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Director of Advanced Practice (NP or PA)

Neighborhood Healthcare · Escondido, CA

Posted October 7, 2026

Neighborhood Healthcare - Escondido (Hickory) · 215 S Hickory Street, Escondido, CA, US, 92025

ABOUT US

Community health is about more than just vaccines and checkups. It’s about giving people the resources they need to live their best lives. At Neighborhood, this is our vision: a community where everyone is healthy and happy. We’re with you every step of the way, with the care you need for each of life’s chapters. At Neighborhood, we are Better Together.

As a private, non-profit 501(C) (3) community health organization, we serve over 500k medical, dental, and behavioral health visits from more than 100k people annually. We do this in pursuit of our mission to improve the health and happiness of the communities we serve by providing quality care to all, regardless of situation or circumstance.

Since 1969, our employees have been making this mission a reality. Regardless of the role, our team focuses on being compassionate, having integrity, being professional, always collaborating, and consistently going above and beyond. If this sounds like an organization you would like to be a part of, we would love to meet you.

ROLE OVERVIEW and PURPOSE

The Director of Advanced Practice is a clinical leadership position responsible for advancing the practice, development, engagement, and organizational integration of Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) across Neighborhood Healthcare.

The Director serves as a strategic liaison between APPs and Medical Leadership, ensuring that APP perspectives inform organizational decision-making while also translating organizational priorities into meaningful action within the APP workforce. This role is expected to move beyond identification of concerns by evaluating themes, gathering relevant information, engaging appropriate stakeholders, and developing thoughtful, actionable recommendations for Medical Leadership.

A primary initial responsibility of the Director will be the ongoing stewardship, sustainability, and advancement of the Advanced Practice Training Academy (APTA). The Director will also support APP professional development, leadership development, practice optimization, competency, and care transformation initiatives.

The position will report to the Associate Chief Medical Officer (ACMO).

RESPONSIBILITIES

Advanced Practice Training Academy Leadership

  • Provide ongoing clinical leadership and stewardship of the Advanced Practice Training Academy (APTA)
  • Ensure the APTA program remains sustainable, standardized, and aligned with organizational workforce and clinical priorities
  • Partner with Medical Leadership and operational stakeholders to maintain and continuously improve APTA curriculum, clinical experiences, mentorship, and competency expectations
  • Coordinate and support APTA faculty, preceptors, and mentors
  • Monitor participant progress, outcomes, and feedback and recommend program improvements
  • Develop opportunities for APTA graduates to transition into mentorship, precepting, education, and leadership roles
  • Establish an ongoing process to evaluate program effectiveness and report outcomes to Medical Leadership

APP Liaison to Medical Leadership

  • Serve as a structured, bidirectional liaison between APPs and Medical Leadership
  • Develop mechanisms to understand emerging themes, opportunities, and concerns affecting APP practice across the organization
  • Evaluate concerns to distinguish individual issues from broader organizational or systemic opportunities
  • Gather relevant information and stakeholder perspectives before escalating issues to senior Medical Leadership
  • Present concerns with appropriate context, analysis, potential solutions, and recommendations whenever possible
  • Communicate organizational priorities and Medical Leadership decisions back to APPs in a clear and constructive manner
  • Promote collaboration and shared accountability between APPs, physicians, Medical Leadership, and operational teams
  • Participate in designated Medical Leadership meetings and committees as the organizational leader for advanced practice

APP Professional and Leadership Development

  • Develop and support an organizational strategy for APP professional development
  • Identify APPs interested in leadership, education, quality improvement, specialty practice, and other advanced roles
  • Develop mentorship and leadership-development opportunities for APPs
  • Create pathways for APP participation in organizational committees, quality initiatives, clinical programs, and leadership activities
  • Partner with Medical Leadership to identify and develop future APP leaders and support leadership succession planning
  • Promote professional growth and engagement across the APP workforce

Advanced Practice Optimization and Care Transformation

  • Partner with Medical Leadership to identify opportunities to optimize APP practice and utilization across the organization
  • Participate in developing and implementing team-based models of care
  • Evaluate opportunities to improve access, quality, efficiency, continuity, and patient experience through effective APP utilization
  • Identify unnecessary barriers to APP practice and develop recommendations consistent with regulatory requirements, organizational policy, and patient safety
  • Represent the advanced practice perspective in designing and implementing new clinical programs and care-delivery models
  • Lead or co-lead selected care transformation, quality improvement, or clinical innovation initiatives involving APP practice
  • Support implementation and adoption of approved initiatives across the APP workforce

