Group medical director, south west

The Group Medical Director (GMD) is a key medical leader responsible for driving high-quality veterinary care, patient safety, and clinical excellence across multiple VCA hospitals. In this role, you will lead and mentor Medical Directors and veterinary teams, ensuring consistent, evidence-based care and an exceptional client experience. As part of the field leadership team, you’ll partner closely with Medical Affairs, operations, and patient care leaders to align clinical practices with organizational goals. You’ll play a critical role in strengthening hospital performance, advancing medical standards, and fostering a collaborative, high-performing culture across your group.

NOTE: The ideal candidate will be based in Arizona to effectively support our hospital network across the region.

Responsibilities:

• Drive Quality Medicine & Patient Safety
• Ensure consistent delivery of high-quality, evidence-based care across hospitals
• Coach and develop Medical Directors through record reviews, hospital visits, and real-time feedback
• Champion patient safety initiatives, including event reporting and continuous improvement efforts
• Support adoption of new medical advancements, standards of care, and clinical best practices
• Partner with teams to improve client communication, case management, and follow-up care
• Oversee medical record quality, equipment standards, and clinical compliance
• Manage medical-related client concerns and board complaints through resolution
• Lead in the Field
• Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, and psychological safety
• Partner with Field Leadership, Medical Affairs, and operations to align priorities and execution
• Support recruiting, hiring, and onboarding of veterinarians, including new graduates
• Proactively identify and address medical, staffing, and operational challenges
• Serve as the medical voice within the field leadership team
• Develop Doctors & Teams
• Mentor and grow Medical Directors and veterinarians through coaching and development planning
• Support onboarding, training, and integration of new doctors
• Guide teams on improving efficiency, productivity, and team-based care delivery
• Create an environment that supports continuous learning and career growth

Qualifications:

• Required Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) or equivalent
• Active veterinary license (or ability to obtain in assigned states)
• 8+ years of veterinary practice experience
• 4+ years of leadership or supervisory experience
• Preferred Specialty board certification or advanced clinical training
• Experience leading across multiple hospitals or locations
• Involvement in professional veterinary organizations

Skills & Strengths

• Strong clinical judgment and commitment to medical excellence
• Ability to coach, influence, and develop high-performing teams
• Effective communicator with strong collaboration skills
• Business acumen and ability to balance clinical and operational priorities
• Comfort working in a fast-paced, multi-site environment

Additional Details:

Travel up to 75% across hospitals, hubs, and support offices. Opportunity to directly impact patient outcomes, team development, and hospital performance.

Additional Information:

Compensation is negotiable based on education, experience, and other relevant credentials. The US base salary range for this full-time position is $225,000 - $250,000. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only. If you are a current associate, you need to apply through our internal career site. Please log into Workday and click on the Jobs Hub app or search for Browse Jobs.

Benefits:

We offer competitive compensation along with a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision and paid vacation/sick days, 401(k), generous employee pet discounts and more!

The information in this position description indicates the general nature and level of work to be performed. It is not designed to be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of associates assigned to this job. Management reserves the right to revise the job description or require that other tasks be performed when the circumstances of the job change (for example, emergencies, change in personnel, workload, or technical development).

We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer - Veterans / Disabled. For a complete EEO statement please see our career page at vcacareers.com. A leader in veterinary care, VCA Animal Hospitals is committed to taking care of the future of veterinary medicine. We are a family of hometown animal hospitals determined to positively impact pets, people and our communities. From primary care to emergency, urgent and specialty care, VCA delivers world-class medicine and hometown care to more than four million pets each year. We invest in cutting-edge tools, training and technology that enable Associates across our national network of hospitals to lead the industry today and into tomorrow. Among our talented 35,000 Associates are nearly 7,000 veterinarians – including 500 who are board-certified specialists – nearly 4,000 credentialed technicians and over 10,000 veterinary assistants – all dedicated to giving pets the very best in medical care. The future of veterinary medicine is in our hands. Join us.