Nursing Manager ( Service Level

Overview

Nursing Manager (Service Level) — Lead Where Medicine and Culture Meet

Full-Time | Exempt | Nursing Department

Reports to:

Director of Nursing |

Location:

Stamford, CT | Environment: 24/7 Emergency & Specialty Hospital

Why CUVS? At CUVS, our standard of medicine is the operating baseline—high-acuity, evidence-driven, patient-centered care delivered with precision, teamwork, and respect. We’re building a nursing leadership bench that protects that standard of medicine every hour of every shift, while creating a workplace where people can bring their authentic selves to work and grow. This is an excellent next-step role for a VTS (or experienced credentialed technician) ready to expand leadership scope—without losing clinical identity.

If you want to lead teams, elevate systems, and still stay clinically connected to uphold the standard of medicine, this role was designed for you.

The Role

The Nursing Manager plays a pivotal leadership role in driving excellence in patient care, operational efficiency, and team engagement within the Nursing Department. You will oversee day-to-day nursing operations within assigned service(s) and directly manage and develop Nursing Team Leads to ensure consistent delivery of high-quality veterinary care and alignment with hospital goals. This position maintains strong clinical credibility by acting as a senior nurse on the floor approximately 40–60% of the time, serving as a role model while enabling accurate, real-time assessment of clinical operations.

This dual focus ensures frontline realities inform leadership decisions and ensures the standard of medicine is consistently executed, coached, and protected. You will serve as both a strategic partner and operational leader, supporting the Director of Nursing and hospital leadership in advancing hospital-wide initiatives, strengthening nursing standards, and fostering a culture of accountability, communication, and collaboration. This role bridges hospital strategy with frontline execution so that workflows, protocols, and culture reflect CUVS’s mission, vision, values—and our uncompromising standard of medicine.

Clinical nursing leadership (standard-of-medicine role modeling)

• Maintain Level III or Level IV nursing competency per CUVS standards.
• Provide direct patient care as needed based on patient acuity, staffing coverage, or mentorship demands.
• Demonstrate clinical and service excellence as a daily example of our standard of medicine.
• Mentor and coach in real time during patient care, reinforcing best practices and patient-centered medicine.
• Assess nursing quality, workflow efficiency, and staff performance through active floor leadership.
• Identify training needs and skill gaps through direct observation and hands-on partnership.
• Bridge communication between frontline teams and hospital administration to continuously elevate the standard of medicine.

Operational leadership (systems that protect the standard of medicine)

• Oversee nursing operations within assigned service(s): staffing, flow, and standards aligned to service goals.
• Maintain comprehensive understanding of hospital operations to enable seamless collaboration across departments.
• Partner with the Director of Nursing and other Nursing Managers to develop, implement, and evaluate protocols, procedures, and performance standards grounded in best practices and the standard of medicine.
• Lead daily operational problem-solving and troubleshooting; redirect to established protocols and escalate appropriately.
• Champion process improvement, quality, safety, and operational excellence initiatives with a nursing lens.
• Ensure compliance and accountability related to charge capture, inventory control, and responsible resource utilization.
• Plan service scheduling and staffing with the Scheduler and Team Leads to balance patient care, employee well-being, onboarding/training needs, and budget.

People leadership (developing leaders who carry the standard of medicine)

• Coach Nursing Team Leads to promote nursing excellence and patient-centered medicine.
• Build Team Lead confidence in decision-making, prioritization, and service-level management.
• Optimize nursing team…