APP Practice Standards and Competency

  • Partner with Medical Directors, Credentialing, Quality, Human Resources, and other stakeholders to support consistent standards for APP practice
  • Contribute to development and maintenance of APP onboarding and initial competency processes
  • Support development of ongoing competency expectations and professional development resources
  • Assist with developing and standardizing clinical privileging, proctoring, and competency pathways, as appropriate
  • Support maintenance and periodic review of applicable standardized procedures, practice agreements, and other APP practice frameworks
  • Identify organization-wide educational or competency needs based on trends in quality, safety, practice patterns, or clinician feedback
  • Individual clinician supervision, corrective action, and routine performance management remain the responsibility of the clinician's designated Medical Director or supervisor unless specifically delegated

Leadership Expectations

  • The Director of Advanced Practice is expected to function as an organizational clinical leader rather than solely as an advocate or representative for APPs
  • Provide supervision and oversight of the virtual care team
  • The Director is expected to:
    • Approach concerns with curiosity, objectivity, and a solution-oriented mindset
    • Seek to understand multiple perspectives before making recommendations
    • Use available data and organizational context to inform recommendations
    • Differentiate individual concerns from systemic issues requiring organizational intervention
    • Bring forward potential solutions rather than simply escalating problems
    • Support organizational decisions once made, and help implement and communicate them effectively
    • Build collaborative relationships with physicians, APPs, Medical Directors, operational leaders, and senior leadership

Model professionalism, accountability, psychological safety, and constructive communication

Initial Strategic Priorities

  • During the first 12 months, the Director will focus on the following priorities:
    • Establish a sustainable governance, evaluation, and annual operating structure for APTA
    • Develop an organizational APP professional and leadership development framework
    • Establish a structured mechanism for gathering APP feedback and periodically presenting key themes, analysis, and recommendations to Medical Leadership
    • Assess current APP practice and utilization across the organization and identify opportunities for practice optimization
    • Partner with Medical Leadership to strengthen and standardize APP onboarding, competency, and practice expectations
    • Lead or co-lead at least one organizational care transformation, quality improvement, or clinical innovation initiative involving advanced practice

LEADERSHIP EXPECTATIONS

  • Leads with Neighborhood Healthcare's Values in Action, aligning decisions, behaviors, and team priorities with the organization's mission and strategic goals
  • Builds, develops, and retains a high-performing team by recruiting, ensuring appropriate staffing levels and ratios to support organizational goals and operational excellence
  • Establishes clear goals, priorities, and performance expectations, through mentoring, and fostering a compassionate, collaborative, and inclusive work environment while ensuring employees have the resources and support needed to succeed
  • Demonstrates integrity through ethical decision-making, transparent communication, accountability, and consistent application of organizational policies and standards
  • Provides ongoing coaching, recognition, and performance feedback, addressing performance concerns promptly while supporting employee growth and development
  • Ensures accurate administration of employee timecards by reviewing and approving records within established deadlines, resolving discrepancies, and holding employees accountable for prompt and accurate reporting of hours worked
  • Serves as a steward of organizational communication by proactively cascading enterprise-wide initiatives, strategic priorities, site, or department changes through multiple communication channels (Teams, email, in-person meetings, etc.), fostering alignment, engagement and understanding within the site, department, or area of responsibility
  • Champions collaboration and continuous improvement by building strong partnerships, encouraging innovation, and going above and beyond to achieve exceptional outcomes for our employees, patients, and communities

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE

Physician Assistant

  • Master’s degree from an accredited Physician Assistant Program required
  • California Physician Assistant License in good standing required
  • Current California DEA licensure is required and is to be maintained as a condition of employment
  • Current Basic Life Support (BLS) certification through an American Heart Association (AHA)-approved source is required upon hire and must be maintained as a condition of employment
    • AHA-approved courses include an in-person, hands-on skills check with a certified instructor using a mannequin to demonstrate CPR and emergency response techniques
    • Online-only BLS courses without a live skills check do not meet this requirement
  • Board Certification (NCCPA) or board eligible with certification within 12 months of hire required

Nurse Practitioner:

  • Master's degree in nursing, required
  • California Nurse Practitioner License in good standing, required
  • Registered Nurse License in good standing, required
  • Current CA DEA licensure is required and is to be maintained as a condition of employment
  • Current Basic Life Support (BLS) certification through an American Heart Association (AHA)-approved source is required upon hire and must be maintained as a condition of employment.
    • AHA-approved courses include an in-person, hands-on skills check with a certified instructor using a mannequin to demonstrate CPR and emergency response techniques.
    • Online-only BLS courses without a live skills check do not meet this requirement.

