Programme Director – Vaud Electronic Patient Record (DPIVD)

About the job

The Programme Director is responsible for the strategic, financial and operational management of the implementation programme for the EPIC electronic patient record across 12 hospitals in the Canton of Vaud.

He/she ensures the success of the programme while respecting the objectives of care quality, patient safety, operational performance, as well as time and budget constraints, while supporting the transformation of practices and organisations.

He/she plays a key role in cohesion between partner hospitals and is their primary point of contact.

He/she leads all implementation teams and subcontractors involved in the programme, representing approximately 160 FTEs, then the operational teams (around 100 FTEs) after stabilisation.

Fixed-term contract until the end of the implementation and stabilisation phase (estimated December 2029)

Main missions

1. Strategic programme management

• Define and carry the strategic vision of the programme in alignment with the cantonal strategy and the objectives of the 12 institutions.
• Translate this vision into a roadmap, action plans, milestones, deliverables and performance indicators.
• Ensure alignment with the objectives of care pathway transformation and practice standardisation.
• Listen to the needs of the 12 institutions and translate them into priorities consistent with the programme’s objectives.
• Be the primary contact for the general management of the institutions.
• Develop and maintain a sustainable strategic relationship with the software vendor and key partners.

2. Governance and overall programme management

• Establish and manage robust governance (committees, decision-making processes, reporting), in connection with the decree establishing the DPI VD programme.
• Assume overall responsibility for the programme: scope, schedule, budget, resources and quality.
• Ensure regulatory compliance and adherence to standards.
• Oversee the management of a significant budget (CHF 207 million) and ensure conditions for the expected return on investment are met.
• Make necessary trade-offs between local needs of institutions and the programme’s standardisation objectives.

3. Leadership and transformation

• Provide strong and inspiring executive leadership to teams and stakeholders.
• Lead and unite a multidisciplinary implementation organisation composed of internal and external resources.
• Unite and lead a large implementation team with business and technical profiles.
• Bring together stakeholders around a common vision and shared objectives, including within the 12 hospitals.
• Promote a culture of innovation, continuous improvement and digital transformation.
• Support organisational changes (processes, roles, skills).

4. Stakeholder coordination

• Manage a broad ecosystem of internal and external stakeholders and coordinate multidisciplinary teams (business, medical, nursing, IT, external partners).
• Develop trusting relationships with management, healthcare professionals and partners.
• Closely involve clinical leaders in defining the programme’s structural choices.
• Ensure effective communication and strong user engagement.
• Maintain the relationship with the main supplier.

5. Change management

• Define and manage the change management strategy.
• Encourage user adoption and transformation of practices.
• Oversee communication, training and support arrangements.
• Create conditions for sustainable system adoption.

6. Risk, quality and performance management

• Identify and manage risks, dependencies and critical issues.
• Ensure the quality, safety and robustness of the deployed system.
• Ensure programme decisions are primarily guided by care quality and safety imperatives.
• Monitor performance indicators and expected benefits of the programme.
• Implement corrective actions if necessary.

7. Benefits realisation and value creation

• Define with institutions the expected clinical, operational, organisational and financial benefits of the programme.
• Establish mechanisms to measure and monitor the realisation of these benefits.
• Ensure progressive achievement of expected results throughout the programme and after deployment.
• Regularly report to the Programme Committee on the progress of value creation generated by the programme.

8. Deployment and continuous improvement

• Manage key phases of the programme: scoping, design, construction, deployment, go-live and stabilisation.
• Ensure transition to operational mode (run).
• Guarantee the sustainable embedding of new operating modes.
• Deploy a structured continuous improvement approach post-implementation.

Profile sought

Minimum requirements

• Master’s degree or equivalent (health, information systems, management, engineering or transformation).
• Significant experience (>10 years) in managing complex, cross-functional and multi-stakeholder programmes.
• Proven experience in organisational transformation and change management.
• Experience in a complex, highly regulated environment involving multiple stakeholders.

Desirable requirements

• Confirmed experience in the hospital or healthcare sector.
• Confirmed experience in large-scale EPR/EHR system implementation, ideally EPIC.
• Experience managing programmes involving multiple autonomous organisations.
• Excellent interpersonal skills to interact with software vendors, suppliers, public authorities and senior management members.

Key skills

• Strategic leadership and ability to influence at executive level.
• Excellent skills in managing complex programmes.
• Strong mastery of programme and project methodologies as well as governance, quality, risk management and benefits realisation issues.
• Ability to lead large multidisciplinary teams.
• Communication, negotiation and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to link management committees, public authorities and operational teams.
• Good understanding of hospital information systems, interoperability and cybersecurity.
• Ability to operate in complex and transforming environments.
• Fluency in French and English (working languages); German is an asset.

Positioning

• Engagement by the Federation of Vaud Hospitals (FHV) on behalf of the DPI VD Programme Committee
• Direct functional interactions with the DPI VD Programme Committee which sets objectives, supports and evaluates.
• Management of all implementation teams and external partners involved in the programme.
• Cross-cutting role covering all partner institutions and the programme ecosystem.
• Position based at Route de Berne 52 in Lausanne, with frequent travel to all concerned hospitals and the FHVi

This position is open subject to the entry into force of the "Vaud Electronic Patient Record" decrees. The engagement will be concluded after the decrees come into effect.