Public Health Program Director – Rural Health & Maternal Health Programs

Location: Nashville, Tennessee
Work Arrangement: Hybrid / Primarily Remote
Employment Type: Contract
Contract Duration: September 21, 2026 – June 30, 2027
Schedule: Monday–Friday, 8:00 AM–4:30 PM CST
Hours: 37.5 hours per week
Tennessee Residents: Preferred
Travel: Regional and statewide travel required as needed
In-Person Requirement: First-day onboarding in Nashville plus at least monthly onsite meetings, or as requested

About the Opportunity

We are seeking an experienced Public Health Program Director to provide strategic leadership for a rural health transformation initiative focused on maternal, fetal, and infant health, enhanced care coordination, community partnerships, and health-program modernization.

The selected professional will oversee the expansion of a community-based Welcome Home initiative across rural counties designated as maternity care deserts. The position will also support the procurement and implementation of call center and case management systems, requiring close coordination among public health teams, technology professionals, software vendors, funded partners, epidemiologists, and community organizations.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced public health professional who combines program leadership, grant and contract management, program evaluation, stakeholder engagement, and community-health experience.

What You’ll Do

• Provide leadership and oversight for enhanced care coordination and maternal/infant health initiatives across designated rural communities.
• Manage and monitor grant-funded contracts, including scopes of work, budgets, expenditures, deliverables, and reporting requirements.
• Ensure funded activities remain compliant with applicable state and federal requirements.
• Serve as a primary liaison to funded grantees and community-based partners.
• Provide technical assistance, implementation guidance, and ongoing support to participating organizations.
• Monitor program performance using process measures, outcome data, quarterly reports, and evaluation findings.
• Collaborate with epidemiologists and other program professionals to design and implement evaluation activities.
• Use public health data to support program planning, performance monitoring, and continuous improvement.
• Coordinate with technical professionals during procurement and development of new software platforms.
• Support acquisition and implementation of call center and case management technology.
• Serve as a liaison between program teams, technical teams, and software vendors.
• Support development of long-term sustainability plans, including identification of potential future funding opportunities.
• Conduct site visits and facilitate program and stakeholder meetings.
• Participate in regional and statewide stakeholder engagements.
• Collaborate with internal programs and external partners to advance maternal, fetal, infant, and rural health priorities.

What We’re Looking For – Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Public Health or a related field from an accredited college or university.
• 5+ years of increasingly responsible professional health-program experience.
• Experience in program management and/or grant management.
• Experience with contract oversight, budgeting, expenditures, deliverables, and reporting.
• Demonstrated experience leading or supporting multi-partner initiatives, coalitions, or community collaboratives.
• Strong understanding of public health data.
• Experience applying data to program planning, monitoring, or evaluation.
• Strong project-management and organizational skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to engage and collaborate with diverse stakeholders, including community members and individuals with lived experience.
• Ability to work independently while collaborating across multiple teams.
• Ability to travel throughout assigned regions and statewide as needed.

Preferred Experience

• Experience providing training or technical assistance.
• Maternal health, fetal health, infant health, or maternal and child health experience.
• Knowledge of rural health systems.
• Experience supporting rural or medically underserved communities.
• Grant-funded public health or healthcare-program experience.
• Experience working with community-based organizations.
• Experience collaborating with epidemiologists or program-evaluation professionals.
• Experience supporting healthcare technology procurement or implementation.
• Experience with case management systems, call center platforms, or related health-technology solutions.

What Makes You an Ideal Candidate

You will be an especially strong fit if you have successfully managed a grant-funded public health initiative involving multiple community partners, while also overseeing contracts, budgets, deliverables, performance measures, and reporting.

Candidates who combine strong program-management skills with experience in maternal and child health, rural health, community-based programs, public health evaluation, and healthcare technology implementation will be particularly well aligned with this opportunity.

The ideal candidate is comfortable moving between strategic program leadership and hands-on implementation—working with community organizations one day, reviewing program data and budgets the next, and coordinating with technology teams and software vendors as new systems are implemented.

Key Skills & Search Keywords

Public Health Program Management | Rural Health | Maternal Health | Maternal and Child Health | Infant Health | Grant Management | Contract Management | Budget Management | Community Health | Program Evaluation | Public Health Data | Community Partnerships | Grantee Management | Technical Assistance | Stakeholder Management | Healthcare Programs | Care Coordination | Program Implementation | Vendor Management | Case Management Systems | Program Sustainability | Performance Measurement

Work Arrangement & Travel

This is a primarily remote/hybrid position with required in-person participation.

The selected candidate must:

• Report onsite in Nashville, Tennessee on the first day of employment for laptop deployment and onboarding.
• Attend the Nashville office at least once per month, or more frequently when requested.
• Travel to assigned rural locations as needed.
• Participate in regional and statewide site visits, meetings, and stakeholder engagements as required.

Travel to the Nashville office is not reimbursed.

Tennessee residents are preferred because of the ongoing onsite and statewide travel requirements.

Why This Opportunity

This position provides an opportunity to:

• Lead a significant rural health transformation initiative.
• Work on programs designed to improve maternal and infant health outcomes.
• Partner directly with community organizations serving rural populations.
• Influence both public health program delivery and supporting technology modernization.
• Work across grant management, program evaluation, community engagement, healthcare technology, and sustainability planning.

Application Guidance

Candidates should ensure their resume clearly demonstrates:

• 5+ years of public health or healthcare program experience
• Program and grant-management responsibilities
• Contract and budget oversight
• Community-partner or grantee management
• Multi-partner initiative leadership
• Public health data and program-evaluation experience
• Technical assistance or training experience
• Maternal/infant health or rural-health experience, where applicable
• Healthcare technology or software-implementation experience, where applicable
• Ability to travel and meet the required Nashville onsite schedule