With five decades of experience, Shepherd Center provides world-class clinical care, research, and family support for people experiencing the most complex conditions, including spinal cord and brain injuries, multi-trauma, traumatic amputations, stroke, multiple sclerosis, and pain. An elite center ranked by U.S. News as one of the nation’s top hospitals for rehabilitation, Shepherd Center is also recognized as both Spinal Cord Injury and Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems. Shepherd is the only rehabilitation facility in the nation with an intensive care unit on-site, allowing us to care for the most complex patients and begin the rehabilitation process sooner. Shepherd Center treats thousands of patients annually with unmatched expertise and unwavering compassion to help them begin again.
Shepherd Center's culture is one of hope, humor, and hard work. You will enjoy career growth, strong relationships with co-workers, strong support from leadership, and fun activities that have kept over 12% of staff members working at Shepherd for more than 20 years.
The Director of Innovation and Translation provides strategic and operational leadership for the development, evaluation, and scaling of innovative technologies and care models that advance Shepherd Center’s mission and clinical excellence.
This position is responsible for identifying opportunities to translate research discoveries into practical solutions, overseeing technology and program development efforts, and leading implementation strategies that bring innovation into clinical practice and health system operations. The Director collaborates closely with research, clinical, and administrative leaders to ensure innovations are evidence-based, patient-centered, and sustainable.
- Develop and execute an institutional innovation strategy focused on technology-enabled care, translational implementation, and scalable solutions that align with Shepherd Center’s mission and clinical priorities.
- Lead identification and evaluation of high-impact opportunities where innovation can improve patient outcomes, operational effectiveness, and care delivery.
- Guide the lifecycle of new technologies—from concept generation and prototyping to piloting, validation, and adoption within Shepherd Center programs.
- Oversee cross-functional innovation teams collaborating on digital health tools, assistive technologies, data-driven interventions, and new care models.
- Establish structured pathways for testing and de-risking new technologies in clinical settings, ensuring safety, efficacy, and user-centered design.
- Manage allocated resources successfully to support the innovation strategy.
- Secure strategic and grant funding for innovation and translation initiatives in alignment with institutional priorities.
- Translate research insights into operational solutions that can be embedded within Shepherd Center’s service lines and extended to partner networks.
- Lead planning and execution of implementation strategies that support system-wide adoption of successful innovations.
- Develop frameworks and metrics for measuring effectiveness, scalability, and sustainability of new technologies and programs.
- Collaborate with clinical operations, IT, research, quality, and legal teams to integrate new technologies into workflows, data systems, and care processes.
- Support dissemination of proven innovations through external partnerships, licensing, or shared-care models.
- Champion a culture of continuous learning, creativity, and human-centered innovation across the organization.
- Provide education and mentorship to clinicians and researchers interested in applying human-centered design to their work.
Required minimum education
Required minimum experience
Minimum of 7–10 years of progressive leadership experience in healthcare innovation, technology implementation, research, or translational program development.
Proven track record of successfully leading multidisciplinary teams and deploying new technologies or care models within a health system environment.
Preferred qualifications, knowledge, skills and attributes
Experience with digital health, data-driven solutions, or rehabilitation technology strongly preferred.
Expertise in product development.
Strong understanding of healthcare operations, change management, and innovation frameworks.
Proven ability to translate research and user needs into scalable solutions.
Excellent project management, budgeting, and communication skills.
Ability to lead collaboratively and influence across diverse stakeholder groups.
Demonstrated commitment to advancing equity, access, and patient-centered innovation.
Physical demands
No exceptional physical demands
Working conditions
No potential exposure to blood and body fluids
Required minimum education
- Master’s or Doctoral degree in engineering, business, health sciences, or related field required.
Required minimum experience
- Minimum of 7–10 years of progressive leadership experience in healthcare innovation, technology implementation, research, or translational program development.
- Proven track record of successfully leading multidisciplinary teams and deploying new technologies or care models within a health system environment.
Preferred qualifications, knowledge, skills and attributes
- Experience with digital health, data-driven solutions, or rehabilitation technology strongly preferred.
- Expertise in product development.
- Strong understanding of healthcare operations, change management, and innovation frameworks.
- Proven ability to translate research and user needs into scalable solutions.
- Excellent project management, budgeting, and communication skills.
- Ability to lead collaboratively and influence across diverse stakeholder groups.
- Demonstrated commitment to advancing equity, access, and patient-centered innovation.
- Familiarity with implementation science and program evaluation.
Physical demands
No exceptional physical demands
Working conditions
No potential exposure to blood and body fluids