Director of Client Safety

Bierman Autism Centers•Berkeley Heights, NJ

About The Position

We're building the Teaching Hospital for pediatric therapy. At Bierman Autism Centers, we're creating a category of one by delivering exceptional outcomes for children, developing world-class clinicians, building payer trust, and embedding systems that drive excellence across everything we do. Safety is the foundation that makes all of that possible. We're looking for an experienced Director of Client Safety to build, own, and continuously strengthen the enterprise-wide systems that protect our clients, families, and team members. This isn't a traditional compliance role. It's an opportunity to build the safety infrastructure that supports one of the nation's leading pediatric autism organizations. If you're energized by designing scalable systems, improving operational excellence, and creating environments where children can safely thrive, we'd love to meet you. As the Director of Client Safety, you'll own Bierman's enterprise client safety operating system. This role will report to the VP of Clinical Excellence. You'll establish the policies, standards, escalation frameworks, training programs, audit processes, and measurement systems that define how safety is delivered consistently across every Bierman center. You'll partner across Clinical, Operations, Human Resources, Facilities, Compliance, and Executive Leadership to ensure safety isn't simply documented—it is consistently implemented, measured, improved, and embedded into our culture. From developing enterprise standards to coordinating investigations, identifying trends, training leaders, and continuously strengthening our systems, you'll play a critical role in protecting children while helping Bierman become the industry's gold standard for pediatric therapy safety.

Requirements

5–10+ years of leadership experience in healthcare, pediatric services, behavioral health, ABA, quality management, risk management, patient safety, or related operational environments
Experience designing and implementing enterprise-wide policies, standards, operational systems, or risk management programs
Experience leading incident management, investigations, root cause analyses, or corrective action planning
Strong knowledge of child safety, risk management, regulatory expectations, and operational best practices
Demonstrated success building scalable systems across multi-site organizations
Strong analytical skills with experience using data to identify trends, monitor performance, and drive improvement
Excellent communication and facilitation skills with the ability to influence leaders across departments
A systems-oriented mindset balanced with strong operational execution
Sound judgment, professionalism, and composure when navigating complex or sensitive situations
A passion for creating environments where children, families, and team members feel safe, supported, and protected

Nice To Haves

Master's degree in Healthcare Administration, Nursing, Public Health, Behavioral Health, Psychology, Social Work, Risk Management, or a related field
Experience in pediatric healthcare, ABA, behavioral health, children's hospitals, or other child-serving organizations
Experience supporting multi-state healthcare operations
Knowledge of healthcare compliance, accreditation, licensing, and regulatory requirements
Experience developing enterprise training programs and operational audits
Familiarity with Safety Care and Safety Care certified, crisis management, or similar behavioral safety frameworks

Responsibilities

Design, implement, and continuously improve Bierman's comprehensive client safety operating system, including enterprise-wide policies, standards, documentation requirements, and operational expectations surrounding client protection, supervision, incident reporting, investigations, and environmental safety.
Establish and maintain clear operational standards for situations that directly impact client safety, including physical interaction, personal care, elopement prevention, transportation, Safety Care implementation, visibility, mandated reporting, environmental safety, client supervision, and emergency response.
Ensure safety standards are consistently executed across the organization by developing systems for verification and improvement, including obtaining Safety Care trainer certification, leading enterprise-wide safety audits, conducting protocol adherence reviews, performing operational spot checks, reviewing documentation quality, monitoring compliance trends, identifying recurring safety risks, coordinating corrective action planning, and supporting center leaders with implementation coaching.
Build tools for proactive safety performance monitoring, including enterprise safety scorecards, early warning indicators, safety dashboards, trend analysis, recurring issue tracking, risk reporting, investigation summaries, and organization-wide improvement initiatives.
Create and deliver engaging, practical training for all team members on safety, including new hire onboarding, recurring training, scenario-based learning, leadership education, incident response, investigation training, and refresher courses.
Serve as a key leader during significant safety events, coordinating cross-functional responses with Clinical Leadership, Operations, Human Resources, Facilities, Compliance, and Executive Leadership, including coordinating investigations, supporting incident reviews, ensuring consistent documentation, facilitating escalation processes, identifying root causes, recommending system improvements, and tracking follow-up actions.