Vice President for Performance Improvement & Transformation - Higher Education

Environment: Academic Medical Center

Location: East Coast

Employment Type: Transitional

About Warbird Healthcare Advisors

Warbird Healthcare Advisors is a leading healthcare consulting firm specializing in strategic advisory services, operational improvement, and executive leadership solutions. We partner with hospitals and health systems nationwide to drive financial stability, operational efficiency, and leadership excellence.

Position Overview

A complex academic enterprise is seeking an experienced Interim Performance Improvement Executive to lead targeted, time-bound initiatives focused on improving financial sustainability, operational effectiveness, and administrative efficiency across higher education functions. This executive will work in close partnership with senior leadership to identify performance improvement opportunities, develop pragmatic plans, and drive execution in support of institutional priorities.

This role is ideal for a senior leader with a background as a CFO, COO, or equivalent executive in higher education, or for a former consultant with deep experience supporting colleges and universities in performance improvement, financial management, and operational transformation (e.g., education-focused consulting practices such as Huron). This person will be comfortable balancing financial discipline with institutional mission and culture.

Key Responsibilities

• Performance Improvement & Financial Sustainability
  
• Lead enterprise-wide assessments of administrative and academic support operations to identify cost discipline and performance improvement opportunities.
  
• Develop and execute actionable improvement plans focused on expense management, operational effectiveness, and long-term financial sustainability.
  
• Partner with leadership to ensure improvement initiatives align with institutional mission and strategic priorities.

Higher Education Administration & Operations

• Evaluate organizational structures, governance models, and administrative processes across higher education functions, including finance, human resources, IT, research administration, and academic support services.
• Identify opportunities to streamline operations, improve service delivery, and clarify roles and decision rights.
• Support alignment between academic objectives and operational capacity.

Financial Management & Analysis

• Collaborate with finance leadership to analyze budgets, cost drivers, and resource allocation models.
• Support development of financially grounded recommendations, including productivity improvement and investment prioritization.
• Present clear, data-driven insights to executive leadership and governing bodies.

Change Leadership & Stakeholder Engagement

• Serve as a trusted advisor to senior academic and administrative leaders.
• Facilitate cross-functional collaboration and guide leaders through complex, often sensitive change initiatives.
• Communicate effectively with faculty, administrators, and executive stakeholders.

Interim Leadership & Execution

• Provide hands-on leadership to ensure disciplined execution of improvement initiatives.
• Establish clear milestones, metrics, and accountability mechanisms.
• Deliver measurable results within the defined interim engagement period.

Required Qualifications & Experience

• Senior leadership experience in higher education administration, such as CFO, COO, Vice President, or equivalent roles within a college or university.
• Demonstrated track record of cost discipline, operational improvement, and financial management in higher education settings.
• Experience identifying, developing, and executing performance improvement initiatives.
• Strong analytical, financial, and operational acumen.
• Proven ability to lead change and influence across complex, matrixed organizations.

Preferred Qualifications & Experience

• Prior experience in higher education consulting, particularly in performance improvement, financial sustainability, or operational effectiveness (e.g., Huron Consulting Group’s Education practice).
• Advanced degree in business, higher education administration, public administration, or a related field.
• Interim or turnaround leadership experience.

Ideal Candidate Profile

• Former or current higher education CFO or COO seeking a focused interim engagement.
• Education-sector consultant transitioning into interim executive leadership.
• Pragmatic, outcomes-driven leader with credibility across academic and administrative stakeholders.