Director, Clinical Operations

Vibrant Emotional Health•New York, NY

3d•$92,800 - $125,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Vibrant Emotional Health, formerly the Mental Health Association of New York City (MHA-NYC), has been delivering high-quality services and support for over 50 years through groundbreaking solutions. The organization aims to strengthen a suicide prevention framework, providing access to mental health services across a continuum of care. The Director of Clinical Operations will be responsible for building and scaling the clinical operations function within Vibrant’s Community Programs. This role involves designing the processes for clinical work at scale, including reviews, knowledge management, and quality improvement. The position will also create and maintain policies and procedures for direct service programs and develop processes for expanding clinical spaces in New York City. The Director will establish and evolve the operational backbone of clinical delivery, setting KPIs and quality metrics, and translating clinical nuance into actionable direction for cross-functional teams. This licensed clinical leader will operate in a New York State clinical setting, provide crisis guidance, and serve as the senior decision-maker for complex or high-risk situations. The role will also coordinate audits, site visits, and quality assurance workflows, and supervise program directors and staff seeking clinical licensure.

Requirements

7+ years of progressive leadership experience in clinical or healthcare operations, including oversight of multidisciplinary teams and program performance.
3+ years of working with clinical workflows, either through direct clinical experience or sustained work alongside clinical teams.
Bachelor’s degree in healthcare administration, social work, psychology, public health, business administration, or a related field.
Active clinical licensure in New York State required (LCSW, LMHC, or equivalent).
Operational Leadership: Oversees multi-site service delivery with accountability for operations, staffing, and performance.
Clinical & Crisis Expertise: Guides teams in triage, crisis response, and high acuity care environments.
Regulatory Knowledge: Ensures compliance with New York State requirements across programs.
Quality & Performance Management: Embeds improvement practices and uses data to drive outcomes.
Clinical Leadership: Licensed in New York with experience leading multidisciplinary teams.
Decision Making & Escalation: Exercises sound judgment in complex and high-pressure situations.
Program & Medicaid Oversight: Manages billable services with focus on compliance and sustainability.
EHR & Documentation: Ensures strong documentation practices and system consistency.
Team Leadership: Sets expectations and drives a high-performing, accountable culture.
Communication: Clearly conveys clinical and operational insights across stakeholders.

Nice To Haves

Master’s Degree in Social Work, Mental Health Counseling, Psychology, or a related behavioral health field required.
PHD, LCSW, or LMHC with diagnostic privilege is highly preferred.
Advanced training or certifications in healthcare administration, quality improvement, or clinical operations preferred (for example Lean, Six Sigma, or similar).
Strong systems thinker with the ability to design scalable processes without over engineering.
Proven ability to define metrics, track performance, and drive operational improvement.
Experience translating complex clinical concepts into clear direction for non clinical partners.
Experience working within Medicaid, managed care, or publicly funded behavioral health systems is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Build and Scale Clinical Operations: Design and implement end-to-end clinical operations workflows, including intake, review, escalation, and quality assurance.
Establish scalable systems for clinical review, knowledge management, and continuous improvement.
Define and track KPIs across clinical accuracy, turnaround time, and operational efficiency.
Quality, Compliance, and Clinical Standards: Develop and maintain SOPs to standardize clinical practices across all sites.
Lead internal audits and ensure readiness for external regulatory surveys and payer audits.
Oversee site licensure requirements, renewals, and regulatory documentation.
Ensure documentation, workflows, and care delivery meet internal and external standards.
Clinical Review and Revenue Integrity: Manage patient access clinical review processes, including prior authorization, medical necessity review, and escalation pathways.
Oversee appeals and denials processes to reduce avoidable losses and improve reimbursement outcomes.
Develop revenue generating processes and workflows and report on strategic plans to increase utilization across services.
Cross Functional Partnership: Translate clinical workflows and requirements into clear direction for cross-functional and multidisciplinary teams.
Partner with shared services to ensure that Direct service needs are uplifted and socialized across the organization to expedite needs.
Collaborate with clinical leadership to align operational processes with care delivery standards.
Clinical Strategy and Capability Building: Support development of clinical strategy and ensure consistency of clinical competencies across staff in support of a suicide prevention model.
Codify best practices and embed them into repeatable, scalable systems.
Continuously refine processes based on data, audits, and frontline feedback.
Develop a strategic plan for future growth and expansion of quality standards in close collaboration with the Vice President of Community Programs and additional stakeholders.