Director, Clinical Operations

Vibrant Emotional Health; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 93,000 - 125,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive benefits

401K plan

Job summary

Vibrant Emotional Health in New York, NY is hiring a Director of Clinical Operations to build and scale the clinical operations function within the Community Programs portfolio. You will design how clinical work is done at scale, codify knowledge, define quality metrics, and lead audits and licensure efforts.

This role reports to the VP of Community Programs and drives initiatives across cross-functional teams.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of progressive leadership experience in clinical or healthcare operations.
• 3+ years working with clinical workflows.
• Bachelor's degree in healthcare administration, social work, psychology, public health, business administration, or a related field.
• Preferred Master's Degree in Social Work, Mental Health Counseling, Psychology, or a related behavioral health field.
• Active clinical licensure in New York State (LCSW, LMHC, or equivalent).
• Strong systems thinker with the ability to design scalable processes.
• Proven ability to define metrics and drive operational improvement.
• Experience translating complex clinical concepts for non-clinical partners.
• Experience with Medicaid or publicly funded behavioral health systems is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Design and scale 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.
• Develop and maintain SOPs to standardize clinical practices across sites.
• Lead internal audits and readiness for external surveys and payer audits.
• Oversee site licensure requirements, renewals, and regulatory documentation.
• Manage patient access clinical review processes including prior authorization and medical necessity review.
• Oversee appeals and denials processes to improve reimbursement outcomes.
• Develop revenue-generating processes and report on strategic plans to increase utilization.
• Translate clinical workflows into direction for cross-functional teams.
• Collaborate with shared services to support direct service needs.
• Codify best practices into repeatable, scalable systems.
• Develop strategic plan for growth and expansion of quality standards.

Skills

Operational Leadership

Clinical & Crisis Expertise

Regulatory Knowledge

Quality & Performance Management

Clinical Leadership

Decision Making & Escalation

Program & Medicaid Oversight

EHR & Documentation

Team Leadership

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in healthcare administration, social work, psychology, public health, business administration, or related field

Master's Degree in Social Work, Mental Health Counseling, Psychology, or related behavioral health field

Active clinical licensure in New York State

Advanced training in healthcare administration or quality improvement (Lean, Six Sigma)

Job description

Job Title: Director of Clinical Operations

Department: Community Services

Reports to: Vice President of Community Programs

Location: New York, NY; Hybrid

Schedule: Monday - Friday; 9am - 5pm

Salary Range: $92,800 - 125,000

Formerly the Mental Health Association of New York City (MHA-NYC), Vibrant Emotional Health's groundbreaking solutions have delivered high quality services and support, when, where and how people need it for over 50 years. Through our state-of-the-art technology-enabled services, community wellness programs, and advocacy and education work, we are building a society in which emotional wellness can be a reality for everyone.

Position Overview:

The Director of Clinical Operations will build and scale the clinical operations function across Vibrant's Community Programs. Vibrant Emotional Health is working to strengthen a suicide prevention framework that allows access to mental health services across a continuum of care. This role is responsible for designing how clinical work gets done at scale, including how reviews are conducted, how knowledge is codified and dispersed across multidisciplinary teams, and how quality is defined, measured, and improved over time. This pivotal role will create and maintain comprehensive policies and procedures for direct service programs, aimed at ensuring the highest standards of clinical service delivery. In addition, this role is pivotal in developing processes for expansion of clinical spaces in New York City to complement our crisis call center expertise.

This leader establishes and evolves the operational backbone of clinical delivery, setting and refining KPIs and quality metrics tied to clinical accuracy, review turnaround times, and overall operational efficiency. The role operates at the intersection of clinical practice, operations, and systems design, translating clinical nuance into clear, actionable direction for cross functional teams.

This role requires a licensed clinical leader who can operate in a New York State clinical setting, provide real-time guidance during crises, and act as the senior decision-maker and escalation point for complex or high-risk situations arising within centers. In addition, this role is expected to successfully lead and coordinate audits, site visits, and additional quality assurance workflows to ensure all programs are in good operational standing. Program directors for direct service programs and additional staff in need of clinical supervision for licensure will report to this role.

Duties/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.

Required Skills/Abilities:

* 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.

Required Qualifications:

* 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.

• Preferred Master's Degree in Social Work, Mental Health Counseling, Psychology, or a related behavioral health field required.

• Active clinical licensure in New York State required (LCSW, LMHC, or equivalent). 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.

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Physical Requirements:

• Must be able to remain in a stationary position 50% of the time.

• Will constantly operate a computer and other office productivity machinery, such as a calculator, copy machine, and computer printer.

• Will frequently communicate over video calls with internal and external stakeholders to provide status updates and potential roadblocks.

We determine base pay through a comprehensive review of skills, experience, education, certifications, geographic location, and other relevant factors. The range listed reflects the compensation parameters for the role and does not represent the full compensation package. A complete overview of compensation and benefits will be provided by the Talent Acquisition team during the hiring process.

Full time employees will be eligible for excellent comprehensive benefits, including medical, dental, vision, supplemental income insurance, employer paid disability insurance, employer paid life insurance, pre-tax FSA for medical and dependent care, and 401K available.

Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they are able to perform every task in the job description. We are most interested in finding the best candidate for the job, and that candidate may be one who comes from a less traditional background. Vibrant will consider any equivalent combination of knowledge, skills, education and experience to meet minimum qualifications. If you are interested in applying, we encourage you to think broadly about your background and skill set for the role.

Vibrant Emotional Health is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants are considered for positions without regard to veteran status, uniformed service member status, race, creed, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, citizenship status, national origin, marital status, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, caregiver status or any other category protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.