Director of Nursing

Full Spectrum Search Group; Cupertino (CA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

The Director of Nursing will lead all nursing and clinical operations for a California SNF in Cupertino, ensuring Title 22 compliance and survey readiness while sustaining a high-quality care environment.

This role requires a hands-on California SNF leader who can assess risk quickly, address gaps before surveys, and guide an established team through disciplined improvement that preserves staffing stability and strong quality measures.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated clinical leadership in a California SNF.
• Hands-on knowledge of California Title 22 regulations and SNF compliance.
• Strong survey history with responsibility for survey prep, execution, and corrective actions.
• Experience leading clinical systems and identifying issues.
• Proven ability to develop and hold an established nursing team accountable.
• Experience managing nurse scheduling in SNF environments.
• Prior Director of Nursing experience in a California SNF preferred.
• Local Bay Area presence or willingness to relocate to Cupertino.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day nursing operations ensuring safe, compliant, resident-centered care.
• Maintain Title 22 compliance, CMS regs, infection prevention, documentation, and policies.
• Drive survey readiness through audits, action plans, staff education, mock surveys, follow-up.
• Guide state and federal survey activity including responses and corrective plans.
• Assess clinical systems and trends to identify risks affecting care and survey outcomes.
• Coordinate nurse scheduling with DSD, RN Supervisor, Infection Preventionist.
• Partner with administrators and regional consultants on quality priorities.
• Support transition of MDS responsibilities and related processes.
• Use PCC and reporting to monitor performance and improve execution.
• Coach and develop nursing staff while maintaining team stability.

Skills

Clinical leadership

Nursing operations

Schedule management

Regulatory compliance

Survey readiness

Quality improvement

Risk assessment

Interdisciplinary coordination

Staff coaching

Tools

PCC

MDS coordination

Job description

Director of Nursing

Skilled Nursing | Cupertino, CA

Full Spectrum Search Group is a full-service healthcare recruiting agency specializing in post-acute leadership and healthcare administration, serving skilled nursing, senior living, home health, hospice, home care, and the providers and technologies that support the post-acute space.

We are representing an established community seeking a Director of Nursing to lead its skilled nursing facility in Cupertino, CA.

This is a hands-on California SNF leadership opportunity for a clinically strong DON who knows Title 22, can lead survey readiness, and can strengthen systems without disrupting a stable nursing department. You will take ownership of clinical operations, nurse scheduling, regulatory execution, and the work required to improve the community's next survey outcome.

Five Uniques

• Lead a focused SNF operation with capacity capped at 58 beds and an average census in the upper 40s to approximately 50 residents.
• Inherit a stable nursing department with no open nursing positions at the time of intake.
• Build on 5-star CMS staffing and quality-measure ratings while leading the work to improve survey performance and overall rating.
• Partner with an experienced clinical structure, including a DSD with more than 20 years of tenure, an Infection Preventionist, and a seven-day-per-week RN Supervisor.
• Work with executive leadership, a Board of Directors, and a regional clinical consultant who are actively invested in clinical quality and a stronger next survey.

Position Summary

The Director of Nursing will lead all nursing and clinical operations for a California skilled nursing facility within a high-end community. This leader will be accountable for Title 22 compliance, survey readiness, clinical systems, nursing team performance, nurse scheduling, quality outcomes, and operational follow-through.

The successful candidate is an experienced California SNF clinical leader who can assess risk quickly, identify gaps before they become survey findings, and lead an established team through disciplined, practical improvement. This is an opportunity to improve survey performance while preserving the staffing and quality-measure strengths already in place.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day nursing operations for the SNF, ensuring safe, compliant, resident-centered care.
• Maintain hands-on oversight of California Title 22 requirements, CMS regulations, infection prevention practices, documentation standards, and clinical policies.
• Drive survey readiness through routine clinical audits, corrective action planning, staff education, mock survey activity, and consistent follow-up.
• Lead the facility through state and federal survey activity, including survey response, plan of correction development, and sustained compliance efforts.
• Assess clinical systems and trends to proactively identify risks affecting resident care, quality measures, staffing, documentation, and survey outcomes.
• Manage nurse scheduling and work closely with the DSD, RN Supervisor, Infection Preventionist, and nursing team to support appropriate coverage and clinical accountability.
• Partner with the Administrator, Associate Executive Director, Executive Director, Board, and regional clinical consultant on quality priorities and operational improvement.
• Support the transition of MDS responsibilities back in-house and collaborate on MDS, reimbursement, care planning, and documentation processes.
• Use PCC and available reporting to monitor clinical performance, address deficiencies, and improve execution across the department.
• Coach, develop, and hold nursing staff accountable while protecting the stability and engagement of an established team.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated clinical leadership experience in a California skilled nursing facility.
• Hands-on working knowledge of California Title 22 regulations and SNF compliance requirements.
• Strong survey history, including direct responsibility for survey preparation, survey execution, deficiency response, and sustained corrective action.
• Experience leading clinical systems and identifying issues.
• Proven ability to lead, develop, and hold an established nursing team accountable.
• Experience managing nurse scheduling in an SNF environment.
• Prior Director of Nursing experience in a California SNF is strongly preferred.
• Senior ADON candidates with substantial California SNF leadership experience, strong survey depth, and clear readiness for a DON role may be considered.
• Experience with PCC is preferred.
• Exposure to MDS, reimbursement, RAI processes, and interdisciplinary clinical coordination is preferred.
• Local Bay Area presence or willingness to relocate to the Cupertino, CA area.

Full Spectrum Search Group builds leadership and management teams for the country's most prominent post-acute operators. As part of the Sanford Rose Associates International network, the 9th largest executive search firm in the US, our clients get boutique-level attention backed by national resources. We're ranked among the Top 10 U.S. & Americas search firms, have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Business Week, and CNN, and have completed over 112,500 searches.

Full Spectrum is an equal opportunity search firm. We recruit candidates without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, medical condition, marital status, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic under local, state or federal law.