Chief Dental Officer

The Public Health Institute (PHI) is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting health, well-being, and quality of life for people throughout California, across the nation and around the world. As one of the largest and most comprehensive public health organizations in the nation, we are at the forefront of research and innovations to improve the efficacy of public health statewide, nationally, and internationally.

PHI was distinguished as one of the top 50 "Best Non-Profit Organizations to Work For" by the Non-Profit Times in a national search.

SUMMARY:

The Division Director IV serves as the Chief Dental Officer at the Center to Advance Community Health and Equity (CACHE). The Chief Dental Officer reports to the Executive Director of CACHE, providing scientific and organizational leadership for CACHE's oral health research, innovation, and implementation portfolio, including the development of a diverse portfolio of active grants, contracts, and subcontracts. The Chief Dental Officer leads the scientific vision and strategy for advancing oral health research and innovation at the state and national levels; directs oral health research teams and assigned staff; leads the development and submission of oral health research and innovation proposals; oversees the design, execution, and implementation of oral health research projects; and cultivates strategic partnerships with academic, clinical, governmental, community, and national organizations to advance oral health outcomes. The Chief Dental Officer also serves as a principal investigator or co-principal investigator on assigned awards, holds primary accountability for the financial performance and sustainability of the oral health portfolio, contributes to scholarly publications and presentations, provides technical training and oral health subject-matter expertise to staff and partners, and contributes to the translation of research findings into innovative oral health programs, policies, and practices.

This may be a regular, full- or part-time position. The starting FTE will be determined upon hire, depending on funding availability. This is a remote position that requires travel within and possibly outside of California based on project needs.

The full salary range for this position: $179,214 to $282,621 per year. The typical hiring range for this position is from $179,214 (minimum) to $230,918 (midpoint), based on 100% FTE. The starting salary is determined using a variety of factors, such as the candidate's knowledge, skills, and experience, as well as internal equity considerations and budget availability.

This position is contingent upon funding being awarded to PHI.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following:

• Develops, in partnership with the Executive Director of CACHE, strategic approaches to the short- and long-term development and implementation of CACHE's oral health research, innovation, and programmatic agenda.
• Serves as Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on federal, state, and foundation-funded awards, maintaining direct accountability for the scientific rigor and quality of oral health research and innovation, project performance, timely deliverables, budget stewardship, and compliance across assigned projects.
• Identifies and pursues funding opportunities aligned with CACHE's oral health research and innovation priorities and leads or contributes to the development of competitive proposals, grant applications, and required reports, with responsibility for expanding and diversifying the oral health portfolio's annual funding base.
• Leads the design and conduct of oral health research, evaluation, and innovation initiatives, including community-based, clinical, health services, implementation, and practice transformation research.
• Develops research and evaluation plans, study protocols, methodologies, clinical measures, quality indicators, and project guidelines to ensure scientific rigor and alignment with evidence-based oral health practices.
• Leads interdisciplinary research teams in the implementation of community-based oral health innovations, including pilot testing, scale-up, and spread, to improve oral health outcomes, policies, programs, systems, and practice.
• Provides oral health subject-matter expertise to inform research questions, intervention design, implementation strategies, workflow integration, patient-centered outcomes, and approaches to improving healthcare delivery and clinical outcomes.
• Applies implementation science frameworks to advance the adoption, implementation, scale-up, and sustainability of evidence-based oral health practices and innovations.
• Cultivates and maintains strategic partnerships with investigators, academic institutions, clinical organizations, governmental agencies, community organizations, and national organizations to expand CACHE's oral health research and innovation capacity, in coordination with the Executive Director.
• Identifies and engages investigators, clinicians, researchers, and other subject-matter experts whose expertise aligns with CACHE's strategic oral health priorities and strengthens the organization's capacity to pursue and implement high-impact initiatives.
• Leads the translation and dissemination of scientific and technical knowledge related to oral health research and innovation, including manuscripts, technical reports, policy briefs, abstracts, presentations, and grant applications, for professional, community, governmental, funder, and lay audiences.
• Contributes oral health expertise and lessons learned to CACHE-wide knowledge-sharing, cross-domain synthesis, and learning collaboratives, strengthening organizational research, evaluation, and innovation capacity.
• Contributes to organizational strategic planning as a senior leader within CACHE, including workforce planning, budget development, and long-term sustainability strategies for the oral health portfolio.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

Minimum Qualifications

• 15 years of oral health research experience, including demonstrated experience serving as Principal Investigator or senior scientific lead on externally funded awards.
• 7 years of experience as a manager with supervisory responsibility. Knowledge/experience related to leadership can substitute for one year of management-level experience.
• D.D.S./D.M.D. or an equivalent degree in a relevant clinical field.
• Active dental licensure.

Other Qualifications

• Senior-level research experience in oral health, dental public health, public health, health services research, clinical research, or a closely related field.
• Demonstrated expertise in designing, conducting, and evaluating oral health research, including research design, sampling, data collection, program evaluation, and quantitative and qualitative data analysis.
• Advanced knowledge of research methods appropriate for complex clinical, oral health, health services, and population health datasets.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and supervise research staff and multidisciplinary teams across multiple projects.
• Demonstrated record of scholarly dissemination, including peer-reviewed publications, research reports, policy briefs, presentations, and other scientific and technical products related to oral health or public health.
• Excellent written, oral, and presentation skills, with the ability to translate and communicate complex oral health research findings to scientific, clinical, community, governmental, funder, and lay audiences.
• Demonstrated experience developing and securing research and program funding from federal, state, foundation, and other sources.
• Experience building and sustaining collaborative relationships with state and local health departments, oral health programs, academic institutions, healthcare organizations, community organizations, and other research and public health partners.
• Demonstrated recognition and visibility in oral health research or dental public health, evidenced by leadership roles, professional appointments, peer-reviewed scholarship, presentations, or other significant contributions to the field.
• Strong interpersonal, organizational, and relationship-management skills, with the ability to work effectively across disciplines and with researchers, clinicians, community partners, funders, government agencies, and other stakeholders.

FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT (FLSA) STATUS

This position is classified as exempt based on the job duties. However, based on the FTE, salary level of the employee, or federal/state/local laws, the employee may be classified as nonexempt.

The Public Health Institute is committed to a policy that provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, pregnancy, medical condition including genetic characteristics, physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identification and expression, sexual orientation, and to make all employment decisions so as to further this principle of equal employment opportunity. To this end, the PHI will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, pregnancy, medical condition including genetic characteristics, physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identification and expression, sexual orientation, and we offer employment opportunities (and throughout employment treat our employees) fairly and equitably without regard to these characteristics.

Additional information about PHI's benefits and compensation offerings can be found here.

The Public Health Institute is committed to providing access and reasonable accommodation in its services, programs, activities and employment for individuals with disabilities. To request disability accommodation in the application process, contact the Recruitment Team at least 48 hours in advance at Recruitment@phi.org.