Associate Director HR Strategy and Transformation

Overview

At SCA Health, we believe health care is about people – the patients we serve, the physicians we support and the teammates who push us forward. Behind every successful facility, procedure or innovation is a team of 15,000+ professionals working together, learning from each other and living out the mission, vision and values that define our organization.

As part of Optum, SCA Health is redefining specialty care by developing more accessible, patient-centered practice solutions for a network of more than 370 ambulatory surgical centers, over 400 specialty physician practice clinics and numerous labs and surgical hospitals. Our work spans a broad spectrum of services, all designed to support physicians, health systems and employers in delivering efficient, value-based care to patients without compromising quality or autonomy.

What sets SCA Health apart isn’t just what we do, it’s how we do it . Each decision we make is rooted in seven core values : Clinical quality Integrity Service excellence Teamwork Accountability Continuous improvement Inclusion Our values aren’t empty words – they inform our attitudes, actions and culture. At SCA Health, your work directly impacts patients, physicians and communities.

Here, you’ll find opportunities to build your career alongside a team that values your expertise, invests in your success, and shares a common mission to care for patients, serve physicians and improve health care in America. At SCA Health, we offer a comprehensive benefits package to support your health, well-being, and financial future.

Our offerings include medical, dental, and vision coverage, 401k plan with company match, paid time off, life and disability insurance, and more. Please visit, https://careers.sca.health/why-sca, to learn more about our benefits. Your ideas should inspire change. If you join our team, they will .

Responsibilities

The Associate Director, HR Strategy & Transformation will help shape how HR plans, prioritizes, governs, and delivers its most important work. Sitting within HR Strategy and Transformation, this high-impact role partners across HR COEs, HRBPs, HR Operations, Technology, Finance, Legal, Compliance, and business stakeholders to lead complex HR initiatives that advance business growth.

This role serves as the connective tissue across HR by bringing structure to ambiguity, connecting the right partners, and moving teams from fragmented priorities and unclear ownership to aligned decisions, practical solutions, accountable execution, and measurable outcomes. The ideal candidate is an HR-fluent strategic operator who takes ownership for outcomes, quickly connects dots across functions, provides structured recommendations to senior leaders, and drives work from problem definition and solution design, through implementation, adoption, value realization, and sustainment.

Success in this role requires a leader who can solve problems, turn ambiguity into structure, influence enterprise priorities, and create the operating discipline HR needs to deliver measurable value through its most important work. Reporting Relationship This role reports to the Senior Director, HR M&A, Strategy and Transformation and partners closely with HR transformation leadership, HRLT sponsors, COE leaders, HRBPs, Change Management, Technology, Finance, Legal, Compliance, HR Operations, and business stakeholders.

Strategy, Transformation, and Enterprise HR Delivery Key Responsibilities Strategic Initiative Leadership and Solution Design Own high-priority HR initiatives from concept through sustainment. Lead undefined or emergent HR initiatives by clarifying the problem to solve, shaping the solution, building the program structure, aligning stakeholders, partnering with SMEs, establishing accountability, and driving execution through implementation, adoption, measurement, and sustainment.

Translate ambiguity into clear paths. Partner with HR leaders and initiative sponsors to clarify objectives, outcomes, trade-offs, dependencies, risks, decisions needed, success measures, and sustainment requirements. Frame problems and drive practical solutions. Ask the right questions, identify root causes, assess options, build recommendations, and move teams toward aligned decisions and executable solutions.

Create order, momentum, and accountability in complex work. Establish the structure, routines, decision forums, ownership model, and execution discipline needed to move work forward with urgency, transparency, and quality. Governance, Execution Discipline, and Enterprise Alignment Serve as a neutral, enterprise-minded connector.

Connect workstreams across HR COEs, HRBPs, HR Operations, Technology, Finance, Legal, Compliance, and business partners to balance priorities, surface trade-offs, reduce duplication, resolve barriers, and keep stakeholders focused on the highest-value HR and business outcomes. Lead governance, decision-making, and escalation.

Design and operate decision-oriented governance routines, prepare leadership materials, clarify decisions needed, and help teams move through points of misalignment or barriers that could slow execution or dilute impact. Build scalable HR transformation infrastructure. Create repeatable tools, templates, playbooks, dashboards, reporting standards, implementation guides, governance cadences, and operating routines that strengthen how HR delivers and improves strategic work over time.

Adoption, Insights, and Continuous Improvement Enable adoption, readiness, and sustainment. Partner with change management, communications, training, and functional teams to build readiness plans, manager enablement, stakeholder engagement, feedback loops, adoption measures, and post-launch stabilization into initiative plans.

Use data, insights, and communication to drive action. Monitor project health, outcomes, adoption measures, risks, dependencies, stakeholder feedback, and capacity constraints while preparing concise, executive-ready updates and recommendations that support data-informed decisions. Continuously improve how HR initiatives are delivered.

