Clinical Operating Director, Behavioral Health
About The Position
The Clinical Operating Director leads day-to-day clinical operations for a state-based behavioral health pod serving thousands of children and adolescents annually. The role owns utilization, patient access, intake workflows, scheduling efficiency, operational performance, and the pod’s contribution to revenue and P&L targets while maintaining clinical supervision and patient-care credibility. The director leads a team of 30–50 clinicians, including therapists, psychiatrists, and psychiatric nurse practitioners, and develops a culture of clinical excellence, peer learning, and evidence-based practice. This is a hands-on clinician-operator position for a senior clinician who wants to expand their impact beyond individual therapy while remaining involved in clinical practice and supervision. The director provides board-approved supervision, mentors and develops staff, monitors clinical outcomes, and improves care delivery. The role also manages referral flow and works with behavioral health leadership to develop and implement programs. The position is hybrid, combining on-site clinic presence, supervision sessions, and team meetings with remote administrative work and telehealth oversight. The posting states that the employee must live in the New York Long Island, Westchester, or NYC area and be able to travel to listed New York mental health sites; a later section describes markets as New York or New Jersey and travel as minimal within the state.
Requirements
- Active New York clinical license as an LCSW, PhD, or PsyD, with board-approved supervisor designation in the state of practice.
- Medicaid enrollment in the state or states of practice.
- At least 5 years of post-licensure clinical experience in mental health or behavioral health settings.
- At least 3 years of leadership experience in clinical operations, practice management, or team leadership.
- Experience in pediatric or adolescent mental health settings, such as outpatient clinics, school-based programs, or integrated care.
- Proven ability to drive utilization, scheduling, and operational performance in healthcare settings.
- Strong business acumen, including data management and analytics, creating reports, spreadsheets, and presentations, understanding P&L statements, and making data-driven decisions.
- Clinical credibility as a clinician, supervisor, and mentor among therapists and psychiatrists.
- Proficiency with EMRs, telehealth platforms, scheduling systems, and analytics dashboards.
- Must live in the New York Long Island, Westchester, or NYC area, according to the role summary.
- Ability to travel to the listed mental health sites in Forest Hills, North Babylon, Mamaroneck, Seldon, Riverdale, Syosset, Bensonhurst, Commack, and Rockville Centre.
Nice To Haves
- Multi-state licensure, especially for virtual care leadership.
- Direct experience with value-based care, payer contracting, or population health management.
- Track record of scaling clinical operations, growing teams, launching programs, or entering new markets.
- Specialty expertise in trauma, DBT, perinatal mental health, or other high-need populations.
- Prior experience in urgent care, retail healthcare, or high-volume outpatient settings.
Responsibilities
- Lead a state-based behavioral health pod of 30–50 clinical FTEs, including therapists, psychiatrists, and psychiatric nurse practitioners.
- Provide board-approved clinical supervision to pre-licensed and newly licensed clinicians in accordance with state requirements.
- Coach, develop, hire, onboard, train, and mentor therapists and psychiatrists.
- Build a culture of clinical excellence, peer learning, and evidence-based practice.
- Monitor clinical outcomes and functional assessments and drive continuous improvement.
- Own provider utilization and scheduling efficiency, targeting 75–90% billable time while protecting clinician wellbeing.
- Oversee patient intake, triage, and therapist-patient matching to optimize clinical fit and reduce no-shows.
- Manage referral flow from PM Pediatrics urgent care, pediatricians, schools, and third-party platforms.
- Drive visit-volume growth and revenue-per-FTE targets while maintaining clinical quality.
- Own the pod’s hiring, scheduling, utilization, patient experience, quality outcomes, P&L contribution, and revenue growth.
- Work with the mental health leadership team to develop and implement programs across the service line.
- Pilot innovations, launch specialty programs, and shape clinical operations within the market.
Stand Out From the Crowd
Upload your resume and get instant feedback on how well it matches this job.
What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
No Education Listed
