Senior Program Manager - Recruiting and Events, Department of Medicine

Job Description

The Department of Medicine has an outstanding opportunity for a Senior Program Manager, Recruiting and Events to join their team.

About this Opportunity:

Reporting to the Vice Chair for Finance & Administration, the Senior Program Manager, Recruiting and Events leads senior leadership recruitment activities, and events and program management on behalf of the Department of Medicine, helping attract exceptional talent and strengthen engagement across the organization. In this highly collaborative, external-facing role, you will partner with executive leadership, Human Resources, and School of Medicine stakeholders to enhance hiring experiences and advance departmental goals. Serving as a trusted liaison and consultant, you will drive operational excellence, coordinate high-impact events, and help ensure a consistent, professional brand presence across the Department.

Key Responsibilities:

Leadership Recruitment (40%)

• Lead the development, implementation, governance, and continuous improvement of Department senior leader recruitments in partnership with the AHR and HR teams in the Department of Medicine.
• Establish program goals, key performance indicators, performance measures, and reporting frameworks that support data-informed decision making and continuous improvement.
• Identify opportunities to improve candidate experiences through process redesign, workflow optimization, and a focus on relationship-building.
• Serve as a subject matter expert on high-profile recruitments. Advise hiring leaders on recruitment best practices, market conditions, candidate engagement strategies, and workforce trends.
• Partner with the Chair, Vice Chair, Division Chiefs, and departmental leadership to develop search strategies for senior faculty leadership and other critical faculty positions.
• Build and maintain relationships with executive search firms, professional organizations, peer institutions, and external talent networks to strengthen candidate pipelines.
• Develop proactive talent sourcing strategies and maintain talent pools for anticipated leadership vacancies and future workforce needs.
• Coordinate leadership search committee activities, including committee formation, meeting facilitation, candidate evaluations, and search communications.
• Ensure leadership recruitment processes align with institutional values, equity goals, and applicable policies and procedures.
• Develop and implement executive candidate engagement and hospitality strategies that promote the Department as an employer of choice.
• Serve as a primary point of contact for executive-level candidates throughout the recruitment process, providing high-touch customer service and relationship management.
• Coordinate candidate itineraries, stakeholder meetings, presentations, site visits, and interview logistics for complex leadership searches.
• Prepare leadership and search committee members for interviews by developing candidate briefing materials, evaluation tools, and recruitment guidance.
• Monitor leadership recruitment metrics and prepare reports regarding recruitment outcomes, time-to-fill, candidate experience, and hiring trends.
• Conduct post-search assessments and identify opportunities for continuous improvement in executive recruitment processes.
• Partner with Compensation, AHR, and departmental leadership to facilitate offers and negotiations for executive-level positions.
• Support confidential and sensitive recruitment activities requiring a high degree of discretion and independent judgment.

Events Strategy and Program Management (30%)

• Lead the development and implementation of a centralized event management strategy across the Department of Medicine to ensure consistency, efficiency, and alignment with departmental goals.
• Serve as the primary resource for departments, divisions, and administrative units in planning and executing high-quality events.
• Establish and maintain a comprehensive annual events calendar to coordinate activities, minimize scheduling conflicts, and maximize participation.
• Develop, implement, and continuously improve event planning standards, processes, templates, and toolkits to streamline event execution across the department.
• Create and maintain best practices for event logistics, vendor management, registration, communications, budgeting, and attendee experience.
• Ensure all events consistently reflect the Department of Medicine's brand, values, and strategic priorities.
• Curate cohesive event experiences that enhance the department's reputation and reinforce a professional, welcoming, and mission-driven environment.
• Provide strategic consultation and guidance to division leaders, administrators, and event stakeholders on event planning, execution, and branding.
• Build collaborative relationships across the department to align event efforts and promote a unified Department of Medicine presence.
• Monitor compliance with departmental, university, and regulatory requirements related to events and public-facing activities.
• Provides leadership for the Department of Medicine's event management function by centralizing planning activities, standardizing processes, and creating a consistent department-wide approach to event execution.

Hiring Experience, Onboarding, Orientation & Workforce Readiness (20% FTE)

• Lead Department initiatives focused on improving the hiring experience for candidates, hiring managers, and divisions from recruitment through workforce integration.
• Develop and maintain onboarding frameworks, employee journey maps, orientation programs, communications, manager resources, and implementation tools that support a consistent and welcoming employee experience.
• Leverage university systems and design and maintain the infrastructure supporting workforce readiness, including onboarding pathways, required training compliance tracking, accountability measures, reporting dashboards, automated workflows, and employee and manager resources.
• Oversee programs supporting employee integration, onboarding completion, required training completion, and workforce readiness milestones.
• Develop and administer mechanisms to measure candidate, new hire, onboarding, orientation, and hiring manager satisfaction and leverage findings to improve service delivery and program outcomes.
• Collaborate with hiring managers, and departmental leadership to strengthen hiring, onboarding, and workforce integration experiences across DOM.
• Coordinate executive onboarding activities, ensuring new leaders successfully integrate into the Department, School of Medicine, UW Medicine, and broader University community.
• Assist in tracking and reporting on leadership workforce trends, vacancies, retention, and succession risks.
• Support leadership transition planning and onboarding for newly hired senior leaders.
• Serve as the Department's subject matter expert on the leadership hiring experience, onboarding, workforce integration, and employee transition programs.
• Develop and administer mechanisms to assess leadership candidate experience, and onboarding effectiveness, and use findings to improve program outcomes.

