Vice President of Compliance

MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEMS INC•San Diego, CA

2d•$135,000 - $155,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Vice President of Compliance serves as the organization's senior compliance leader, responsible for advancing an enterprise-wide compliance program across clinical, operational, financial, contractual, and regulatory functions. Working closely with Executive Leadership and regularly engaging the Board of Directors, this position provides strategic direction while remaining actively involved in the day-to-day execution of compliance activities in a collaborative, hands-on environment.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required
Minimum 10 years of progressive experience in healthcare compliance, regulatory oversight, audit management, enterprise risk, quality, contract compliance, or related leadership roles.
Demonstrated experience leading compliance in a complex, multi-site, multi-program healthcare, behavioral health, human services, or nonprofit environment.
Strong knowledge of healthcare compliance requirements, including Medi-Cal, DHCS, county behavioral health contracts, documentation standards, billing integrity, licensing, accreditation, privacy coordination, and regulatory readiness.
Proven ability to lead audits, investigations, monitor activities, corrective action plans, and compliance reporting.
Experience partnering with executive, clinical, operational, finance, human resources, quality, privacy, and program leaders to drive organization-wide compliance outcomes.
Strong ability to translate complex regulatory and contractual requirements into practical operational guidance.
Executive presence, sound judgment, discretion, and the ability to communicate effectively with senior leadership, boards, regulators, auditors, and cross-functional teams.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in Healthcare Administration, Public Health, Social Work, Psychology, Business Administration, Law, Compliance, or related field strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Lead and mature an enterprise-wide compliance program that supports ethical, compliant, and accountable operations across all departments, programs, and service lines.
Provide strategic oversight for organizational compliance risks, including regulatory requirements, contract obligations, billing integrity, privacy coordination, policy governance, audit readiness, and corrective action.
Partners with executive leadership to align compliance priorities with organizational strategy, operational performance, and risk mitigation.
Promote a culture of compliance that emphasizes shared accountability, transparency, timely issue escalation, and sustainable corrective action.
Oversee agencywide compliance with clinical documentation standards, ensuring treatment records meet Medi-Cal, county, and regulatory requirements.
Establish and monitor systems to ensure accurate, timely, and audit-ready clinical documentation, including assessments, treatment plans, progress notes, and discharge summaries.
Lead regular treatment file audits and utilization reviews, identifying trends, deficiencies, and corrective actions.
Partner with Clinical Leadership to ensure documentation reflects medical necessity, appropriate level of care, and service delivery standards.
Oversee compliance with applicable federal, state, county, licensing, accreditation, and contractual requirements across the organization.
Interpret and operationalize complex regulatory and contract requirements across multiple programs, counties, and funding streams.
Serve as a senior compliance resource for county contracts, DHCS requirements, Medi-Cal requirements, licensing standards, and other healthcare regulatory obligations.
Partner with operational and program leaders to ensure compliance expectations are embedded into daily operations, program design, and service delivery models.
Lead the organization’s audit readiness strategy, including internal monitoring, external audits, county reviews, DHCS audits, licensing reviews, and accreditation surveys.
Oversee systems for identifying compliance risks, tracking findings, documenting corrective actions, and validating sustained improvement.
Develop and monitor corrective action plans related to audit findings, regulatory concerns, contract gaps, documentation issues, billing concerns, or operational non-compliance.
Provide executive-level reporting on compliance trends, open risks, audit outcomes, corrective action status, and areas requiring leadership attention.
Oversee agencywide compliance with clinical documentation and treatment record standards, including Medi-Cal, county, and regulatory requirements.
Ensure systems are in place to support accurate, timely, complete, and audit-ready documentation.
Partner with Clinical Leadership, Quality, Revenue Cycle, and Program Operations to support documentation integrity, medical necessity, service alignment, and billing compliance.
Monitor trends from treatment file audits, utilization reviews, documentation reviews, and billing-related compliance activities.
Support the development, maintenance, and implementation of compliance-related policies, procedures, standards, and guidance.
Oversee compliance education and training programs that address regulatory obligations, ethical conduct, documentation standards, contract requirements, reporting expectations, and organizational accountability.
Ensure staff and leadership understand their compliance responsibilities and know how to raise concerns or seek guidance.
Reinforce compliance as an organizational responsibility shared across clinical, operational, administrative, and executive functions.
Serve as a key advisor to Executive Leadership and provide periodic reporting to the Board and its designated committees regarding compliance risks, audit outcomes, corrective actions, and emerging regulatory matters.
Monitor and communicate changes in laws, regulations, contract requirements, and enforcement trends that may affect the organization.
Support enterprise decision-making by providing clear, risk-informed compliance guidance.