learning platforms that improve reach, access, inclusion, and scalability.

Financial Stewardship and Portfolio Performance

• Prepare and manage the annual education budget.
• Track portfolio performance using financial, operational, and educational measures.
• Use resources responsibly while maximizing educational value and long-term sustainability.
• Identify opportunities for new revenue, strategic investment, grant support, and additional education products.

People Leadership and Organizational Development

• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing Education team committed to excellence and innovation.
• Assess staffing needs, organizational capacity, and future workforce requirements.
• Strengthen leadership capability through coaching, succession planning, and professional growth.
• Encourage a workplace culture that values inclusion, creativity, collaboration, and continuous learning.
• Give operational leaders clear authority, accountability, and decision-making ownership.

Strategic Partnerships and External Representation

• Represent ACLM as a national voice in healthcare education through conferences, presentations, publications, and partnerships.
• Build relationships with health systems, academic institutions, residency programs, specialty societies, employers, government bodies, and international organizations, in coordination with other departments.
• Seek opportunities that broaden ACLM’s educational reach and support the growth of lifestyle medicine.
• Work with external partners to strengthen ACLM’s reputation as a leading authority in lifestyle medicine education.

Supervisory Scope

The role provides oversight for the Education division, including directors, managers, instructional designers, education operations staff, and other assigned team members. Responsibilities include organizational design, workforce planning, performance management, coaching, succession planning, and professional development.

Success Measures

• Delivery of ACLM’s strategic education goals.
• Growth, sustainability, and financial strength of the education portfolio.
• Strong learner satisfaction, participation, and educational outcomes.
• Effective creation, launch, and management of innovative education programs.
• High employee engagement, retention, and professional development.
• Productive collaboration across functions in support of organizational priorities.
• Recognition of ACLM as a premier provider of lifestyle medicine education in the United States and abroad.

Required Qualifications

• A master’s degree in education, healthcare administration, public health, organizational leadership, or a closely related field.
• Diplomate of lifestyle medicine status.
• At least 10 years of steadily increasing leadership responsibility in healthcare education, higher education, continuing professional education, or professional association management.
• Proven ability to guide complex education portfolios and multidisciplinary teams.
• Background in leading organizational change, strategic planning, and cross-functional work.
• Strong executive-level communication, relationship management, and leadership capability.

Preferred Background

• A doctoral degree in education, healthcare, organizational leadership, or a related field.
• Experience with physician education, graduate medical education, continuing medical education, certification programs, or competency-based learning.
• Exposure to nonprofit healthcare organizations or professional medical associations.
• Knowledge of lifestyle medicine and the changing healthcare workforce.
• Familiarity with accreditation, learning management systems, education technology, and program evaluation.
• Demonstrated success in building education programs that generate revenue and create impact.
• Recognition as a leader in lifestyle medicine and behavior change education.
• Leadership experience across academic, clinical, and nonprofit settings.
• Advanced understanding of accreditation, credentialing, and professional education systems.
• Proven innovation in digital learning and future-oriented education design.
• Strong expertise in behavior change science.

Travel Requirements

Occasional travel within the United States and internationally is expected for conferences, organizational meetings, partnership development, and representing ACLM.

Benefits and Employment Terms

• This is a full-time, exempt position.
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage, plus health savings account and life insurance.
• Retirement plan with employer contribution.
• Paid time off, including vacation, sick leave, and holidays.
• Paid parental leave.
• Professional development opportunities.
• Flexible remote work arrangement.

Application Requirement

A cover letter must be submitted along with the resume. Applications without a cover letter will not be reviewed.

Equal Opportunity Statement

ACLM is committed to equal opportunity and values a diverse workforce. Applicants from all backgrounds are encouraged to apply.