Senior Director of Behavioral Health

Northern Children's Services • Philadelphia, PA

8h

About The Position

Northern Children’s Services (Northern) is seeking an experienced, forward-thinking Senior Director of Behavioral Health to lead a dynamic and evolving department serving children, youth, and families across Philadelphia. This leadership role requires a strategic and mission-driven leader with strong capacity to integrate clinical expertise and excellence with strong administrative discipline, embraces data and measurable outcomes, and is committed to building a culture of accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement, and solid, achievable outcomes. The Senior Director will play a pivotal role in ensuring that behavioral health services not only meet regulatory standards but demonstrably improve lives. The Senior Director provides oversight and ensures high-quality clinical care across all Northern’s Behavioral Health Programs and services: Intensive Behavioral Health Services (IBHS), Outpatient, Early Intervention, Wellness & Resiliency, and psychiatric (medication management). This role requires advanced clinical licensure, extensive leadership and management experience, and strategic vision for growth, innovation, and sustainability. The Senior Director is responsible for ensuring high-quality, evidence-based clinical care, strong census and financial sustainability, measurable client outcomes, clear performance accountability, effective supervision structures, cross-department collaboration, and a culture of professionalism, transparency, and continuous improvement. The organization is committed to fostering a therapeutic environment rooted in safety, nonviolence, and resilience, guided by trauma-informed principles.

Requirements

• Master’s or Doctoral degree in Psychology, Counseling, Social Work, or related field
• One or more of the following licenses (active and issued by PA Commonwealth): Board Certified Behavioral Analyst (BCBA), Certified Registered Nurse Practitioner (CRNP) with Mental Health Certification, Licensed Associate Professional Counselor (LAPC), Licensed Behavior Specialist (LBS), Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (LMFT), Licensed Psychologist (Psy.D. or Ph.D.), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Licensed Social Worker (LSW), Licensed Physician (practicing psychiatry)
• At least four (4) years of experience in a senior managerial/leadership role in an organization providing behavioral health treatment of a clinical nature to children, adolescents, and families in residential, inpatient, outpatient and/or educational settings, with a minimum of five (5) years of clinical supervision experience, with at least two (2) of these years related to directly serving children and youth.
• Deep knowledge of OMHSAS, DBHIDS, CBH, and other key entities and correlating regulations and requirements.
• Passionate about Northern's mission and able to promote and communicate the philosophy, mission, and core values of Northern to external and internal stakeholders.
• Strong relationship builder and communicator with experience leading diverse work teams, developing an organization-wide strategy for program excellence, engaging community partners, and partnering with Northern's Leadership Team.
• Analytical thinker with operational follow-through
• Strong administrative and financial acumen
• Data-literate and outcomes-oriented
• Clear, direct communicator
• High emotional intelligence
• Courageous accountability
• Collaborative and cross-functional

Nice To Haves

• Direct experience managing and working in IBHS
• Knowledge of the child welfare system is a strong plus.
• Strong relationships with stakeholders in all these agencies (OMHSAS, DBHIDS, CBH).

