The Director of Compliance serves as the operational leader and stakeholder of Northwest Permanente’s Compliance Program. The professional in this position is responsible for developing, administering, monitoring, and continuously improving an OIG-aligned healthcare compliance program, specifically related to physician scope of practice. This role partners closely with physician, clinical, operational, and administrative leaders and embeds compliance principles into daily practice and business operations. The Director serves on and oversees the Compliance Committee, provides key reports to executive leadership and the Board of Directors, and drives proactive risk mitigation and accountability.
Major Responsibilities:
- Partners with physician lead and Chief Compliance Officer to provide strategic program oversight of the Northwest Permanente Compliance Program.
- Serves as the Privacy/Security Officer and the Conflict-of-Interest Officer, including for Research.
- Develops and executes annual compliance reports, including comprehensive annual program effectiveness assessments evaluating OIG maturity, resource adequacy, and roadmaps. Manages regular executive and Board committee reporting packages.
- Partners with key stakeholders across NWP and Health plan compliance, legal, human resources, and other departments to ensure excellence in meeting compliance program standards. Assures NWP’s compliance with appliable state and federal laws and regulations.
- Coordinates policy development and review.
- Conducts risk assessments, audits, and analyses to inform and direct leadership across the organization.
- Leads the annual compliance risk assessment and annual audit and monitoring plan, monitor high-risk operational areas, validate corrective action implementations, track repeat findings, and benchmark metrics against peer Permanente Medical Groups (PMG).
- Manages compliance intake pathways and confidential reporting mechanisms (hotlines).
- Conducts investigations into alleged non-compliance, oversee investigation protocols, perform root-cause analyses, and manage self-disclosure protocols when warranted.
- Partners with HR and senior operational leadership to ensure consistent enforcement, non-retaliation protections, and timely closure of corrective action plans (CAPs).
- Collaborates with Northwest Permanente leaders to ensure the operating procedures, systems and standards align with compliance requirements and controls.
- Designs, implements, and tracks compliance training curricula across diverse cohorts, including specialized physician education, workforce/manager modules, new leader onboarding, and Board fiduciary education.
- Works collaboratively with Permanente Federation, other Permanente Medical Groups, clinician groups and national entities on common elements, protocols and guidelines in areas of Compliance Training, Compliance Program Description Development, and Compliance Investigation protocols and guidelines.
Qualifications and Certifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in healthcare administration, business administration, health law, public policy, or a directly related field.
- Minimum ten (10) years of progressive healthcare compliance, audit, or regulatory experience, including five (5) years direct leadership experience or program oversight in a complex healthcare delivery environment. Physician medical group experience preferred.
- Deep mastery of the OIG Seven Elements, fraud/waste/abuse statutes.
- Demonstrated experience and ability to build trusting relationships with physicians, clinicians, support staff, and executive leadership.
- Certified in Healthcare Compliance (CHC) or Certified Compliance & Ethics Professional (CCEP) required within 12 months of hire.
- Proven capability in designing risk assessments, executive dashboards, and audit methodologies.
- Demonstrated consultative, consensus-building, and executive-level presentation skills with clinical and physician leadership.
About Northwest Permanente:
We are the Permanente in Kaiser Permanente. Northwest Permanente is a self-governed, multi-specialty group of more than 1,300 physicians, clinicians, and administrative professionals caring for over 600,000 members in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Together with Kaiser Foundation Health Plans and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, we form Kaiser Permanente of the Northwest, an integrated health care program. Kaiser Permanente is one of the nation's pre-eminent health care systems, a benchmark for comprehensive, integrated, value-based, and high-quality care.
Our Northwest Permanente administrative professionals enjoy a wide range of company sponsored benefits:
- 15% employer contribution to retirement programs, including pension.
- 90% employer-paid health plan
- Tuition Reimbursement
- Child Care Benefits
- Flexible Work Schedules
- Paid Parental Leave
- Self-Care Days + Paid Time Off
Equal Opportunity Employer
Northwest Permanente is an equal opportunity employer committed to fair, respectful, and inclusive workplaces. Applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic or status.
