Director of Sports Medicine Development and Activation

JOB PURPOSE

The Director of Sports Medicine Development and Activation provides strategic leadership for the development of QHC’s sports medicine portfolio. The role shapes the service model and operating concept across clinical care, rehabilitation, athlete health, performance, research and innovation, ensuring that the programme reflects QHC’s mandate, clinical standards and long-term strategic ambitions.

The role leads the coordinated development of the sports medicine programme from concept through implementation. This includes service and facility design, technical and operational input to strategic partnerships and scopes of work, procurement requirements, workforce planning and hiring, technology and equipment requirements, governance, budgets and the key approvals required to establish integrated, athlete-centred and sustainable services.

Working across executive, clinical and corporate leadership, the Director establishes priorities, integrates multidisciplinary workstreams and provides assurance on programme scope, quality, resources, risks, dependencies and delivery. The role represents sports medicine in internal and external forums, guides executive decision-making and ensures that partners, teams and enabling functions remain aligned with the approved sports medicine strategy and service objectives.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

1. Sports Medicine Strategy, Service Model and Programme Development

• Lead the development of QHC’s sports medicine strategy and translate it into an integrated portfolio of clinical, rehabilitation, athlete-health, performance, research and innovation services, with clear priorities, intended outcomes, investment requirements and delivery sequencing.

• Define and maintain the sports medicine service model and operating concept, including portfolio scope, target populations, service pathways, delivery channels, capacity assumptions, clinical and corporate interfaces, governance principles, decision rights and accountability arrangements.

• Own the development and ongoing refinement of the sports medicine programme, converting strategy into approved service specifications, business and investment priorities, implementation plans, measurable objectives and executive decisions, while ensuring alignment with QHC’s mandate, clinical standards and long-term organisational ambitions.

2. Clinical, Rehabilitation and Performance Service Development

• Lead the development of an integrated clinical, rehabilitation, athlete-health and performance service portfolio, defining service scope, target populations, referral criteria, multidisciplinary pathways, standards of care, delivery requirements and intended athlete and patient outcomes.

• Provide strategic oversight of multidisciplinary service and pathway design, bringing together sports medicine, orthopaedics, rehabilitation, performance science, imaging, diagnostics, nutrition, psychology and other specialist disciplines to deliver coordinated, evidence-based and athlete-centred care.

• Establish the clinical and performance standards, outcome measures and governance requirements for prevention, assessment, treatment, rehabilitation, recovery, performance optimisation and return-to-sport, ensuring alignment with QHC clinical governance and recognised international best practice.

3. Corporate Programme Planning and Delivery

• Establish the governance structure for the sports medicine programme, defining workstreams, accountable owners, decision rights, approval routes, milestones and reporting requirements across clinical, operational and enabling functions.

• Own the integrated programme plan and executive dashboard, coordinating scope, budgets, resources, schedules, dependencies, procurement, workforce, partnerships, technology, facilities and implementation priorities to maintain alignment and delivery against approved objectives.

• Provide executive assurance on programme progress, financial and resource requirements, risks, issues, changes and delivery performance; prepare decision papers and present clear recommendations, options and corrective actions to support timely corporate and executive decisions.

4. Partnership Integration and Service Requirements

• Define the clinical, operational, facility, workforce, technology and mobilisation requirements that sports medicine partners must address, and provide subject-matter input to the designated Sports Medicine Partnerships lead during partner assessment, selection and appointment.

• Develop and validate the sports medicine technical and service requirements for scopes of work, requests for proposal, evaluation criteria, service levels, deliverables, acceptance measures, knowledge-transfer expectations and mobilisation plans, in coordination with the Partnerships, Commercial and Procurement functions.

• Coordinate the operational integration of appointed partners into the sports medicine programme, ensuring that service interfaces, responsibilities, resources, data requirements, reporting, escalation routes and implementation dependencies are clearly defined. Identify delivery gaps and provide recommendations to the accountable partnership lead and programme governance forums.

5. Facility, Workforce, Technology and Service Enablement

• Own the sports medicine design file from concept through detailed design and operational sign-off, ensuring that clinical briefs, functional programmes, room data sheets, equipment layouts, athlete and patient flows, infection-control requirements, accessibility, safety, privacy, technology integration and future-capacity needs are accurately reflected. Lead multidisciplinary design reviews, assess operational impacts, manage change requests and maintain clear records of decisions, approvals, risks and outstanding actions.

• Define and coordinate the clinical, rehabilitation, performance, digital and equipment requirements needed to enable the approved service model, including technical specifications, interoperability, data and reporting needs, procurement priorities, validation, maintenance, user training and operational acceptance.

• Own the sports medicine workforce planning and mobilisation requirements, including organisational structure, staffing numbers, role profiles, recruitment priorities, selection support, credentialing, privileging, licensing, onboarding, training, competency assurance, roster design and leadership coverage. Work with Human Resources and clinical leaders to track deployment and mitigate critical workforce or capability gaps.

6. Implementation, Mobilisation and Service Activation

• Direct the phased implementation and mobilisation of the sports medicine programme, translating approved designs and service plans into coordinated activation schedules, workstream deliverables, resource plans, acceptance criteria and transition requirements across clinical, operational and enabling functions.

• Establish service-activation criteria and oversee multidisciplinary assurance activities, including document reviews, walkthroughs, simulations, workforce and system checks, partner readiness and regulatory confirmation. Provide evidence-based recommendations on phased activation, remediation or deferral based on safety, quality, capability and delivery risk.

• Lead service activation and early operational stabilisation, coordinating issue resolution, escalation, executive reporting and corrective actions across QHC teams and appointed partners. Monitor initial performance against agreed safety, quality, workforce and service thresholds and transition stable services into business-as-usual governance.

Requirements

EXPERIENCE & ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS

Advanced degree in Sports Medicine, Physiotherapy, Sports Science, Rehabilitation, Healthcare Management, or a related healthcare, clinical or performance discipline is preferred. Relevant clinical or sports-performance qualifications are advantageous; a Master's degree is an advantage.

12+ years of progressive experience in sports medicine, performance health, rehabilitation or healthcare operations, including significant leadership responsibility for complex service development, multidisciplinary programme delivery, mobilisation or transformation. Demonstrated experience establishing or developing sports medicine services, centres of excellence or high-performance programmes is required.

Demonstrated experience in service-model design, capability definition, operating requirements and multidisciplinary sports-medicine environments. Experience within internationally recognized sports-medicine or academic medical centres, and within partnership or joint-venture models, is highly desirable.

Strong knowledge of international sports-medicine best practice, athlete-health pathways and performance science, with an understanding of the Saudi healthcare and sports context and Vision 2030 ambitions.