Miscellaneous Executive Support (10%)

Support the daily activities and operations of the Chair’s Office; contribute to various initiatives and administrative operations of the Chair’s Office to assure excellent customer service.

• Manage projects and special initiatives on behalf of the Chair.
• Partner with various units to ensure timely follow-up on inquiries, interests, and commitments.
• Compose and draft reports, letters, memoranda, and proofread outgoing correspondence
• Support the effective execution of administrative support of a highly complex and responsible nature to the Department’s leaders

Required Qualifications:
To be considered for this opportunity your application must demonstrate you meet both the minimum qualifications and additional qualifications listed below. Equivalent education and/or experience may substitute for minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license, certification, and/or registration.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business, Communications, Organizational Development, Psychology, or a related field and three years of progressively responsible events and program management, and recruiting experience, including executive-level searches in a complex, highly unionized, and/or academic or healthcare environment.

Applicants who do not meet these qualifications WILL NOT be forwarded to the Hiring Manager.

Additional Qualifications:

• Demonstrated ability to handle sensitive issues and maintain confidentiality.
• Strong proficiency in Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams).
• Ability to manage competing priorities, navigate ambiguity, and exercise independent judgment in problem-solving and decision-making.
• Demonstrated experience partnering with cross-functional partners in a highly complex organization structure.
• Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills; proven ability to influence and advise senior leaders.
• Strong organizational, analytical, and project management skills.
• Strong knowledge of HR principles, particularly recruitment, selection, compliance, and candidate/customer service best practices.
• Demonstrated commitment to promoting a welcoming and inclusive environment.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze data, develop reports, and use metrics to inform decision-making and program improvement.
• Experience managing recruitment processes, onboarding programs, employee experience initiatives, or organizational programs.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Three or more years of progressively responsible experience in human resources, employee experience, or program/project management with increasing scope and ownership.
• Familiarity with Workday HCM or similar HRIS systems.
• Experience with program implementation, analytics, reporting, process improvement, and automation.
• Demonstrated commitment to inclusive practices and positive employee experience.
• Strong skills with UW Academic Human Resources policies and procedures.
• Experience working with applicant tracking systems and HRIS platforms, including Workday or similar systems.
• Knowledge of faculty appointment, promotion, onboarding, credentialing, and academic affairs processes.
• Experience in a large, decentralized university or healthcare system.
• Experience working with faculty leadership, division chiefs, department chairs, or executive-level stakeholders.
• Knowledge of School of Medicine, healthcare, or university administrative environments.

Working Conditions:

• Must have flexibility to meet programmatic needs by adjusting work schedule (including early mornings, evenings, and/or weekends).
• May be required to travel to other UW facilities/campuses on occasion.

About the Team:

The Department of Medicine is the largest department in the School of Medicine with over 3900 staff, faculty, trainees and students and an annual budget of approximately $600,000,000 consisting of patient care revenue, sponsored research funds, endowments and gifts, state funds and affiliated hospital funding associated with the academic programs within the department. The department is made up of eleven subspecialty divisions: Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Cardiology; Gastroenterology; General Internal Medicine; Gerontology & Geriatric Medicine; Hematology- Oncology; Medical Genetics; Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition; Nephrology; Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine; and Rheumatology. These divisions occupy space at multiple sites including University of Washington Medical Center (UWMC), Harborview Medical Center (HMC), Veterans Administration Puget Sound Health Care System (VAPSHCS), Puget Sound Blood Center (PSBC), Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC), Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA), and other locations in the Seattle area.

#UWDeptMedicineJobs

Compensation, Benefits and Position Details

Pay Range Minimum:

$70,764.00 annual

Pay Range Maximum:

$106,140.00 annual

Other Compensation:

-

Benefits:

For information about benefits for this position, visit https://www.washington.edu/jobs/benefits-for-uw-staff/

Shift:

First Shift (United States of America)

Temporary or Regular?

This is a regular position

FTE (Full-Time Equivalent):

100.00%

Union/Bargaining Unit:

Not Applicable

About the UW 

Working at the University of Washington provides a unique opportunity to change lives – on our campuses, in our state and around the world.  

UW employees bring their boundless energy, creative problem-solving skills and dedication to building stronger minds and a healthier world. In return, they enjoy outstanding benefits, opportunities for professional growth and the chance to work in an environment known for its diversity, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits and natural beauty. 

Our Commitment 

The University of Washington is committed to fostering an inclusive, respectful and welcoming community for all. As an equal opportunity employer, the University considers applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, citizenship, sex, pregnancy, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, disability, or veteran status consistent with UW Executive Order No. 81.

To request disability accommodation in the application process, contact the Disability Services Office at 206-543-6450 or [email protected]. 

Applicants considered for this position will be required to disclose if they are the subject of any substantiated findings or current investigations related to sexual misconduct at their current employment and past employment. Disclosure is required under Washington state law.