Capture lessons learned, identify repeatable practices, refine tools and templates, and apply insights to strengthen future planning, execution, adoption, and sustainment.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or related field. 8+ years of experience across multiple HR functions, HR transformation, HR strategic initiatives, business consulting, or a related role. Working knowledge of HR functions and operating models, including HR Operations, Talent, Total Rewards, HR Business Partners, HR Technology, Compliance, Service Delivery, Change Management, etc.

Experience leading complex, cross-functional work from problem definition through solution design, implementation, adoption, and sustainment. Strong ownership mindset with the ability to bring structure to ambiguity, drive decisions, remove barriers, and deliver measurable outcomes. Ability to build trusted relationships, influence without authority, and align stakeholders in a matrixed environment.

Strong communication skills with the ability to translate complex issues into clear recommendations, options, trade-offs, decisions needed, and action plans. Strong problem-solving skills, including the ability to identify root causes, structure options, and turn ideas into executable solutions. Comfort working in ambiguity, organizing complexity, and balancing strategic thinking with hands-on execution.

Proficiency with collaboration, reporting, HR, and project or program management tools.

Preferred Qualifications

Prior experience in management consulting, HR strategic initiatives, HR transformation, or multi-functional HR program leadership. Experience leading initiatives related to HR transformation, compliance, operating model redesign, teammate experience, workforce management, talent management, or cross functional HR initiatives.

Experience using technology, automation, AI-enabled tools, digital collaboration platforms, or process improvement methods to make work more effective. Critical Capabilities HR-fluent problem solver: Understands how people, process, technology, compliance, service delivery, teammate experience, and business needs intersect.

Complexity navigator: Brings structure to ambiguous, fragmented, or high-priority work by identifying what matters, simplifying the path forward, and creating momentum. Enterprise connector: Aligns the right partners, balances trade-offs, clarifies ownership, and helps teams move through complexity and points of misalignment.

Accountable execution leader: Creates ownership, removes barriers, drives decisions, and ensures work moves forward with urgency, discipline, and measurable impact. Change and adoption champion: Anticipates stakeholder impacts, readiness needs, behavior change, manager enablement, and sustainment requirements early in the work.

Executive communicator: Turns complex work into clear, concise, leadership-ready insights, risks, recommendations, decisions needed, and next steps. Continuous improvement builder: Uses feedback, metrics, lessons learned, and leading practices to improve how HR delivers strategic work overtime. Success Measures Strategic HR and transformation initiatives move from ambiguous concept to clear solution design, accountable execution, adoption, and measurable outcomes.

Complex problems are clearly defined, solution options are structured, decisions are made at the right level, and work progresses with visible ownership and accountability. Stakeholders report greater clarity, alignment, and confidence in how HR priorities are planned, governed, and delivered. Governance routines are decision-oriented and focused on the highest-value risks, trade-offs, barriers, and decisions.

HR teams use consistent tools, templates, routines, dashboards, and reporting standards that improve execution quality and reduce duplication. Adoption, readiness, and sustainment are built into initiative plans and measured after implementation. Programs demonstrate measurable HR or business value, including improved efficiency, risk mitigation, teammate experience, process consistency, capability maturity, or leader decision-making.

USD $130,000.00/Yr. USD $160,000.00/Yr. The Associate Director, HR Strategy & Transformation will help shape how HR plans, prioritizes, governs, and delivers its most important work. Sitting within HR Strategy and Transformation, this high-impact role partners across HR COEs, HRBPs, HR Operations, Technology, Finance, Legal, Compliance, and business stakeholders to lead complex HR initiatives that advance business growth.

This role serves as the connective tissue across HR by bringing structure to ambiguity, connecting the right partners, and moving teams from fragmented priorities and unclear ownership to aligned decisions, practical solutions, accountable execution, and measurable outcomes. The ideal candidate is an HR-fluent strategic operator who takes ownership for outcomes, quickly connects dots across functions, provides structured recommendations to senior leaders, and drives work from problem definition and solution design, through implementation, adoption, value realization, and sustainment.

Success in this role requires a leader who can solve problems, turn ambiguity into structure, influence enterprise priorities, and create the operating discipline HR needs to deliver measurable value through its most important work. Reporting Relationship This role reports to the Senior Director, HR M&A, Strategy and Transformation and partners closely with HR transformation leadership, HRLT sponsors, COE leaders, HRBPs, Change Management, Technology, Finance, Legal, Compliance, HR Operations, and business stakeholders.

Strategy, Transformation, and Enterprise HR Delivery Key Responsibilities Strategic Initiative Leadership and Solution Design Own high-priority HR initiatives from concept through sustainment. Lead undefined or emergent HR initiatives by clarifying the problem to solve, shaping the solution, building the program structure, aligning stakeholders, partnering with SMEs, establishing accountability, and driving execution through implementation, adoption, measurement, and sustainment.

