Chief Cardiopulmonary Perfusionist

Discover Vanderbilt University Medical Center:  Located in Nashville, Tennessee, and operating at a global crossroads of teaching, discovery, and patient care, VUMC is a community of individuals who come to work each day with the simple aim of changing the world. It is a place where your expertise will be valued, your knowledge expanded, and your abilities challenged. Vanderbilt Health is committed to an environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and where your uniqueness is sought and celebrated. It is a place where employees know they are part of something that is bigger than themselves, take exceptional pride in their work and never settle for what was good enough yesterday. Vanderbilt’s mission is to advance health and wellness through preeminent programs in patient care, education, and research.

Organization:

Perioperative Service Admin

Job Summary:

The Chief Cardiopulmonary Perfusionist provides leadership in the planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and evaluation of perfusion services, as well as maintains all responsibilities of a Senior Cardiopulmonary Perfusionist. This employee is responsible for operations in perfusion and ensures the department delivers quality services in accordance with applicable policies, procedures, and best practices in the field of perfusion. They promote professional practice and accountability for optimal outcomes and assesses the quality and accuracy of perfusion services through evaluation of outcomes. Manages staff perfusionists including hiring, training, assigning work, managing and evaluating performance. Ensures productivity and actions of the group meet and/or support the overall operational goals of the department and institution. Participates in the development of department's annual budget and capital budget requests.

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Department Summary:

Vanderbilt continues to be a national leader in healthcare, and our team has achieved some incredible milestones recently:

• One of the nation’s busiest critical care centers

• Home to the world’s busiest heart transplant program

• A hub for cutting-edge biomedical research

• A record-breaking 918 solid organ transplants in FY25 across adult and pediatric programs

The Jim Ayers Tower, opening Fall 2025, is VUMC’s largest expansion to date:

• 180 new inpatient beds

• State-of-the-art operating rooms, radiology and acute care facilities 

• Expanding heart, lung, transplant & neuroscience care for the region

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
• Provides oversight, leadership, and management of perfusion services.
• Performs all responsibilities of a Senior Cardiopulmonary Perfusionist.
• The responsibilities listed are a general overview of the position and additional duties may be assigned.

TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES
• Cardiopulmonary Perfusion (Advanced): Demonstrates the uppermost levels of expertise in applying cardiopulmonary perfusion knowledge in challenging and complex situations. Often takes a lead role in highly pressurized situations when there is a need to achieve results. Consistently delivers cardiovascular services in a creative and imaginative manner while setting a standard for others. Actively participates in outside professional organizations and forums. Contributes in the development of cardiovascular knowledge best practices for the organization.
• Procedures Knowledge (Intermediate): Demonstrates mastery of procedures knowledge in practical applications of a difficult nature. Possesses sufficient knowledge, training, and experience to be capable of successfully delivering procedures knowledge services without requiring support and instruction from others. Able to train and educate by setting the example, giving technical instruction, providing leadership, and generally raising the level of performance of others while on the job.
• Equipment Maintenance (Intermediate): Demonstrates mastery of preventive maintenance in practical applications of a difficult nature. Possesses sufficient knowledge, training, and experience to be capable of successfully maintaining equipment, products, or systems without requiring support and instruction from others. Able to conduct predictive maintenance on core products and equipment.
• Training & Development (Intermediate): Has delivered a program in its entirety. Managed the delivery of a program by a team of instructors, assuring attention to detail. Demonstrated the ability to deal with adversity and disruption during delivery. Established class leadership and credibility. Demonstrated the ability to give clear, concise instructions in support of participant activities.
• Medical Terminology & Documentation (Intermediate): Demonstrates mastery of medical terminology and documentation in practical applications of a difficult nature. Possesses sufficient knowledge, training, and experience to be capable of successfully delivering results without requiring support and instruction from others. Able to train and educate by setting the example, giving instruction, providing leadership, and generally raising the level of performance of others while on the job.

Allied health is among the fastest growing occupations in healthcare today. This area can be defined as credentialed professionals who perform supportive, diagnostic, and therapeutic health care services to promote health and prevent disease in a variety of settings.

These areas are crucial to Vanderbilt Health’s reputation for excellence in these areas that has made us a major center for patient referrals from throughout the Mid-South.

Each year, people throughout Tennessee and the southeast choose Vanderbilt Health for their health care because of our leadership in medical science and our dedication to treating patients with dignity and compassion.

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Core Accountabilities:

* Organizational Impact: Establishes key tactical and operational plans of a sub-function or multiple departments that has longer-term effect on results of the sub-function. * Problem Solving/ Complexity of work: Integrate knowledge and in-depth analysis from several areas to resolve complex problems that are both technical and operational. * Breadth of Knowledge: Applies comprehensive knowledge of professional/technical area and broad management knowledge of other professional areas to carry out objectives. * Team Interaction: Leads multiple departments with a function.

Core Capabilities :

Supporting Colleagues: - Develops Self and Others: Acts upon constructive feedback from all levels of the organization and initiates strategies to develop talent in others. - Builds and Maintains Relationships: Leverages relationships and insight to forecast potential future needs and influence delivery of work to exceed expectations. - Communicates Effectively: Anticipates difference audience concerns, styles and finds mutually beneficial solutions across conflicting and sensitive issues. Delivering Excellent Services: - Serves Others with Compassion: Demonstrates in-depth knowledge of broad-based issues and considers the interests of others to improve satisfaction of services. - Solves Complex Problems: Critically evaluates complex information and identifies trends/risks to make recommendations to improve processes across areas. - Offers Meaningful Advice and Support: Provides ongoing feedback and development discussions to motivate and support team members to maximize performance.Ensuring High Quality: - Performs Excellent Work: Anticipates problems or obstacles which may interfere with quality standards and develops plants to ensure area's quality standards are met. - Ensures Continuous Improvement: Routinely draws upon valuable learning from others, past experiences, and new information to determine key opportunities. - Fulfills Safety and Regulatory Requirements: Develops appropriate corrective actions for unsafe environments in order to ensure operational and safety compliance. Managing Resources Effectively: - Demonstrates Accountability: Identifies potential obstacles to goal achievement and develops solutions to address those obstacles. - Stewards Organizational Resources: Creates the appropriate systems and processes to effectively manage resources. - Makes Data Driven Decisions: Applies in-depth knowledge of data to recommend and implement new approaches to improve decision making capabilities. Fostering Innovation: - Generates New Ideas: Identifies opportunities and leads development of new initiatives that create value across areas. - Applies Technology: Creates the energy and drive for self/others to identify and leverage technology in new, innovative ways to drive greater efficiencies. - Adapts to Change: Anticipates the change process and clearly communicates impact on others/own team(s), assisting them in embracing the change.

Position Qualifications:

Responsibilities:

Certifications:

Certified in Cardiovascular Perfusion - American Board of Cardiovascular PerfusionAmerican Board of Cardiovascular Perfusion, LIC-Clinical Perfusionist - TennesseeTennessee

Work Experience:

Relevant Work Experience

Experience Level :

7 years

Education:

Graduate of an approved discipline specific program

Vanderbilt Health is committed to fostering an environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and is committed to the principles of equal opportunity.  EOE/Vets/Disabled.