Responsibilities

• Ensures all Behavioral Health programs operate in alignment with regulatory, licensing, and ethical standards.
• Provides clinical and program oversight for all city and state BH program audits, including the effective monitoring and implementation of any related Plans of Correction (POC), and the avoidance of them through proactive compliance with regulations and expectations for best practices.
• Ensure strong clinical supervision structures at all levels.
• Promote evidence-based and trauma-informed practices.
• Supports staff in securing clinician licensure and certification in approved evidence-based models.
• Serves as an active member of Northern’s Senior Leadership Team.
• Collaborates across all Northern programs and departments (Child Welfare, Compliance, Development, Executive Suite, Finance, Human Resources, Operations, Residential, Youth Safety & Prevention).
• Represents Northern internally with Northern staff, clients, and Board of Trustees members, as well as externally with funders, caregivers, families, regulatory bodies, and community partners such as the Department of Behavioral Health & Disability Services (DBHIDS), Community Behavioral Health (CBH), the PA Office of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS), and the School District of Philadelphia.
• Contributes to organization-wide strategy and organizational decision-making.
• Ensures that the BH Department is fully and effectively using appropriate and available program tools (i.e., Credible/Qualifacts, Mission Driven Data (Janet), Office 365 (Outlook, Excel for benchmarks, Power BI, etc.), UKG); leverage this information as program management tools that support real-time, mid-course corrections, best practice learning within BH and across Northern, lessons that improve programs and services, and fully maximize billing.
• Aligning staffing models with census and revenue goals.
• Ensuring workflows support productivity, documentation quality, and timely billing.
• Overseeing productivity, access, discharge planning, and authorization processes.
• Ensuring clean documentation systems and accurate reporting.
• Translating strategy into measurable execution.
• Regularly review program dashboards (census, revenue, productivity, access, outcomes).
• Ensure standardized outcome tools are implemented and used consistently.
• Analyze trends and implement mid-course corrections when performance declines.
• Ensure data integrity (closed cases, documentation accuracy, consistent scoring).
• Ask consistently: “Are we making a measurable difference?”
• Possess a meaningful understanding of the importance of utilizing benchmarks as tools for improvement — not threats.
• Maintains strong census across programs.
• Proactively addresses declines in utilization or referrals.
• Partners with Finance to monitor margins and revenue performance.
• Responds strategically to funding, regulatory, and authorization changes.
• Identifies sustainable growth opportunities aligned with Northern’s mission.
• Effectively and responsibly allocates resources.
• Holds all staff to clearly defined performance standards.
• Addresses performance concerns directly and promptly.
• Responds to identified issues without defensiveness, avoidance, or minimization.
• Uses coaching, retraining, documentation, and corrective action when appropriate.
• Ensures standards and expectations are applied equitably and consistently across staff members.
• Makes difficult but necessary decisions in the best interest of program stability, compliance, and overall organizational health.
• Ensures expectations are clear, documented, and consistently reinforced.
• Ensures that clinical leaders fully understand operational, financial, compliance, and outcome expectations.
• Equips staff to translate executive expectations into actionable team-level behavior.
• Eliminates ambiguity about productivity, documentation, access, and outcome benchmarks.
• Actively encourages innovative, creative problem-solving, and constructive feedback.
• Evaluates ideas based on impact and data — not hierarchy.
• Models intellectual curiosity and adaptability.
• Fosters psychological safety by creating an environment where team members feel comfortable sharing ideas, while maintaining clear standards of accountability and performance expectations.
• Proactively engaged other departments in problem-solving, related fund development (including the pursuit of both public and private grants), volunteer and donor engagement, and other activities.
• Encourages Behavioral Health leaders to think organizationally.
• Avoids siloed culture, decision-making, and work.
• Reinforces shared organization-wide goals and accountability.
• Models respectful, solution-oriented communication.
• Encourages staff to bring concerns through appropriate supervisory channels.
• Addresses unproductive dynamics directly.
• Discourages divisiveness, triangulation, and informal negativity.
• Reinforces a culture of direct communication and shared responsibility.

Benefits

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance for full-time employees.
• Life Insurance/AD&D and LTD: We provide full-time employees with a $20,000 life insurance policy through Mutual of Omaha Company at no cost. Additionally, Mutual of Omaha LTD coverage and AD&D insurance offer financial security to our employees and their families.
• A partner insurance company offers a range of self-funded insurance plans, including accident insurance, cancer insurance, life insurance, critical illness coverage, and short-term disability insurance, providing additional financial protection to our employees.
• 401(k) Retirement Plan: We offer a 401(k)-savings plan with a generous matching contribution after one year of employment.
• NCS Educational Expense Reimbursement program
• Paid Leave: Employees have access to generous paid time off or sick leave, allowing them to prioritize their health and well-being.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP): Our EAP offers confidential referral and counseling services to help employees and their families manage life's challenges, including stress management, legal and financial concerns, depression, and substance abuse.
• Legal Services: Self-funded legal services provide valuable support and resources for various legal matters.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Number of Employees: 11-50 employees