Director, Service-Line & Growth Strategy

Job Summary

The Director, Service-Line & Growth Strategy is accountable for deciding how NVA should grow within the market footprint the enterprise has chosen. The role defines the service mix required to win in each market - which GP, Specialty, ER/Urgent Care, and Pet Resort services should be added, expanded, repositioned, or rationalized - and converts those choices into a practical market-level growth plan across locations rather than optimizing hospitals one at a time.

The Director specifies what each growth opportunity will require to become operational, including capacity, equipment, clinical capabilities, skills, other CapEx, and realistic ramp expectations. Working with Property Development, Talent Acquisition, Medical, Operations, Growth, Operational Excellence, and Finance, the role tests feasibility and shapes service-line recommendations that balance demand with the clinical and operating capability needed to deliver the service successfully.

Core Responsibilities

• Own the service-line and growth strategy for priority markets, defining the mix of GP, Specialty, ER/Urgent Care, and Pet Resort services needed across the market network.
• Identify service gaps, adjacencies, and growth opportunities across the full continuum of care, determining the optimal distribution of services across locations and site types.
• Determine which specialties or services should be added, expanded, repositioned, or rationalized based on market demand, existing capabilities, and the role each site should play in the market.
• Translate the target service model into concrete requirements for capacity, equipment, clinical capabilities, staffing/talent, and other capital needs.
• Establish realistic volume, staffing, throughput, and ramp assumptions for new or expanded services using Operational Excellence benchmarks and local operating constraints.
• Partner with Medical Leadership and Talent Acquisition to assess whether the required clinical talent can be recruited, developed, and sustained over time.
• Partner with Property Development, Operations, Growth, and Finance to assess implementation feasibility, site readiness, demand activation needs, and investment implications.
• Lead the Manager, Portfolio Strategy & Investment Governance and Senior Analyst / Analyst, Service-Line & Growth Strategy, ensuring business cases and investment materials reflect the agreed service-line thesis and operating assumptions.

Key Deliverables and Outcomes

• Market-level service strategies defining what services should be offered, expanded, repositioned, or rationalized and where they should sit within the network.
• Growth plans that specify required capacity, equipment, clinical capabilities, talent, CapEx, and implementation dependencies.
• Realistic ramp and business-impact assumptions for new and expanded services.
• Decision-ready service-line recommendations supported by operating feasibility and cross-functional implementation requirements.
• A coordinated view of how the market's service portfolio should evolve across sites rather than through isolated hospital-level decisions.

Success Metrics

• Quality and feasibility of market-level service strategies and the specificity of service, site, capability, and investment choices.
• Accuracy and realism of volume, staffing, throughput, capacity, and ramp assumptions used in growth plans.
• Degree to which recommended services have defined talent, clinical capability, equipment, facility, and operating requirements before investment approval.
• Cross-functional alignment on implementation requirements and constraints for proposed service-line growth.
• Early performance of launched or expanded services relative to approved operating and ramp assumptions, with learnings incorporated into future plans.

Key Internal and External Stakeholders

• Internal: Sr. Director, Market Development; Manager, Portfolio Strategy & Investment Governance; Senior Analyst / Analyst, Service-Line & Growth Strategy; Medical Leadership; Talent Acquisition; Hospital Operations; Operational Excellence; Property Development; Growth; Finance and FP&A; Clinical L&D / Training; Director, Market & Network Strategy; Data Scientist, Market Development.
• External: Clinical, equipment, service-line, or market advisors and data providers used to assess specific growth opportunities, as applicable.

Experience

• Progressive experience in service-line strategy, growth strategy, healthcare strategy, clinical services planning, strategic finance, consulting, or a comparable role.
• Demonstrated experience determining where services should be added, expanded, repositioned, or rationalized across a multi-site network.
• Experience translating a service strategy into capacity, equipment, talent, clinical capability, and capital requirements.
• Strong understanding of volume, staffing, throughput, ramp, and implementation assumptions used to evaluate new or expanded services.
• Experience developing or directing business cases for service growth and testing opportunities against real operating constraints.
• Ability to work effectively with clinical/medical leaders, operations, talent acquisition, property, growth, and finance partners.
• Experience in veterinary, animal health, specialty or emergency healthcare, or another clinician-led service environment preferred.

Education, Certifications, and Licensing

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Healthcare Administration, Strategy, Economics, Operations, or a related field, or equivalent experience, required.
• MBA, MHA, or other relevant advanced degree preferred.
• No specific professional certification or license is required; relevant strategy, finance, healthcare, or project credentials are a plus.

Physical Demands

This role is primarily sedentary and performed in an office or remote environment. It may require occasional travel, extended periods of sitting, and regular use of a computer and standard office equipment.

Job requirements, responsibilities, deliverables, outcomes, and success metrics are subject to change based on business needs.

National Veterinary Associates (NVA) is a leading North American pet health care company with nearly 1,300 locations spanning general practice veterinary hospitals, Ethos emergency and specialty hospitals, and pet resorts and equine veterinary care. With approximately 40,000 team members, we care for pets and support pet families in communities across the United States and Canada.  Our purpose is to give pets and the people who love them more quality years together, and our mission is to make care more personal, easy and accessible while advancing medicine and care across every stage of life. Across NVA, we support our teams with the resources, expertise and opportunities they need to deliver exceptional care and help shape the future of veterinary and pet care.

Purpose: Give pets and the people who love them more quality years together

Mission: Transform the pet family experience to be personal, easy and accessible, while advancing medicine and care across every stage of life. 

Values: Care Deeply, Do What’s Right, One Team, Own It, Shape What’s Next 

One NVA: Bringing General Practice & Ethos Together

NVA is built to make care personal, easy and accessible, while advancing medicine across every stage of a pet’s life. 

At National Veterinary Associates, we want to make sure your experience connecting with us is seamless and straightforward. Here’s what to expect when interacting with us: