Director of Operations Journey Kids Dental | Fort Lauderdale, Florida $120,000 to $140,000 Base Salary + Performance Bonus Full-Time | On-Site | Significant Operational Authority Dental Operations Experience Required Spanish Strongly Preferred Help Us Build the Next Stage of Journey Kids Dental! Journey Kids Dental is a 17-operatory pediatric and specialty dental practice in Fort Lauderdale bringing Pediatric Dentistry, Orthodontics, and Airway/Sleep care together under one roof. We have built a strong clinical organization with an established pediatric patient base, significant capacity, growing specialty departments, and a founder with a much larger vision for what Journey Kids can become. Now we need the operational leader who can help us get there. We are looking for an experienced dental operator who knows how to build teams, create accountability, manage the numbers, improve performance, and turn a founder's vision into consistent execution. This is not a role where you simply maintain what already exists. We want someone who wants to help build what comes next.

Why This Role Is Different:

Journey Kids already has many of the pieces required for significant growth: 17 operatories A large pediatric patient base An established South Florida presence A growing Orthodontic department A differentiated Airway and Sleep program Multiple providers and specialties under one roof Significant existing clinical capacity Opportunities to add providers, services, and future locations Our biggest opportunity is not simply finding more patients. It is building the people, systems, financial discipline, and leadership infrastructure needed to fully capture the opportunity already in front of us. That will be your job.

Your Mission:

You will work directly with founder Dr. Marisabel Olivera Madore to turn vision into execution. Her highest-value work is clinical leadership, provider development, Airway innovation, vision, and growth. Your role is to help build the operating company around that vision. You will have meaningful responsibility and authority to: Lead and develop managers and team leaders Establish clear roles, responsibilities, and expectations Build KPI scorecards and accountability systems Manage operational performance from the P&L Improve staffing efficiency and labor utilization Strengthen collections and financial discipline Improve scheduling and clinical capacity utilization Improve patient conversion and case acceptance Strengthen Orthodontic and Airway operations Build scalable systems and SOPs Identify operational constraints before they become major problems Prepare the organization for additional providers and future locations Build a leadership structure that does not depend on the founder for every decision You will not simply report the numbers. You will be expected to help change them.

What Success Looks Like:

A great Director of Operations at Journey Kids will create an organization where: Leaders know exactly what they own KPIs are visible and reviewed consistently Problems are identified quickly and followed through to resolution Staffing matches patient demand and provider capacity Managers are developed instead of simply managed Providers have the operational support they need to perform Patient opportunities are not lost because of broken systems Orthodontics and Airway continue to grow Financial performance improves as the organization grows Dr. Olivera can spend more of her time working on the highest-value areas of the business

Who We Want:

Dental operations experience is required. We are especially interested in candidates who have operated: Multi-location dental groups Large multi-provider dental practices Pediatric or Orthodontic organizations Multi-specialty dental practices High-volume practices with complex staffing and scheduling Dental organizations with meaningful P&L responsibility You may currently be a: Director of Operations Regional Operations Director Multi-Site Operations Leader Senior Dental Practice Administrator Senior Operations Manager Dental Integrator Experienced Dental Office Leader ready for a larger role Your current title matters less to us than what you have actually been responsible for. Show Us What You Have Done We want someone who can give us specific examples of improving a dental business. You should be comfortable discussing results such as: Improving profitability Managing a meaningful P&L Developing managers and future leaders Improving labor efficiency Building KPI scorecards Creating accountability systems Improving collections Increasing patient conversion or case acceptance Improving provider utilization Increasing schedule utilization Scaling providers, departments, or locations Fixing broken operational systems Leading difficult conversations Building stronger teams without lowering standards We care far more about what you have built than the title printed on your business card. The Person We Are Looking For Humble You ask good questions. You listen before making changes. You use data instead of assumptions. You are comfortable giving other people credit. Hungry You want responsibility. You want measurable results. You see problems and naturally want to solve them. You want to help build something substantially bigger than what exists today. Smart With People You can lead strong personalities. You know how to develop managers. You can create accountability without creating unnecessary drama. You are comfortable having difficult conversations. You can respectfully disagree with the owner when the business needs it. We are not looking for someone who simply tells the doctor what she wants to hear. We want someone she can trust to tell her what the organization needs to hear, then help make it happen. Career Growth We are looking for someone who wants more than another operations job. Journey Kids has the opportunity to become a substantially larger organization. As the company grows, the leadership structure will need to grow with it. The person who successfully builds the operating platform today could eventually take responsibility for additional providers, departments, locations, and a much larger organization. For the right person, this role can become a path toward senior executive leadership . We want someone who looks at that opportunity and thinks: I want to help build that. About Our Founder Dr. Marisabel Olivera built Journey Kids around a broader vision for children's health. Journey Kids brings together Pediatric Dentistry, Orthodontics, and advanced Airway/Sleep care in one organization. Dr. Olivera has spent years developing the clinical side of that vision.

We are now looking for the operational counterpart who can help build the infrastructure, leadership team, and business systems behind it. Spanish Professional working Spanish is strongly preferred. Journey Kids serves a diverse South Florida patient population and team, and being able to communicate comfortably in both English and Spanish can be a major leadership advantage. Spanish is not an absolute requirement. If you are an exceptional dental operator with a demonstrated track record of building teams, improving financial performance, and creating scalable systems, we still want to hear from you.

Compensation Base Salary:

$120,000 to $140,000 annually, based on experience and demonstrated results.

Performance Bonus:

Additional compensation tied to agreed financial and operational outcomes, including profitability, growth, labor efficiency, specialty performance, and organizational execution.

Benefits:

1.

Paid vacation:

Two weeks annually. 2.

Paid sick/personal time:

Five days annually, separate from vacation. 3.

Paid holidays:

Major national holidays observed by the practice. 4.

Floating holiday:

One paid day for a birthday, religious observance, or personal occasion. 5.

Health benefit:

Employer-sponsored insurance or a formal health reimbursement. 6.

Retirement:

Access to the practice's retirement plan with a 3%-4% employer match. 7.

Performance bonus:

Initial 90 day bonus based on meeting operational KPIs. In addition, a target bonus of 10% of annual salary, tied to clearly defined metrics such as: Practice collections and profitability-Schedule productivity Accounts receivable Team retention Reduced missed appointments Implementation of operational systems Patient experience 8.

Professional development:

$1,500-$3,000 annually for leadership, HR, dental operations, or management training, plus two or three paid education days. 9.

Cellphone allowance:

Approximately $75-$100 per month. 10.

Mileage reimbursement:

Reimburse approved travel between locations, meetings, or business errands. 11.

Dental and orthodontic benefit:

Complimentary or discounted care for the employee and immediate family, with laboratory and outside-specialist costs clearly addressed. 12.

Bereavement leave:

Three paid days for an immediate family member, with discretion for additional unpaid or PTO-supported leave. 13.

Leadership flexibility:

Reasonable flexibility for occasional family or personal appointments, as long as the practice's operational needs are covered. 14.

Annual compensation review:

Formal yearly review of salary, bonus metrics, responsibilities, and benefits. For an exceptional operator who creates significant long-term value, expanded executive compensation opportunities may be considered as the organization grows.

Location:

This is a full-time, on-site leadership position in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Journey Kids needs a leader who is physically present with the team, understands what is happening inside the organization, and builds trust through visible leadership. Relocation assistance may be discussed for an exceptional candidate. Before You Apply Please be prepared to answer the following: 1. What is the largest dental organization you have directly operated? Please include the number of locations, operatories, providers, and team members. 2. What was the approximate annual revenue or monthly collections of the largest dental operation for which you had direct operating responsibility? 3. Tell us about one measurable improvement you personally led. Examples could include profitability, labor efficiency, collections, case acceptance, provider utilization, scheduling, or organizational growth. 4. What interests you about helping build an organization rather than simply managing an established one? If you have proven dental operations experience and want the opportunity to help build the next stage of a growing organization, we would like to meet you.

Pay:

$120,000.00 - $140,000.00 per year

Benefits:

401(k) matching Employee discount Health insurance Paid time off Parental leave Retirement plan

Work Location:

In person