ADDITIONAL EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE

  • 5 years of clinical leadership experience required; however, candidates with substantial mentoring experience or qualifying leadership training may be considered in lieu of a formal leadership position
  • 8 years of experience as an Advanced Practice Provider required
  • Experience with clinician education, mentorship, or precepting preferred
  • Experience with quality improvement, population health, or care transformation initiatives preferred

ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATIONS (Knowledge, Skills and Abilities)

  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including superior composition, typing and proofreading skills
  • Ability to interpret a variety of instructions in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form
  • Ability to commit to ongoing professional development
  • Ability to research best practices in metabolic disease management
  • Ability to successfully manage multiple tasks simultaneously
  • Excellent planning and organizational ability
  • Ability to work as part of a team as well as independently
  • Ability to work with highly confidential information in a professional and ethical manner

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

  • Ability to lift/carry 25 lbs/weight
  • Ability to stand for long periods of time

COMPLIANCE (Safety & HIPAA)

  • Follow all safety procedures as outlined in Neighborhood Healthcare’s Illness and Injury Prevention Plan (IIPP) and report any injuries and/or unsafe conditions immediately
  • Maintain current knowledge of policies and procedures as they relate to safe work practices
  • Use appropriate body mechanics to ensure an injury free environment
  • Be familiar with location of nearest fire extinguisher and emergency exits
  • Follow all infection control procedures including blood-borne pathogen protocols
  • Maintain privacy of all patients, employee and volunteer information and access such information only on a need-to-know basis for business purposes
  • Comply with all regulations regarding corporate integrity and security obligations
  • Report all behavior and/or activity that are unethical, fraudulent, or unlawful

Pay range: $176,100.00 to $285,300.00 annually, depending on experience

Compensation Disclosure: The posted salary range reflects the designated pay grade for this position. While this range represents the broader classification of the role, actual compensation will be based on several factors, including but not limited to: the candidate’s overall knowledge, skills, and experience, market data and industry benchmarks, internal equity within the organization, Budgetary considerations and organizational needs. As a result, placement within the range is not guaranteed, and the full pay grade range may not be utilized.

Employer

Neighborhood Healthcare

Community health is about more than vaccines and checkups — it's about giving people the resources they need to live their best lives. At Neighborhood Healthcare, the vision is a community where everyone is healthy and happy, with care for each of life's chapters. At Neighborhood, we are Better Together.

Neighborhood is a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) community health organization and Federally Qualified Health Center serving San Diego and Riverside counties. Since 1969, its teams have provided more than 414,000 medical, dental and behavioral health visits a year to more than 95,000 people, in pursuit of its mission to improve the health and happiness of the communities it serves by providing quality care to all, regardless of situation or circumstance.

Neighborhood's health centers offer comprehensive primary care for all ages — family medicine, pediatrics, women's health and prenatal care, behavioral health and psychiatry, dental, podiatry, chiropractic, acupuncture and lab services — along with street medicine and Neighborhood PACE, an all-inclusive care program for seniors in Riverside and Murrieta. Providers work within dedicated care teams that include nurses, medical assistants and scribes, and Neighborhood invests in developing clinicians through its Advanced Practitioner Training Academy.

The Neighborhood team is guided by its values: being compassionate, having integrity, being professional, always collaborating and consistently going above and beyond. Clinicians enjoy competitive, transparent pay, comprehensive benefits, and the chance to care for diverse communities across inland San Diego County and western Riverside County — from Escondido, San Marcos and El Cajon to Riverside, Temecula Valley and the San Jacinto foothills.

Livability

3,057,778
Escondido population
$791K
Avg 3-bedroom home
—
Avg high / low
Nearby cities
Chula Vista
31.6 mi
Pop. 275,030
Hemet
44.9 mi
Pop. 176,009
Oceanside
18.8 mi
Pop. 172,542
Source: US Census Bureau
Annual family budget — San Diego County
—
Housing, food, transport, healthcare, childcare & taxes for a typical family
$791K
Avg 3-bedroom home
$2,691
Avg monthly rent
Source: EPI Family Budget Calculator
Source: Zillow
—
Avg high / low
—
Yearly rainfall
—
Sunny days / yr
Source: WeatherAPI.com
Population — ZIP 92025
50,270
Total residents
25,702
Male residents
24,568
Female residents
Age distribution
total
50,270
0-9
6,178
10-19
7,019
20-29
7,241
30-39
7,427
40-49
6,463
50-59
6,286
60-69
5,253
70-79
2,803
80+
1,600
Ethnicity
White
26,382
Black Or African American
1,322
American Indian Or Alaskan Native
1,052
Asian
2,411
Native Hawaiian Or Other Pacific Islander
163
Other
7,924
Two Or More
11,016
Source: US Census Bureau
8
Walk Score — Car-Dependent
3
Bike Score — Somewhat Bikeable
6
Transit Score — Minimal Transit
Source: WalkScore.com
Nearby airports
San Diego International Airport (SAN) 26.00 mi
McClellan-Palomar Airport (CLD) 14.80 mi
Palm Springs International Airport (PSP) 59.63 mi
San Bernardino International Airport (SBD) 70.82 mi
Long Beach Airport (Daugherty Field) (LGB) 82.01 mi
Imperial County Airport (IPL) 86.14 mi
Source: FAA database
Director of Advanced Practice (NP or PA)
Neighborhood Healthcare · Escondido, CA