Translate ambiguity into clear paths. Partner with HR leaders and initiative sponsors to clarify objectives, outcomes, trade-offs, dependencies, risks, decisions needed, success measures, and sustainment requirements. Frame problems and drive practical solutions. Ask the right questions, identify root causes, assess options, build recommendations, and move teams toward aligned decisions and executable solutions.

Create order, momentum, and accountability in complex work. Establish the structure, routines, decision forums, ownership model, and execution discipline needed to move work forward with urgency, transparency, and quality. Governance, Execution Discipline, and Enterprise Alignment Serve as a neutral, enterprise-minded connector.

Connect workstreams across HR COEs, HRBPs, HR Operations, Technology, Finance, Legal, Compliance, and business partners to balance priorities, surface trade-offs, reduce duplication, resolve barriers, and keep stakeholders focused on the highest-value HR and business outcomes. Lead governance, decision-making, and escalation.

Design and operate decision-oriented governance routines, prepare leadership materials, clarify decisions needed, and help teams move through points of misalignment or barriers that could slow execution or dilute impact. Build scalable HR transformation infrastructure. Create repeatable tools, templates, playbooks, dashboards, reporting standards, implementation guides, governance cadences, and operating routines that strengthen how HR delivers and improves strategic work over time.

Adoption, Insights, and Continuous Improvement Enable adoption, readiness, and sustainment. Partner with change management, communications, training, and functional teams to build readiness plans, manager enablement, stakeholder engagement, feedback loops, adoption measures, and post-launch stabilization into initiative plans.

Use data, insights, and communication to drive action. Monitor project health, outcomes, adoption measures, risks, dependencies, stakeholder feedback, and capacity constraints while preparing concise, executive-ready updates and recommendations that support data-informed decisions. Continuously improve how HR initiatives are delivered.

Capture lessons learned, identify repeatable practices, refine tools and templates, and apply insights to strengthen future planning, execution, adoption, and sustainment. Required Qualifications Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or related field. 8+ years of experience across multiple HR functions, HR transformation, HR strategic initiatives, business consulting, or a related role.

Working knowledge of HR functions and operating models, including HR Operations, Talent, Total Rewards, HR Business Partners, HR Technology, Compliance, Service Delivery, Change Management, etc. Experience leading complex, cross-functional work from problem definition through solution design, implementation, adoption, and sustainment.

Strong ownership mindset with the ability to bring structure to ambiguity, drive decisions, remove barriers, and deliver measurable outcomes. Ability to build trusted relationships, influence without authority, and align stakeholders in a matrixed environment. Strong communication skills with the ability to translate complex issues into clear recommendations, options, trade-offs, decisions needed, and action plans.

Strong problem-solving skills, including the ability to identify root causes, structure options, and turn ideas into executable solutions. Comfort working in ambiguity, organizing complexity, and balancing strategic thinking with hands-on execution. Proficiency with collaboration, reporting, HR, and project or program management tools.

Preferred Qualifications

Prior experience in management consulting, HR strategic initiatives, HR transformation, or multi-functional HR program leadership. Experience leading initiatives related to HR transformation, compliance, operating model redesign, teammate experience, workforce management, talent management, or cross functional HR initiatives.

Experience using technology, automation, AI-enabled tools, digital collaboration platforms, or process improvement methods to make work more effective. Critical Capabilities HR-fluent problem solver: Understands how people, process, technology, compliance, service delivery, teammate experience, and business needs intersect.

Complexity navigator: Brings structure to ambiguous, fragmented, or high-priority work by identifying what matters, simplifying the path forward, and creating momentum. Enterprise connector: Aligns the right partners, balances trade-offs, clarifies ownership, and helps teams move through complexity and points of misalignment.

Accountable execution leader: Creates ownership, removes barriers, drives decisions, and ensures work moves forward with urgency, discipline, and measurable impact. Change and adoption champion: Anticipates stakeholder impacts, readiness needs, behavior change, manager enablement, and sustainment requirements early in the work.

Executive communicator: Turns complex work into clear, concise, leadership-ready insights, risks, recommendations, decisions needed, and next steps. Continuous improvement builder: Uses feedback, metrics, lessons learned, and leading practices to improve how HR delivers strategic work overtime. Success Measures Strategic HR and transformation initiatives move from ambiguous concept to clear solution design, accountable execution, adoption, and measurable outcomes.

Complex problems are clearly defined, solution options are structured, decisions are made at the right level, and work progresses with visible ownership and accountability. Stakeholders report greater clarity, alignment, and confidence in how HR priorities are planned, governed, and delivered. Governance routines are decision-oriented and focused on the highest-value risks, trade-offs, barriers, and decisions.

HR teams use consistent tools, templates, routines, dashboards, and reporting standards that improve execution quality and reduce duplication. Adoption, readiness, and sustainment are built into initiative plans and measured after implementation. Programs demonstrate measurable HR or business value, including improved efficiency, risk mitigation, teammate experience, process consistency, capability maturity, or leader decision-making.