Head of Research

LifeStance Health; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 210,000 - 225,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

AD&D

Disability (short & long-term)

Life insurance

401k with employer match

Parental leave

Paid time off

Holiday pay

Employee Assistance Program

Job summary

LifeStance Health seeks a senior leader to serve as Head of Research, advancing enterprise research, outcomes, and publication strategy. You will build scalable research infrastructure, translate real-world clinical data into evidence, and partner across Clinical, Quality, Data Analytics, Operations, and external collaborators.

You will supervise research staff, shape publication standards, ensure regulatory and ethical compliance, and communicate findings to senior leadership to drive care

Qualifications

• Doctoral or equivalent terminal degree in psychology, psychiatry, behavioral health, public health, health services research, statistics, data science, epidemiology, or related field.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in clinical/behavioral health research or related field.
• 5+ years of leadership experience managing research teams or cross-functional programs.
• Experience designing, analyzing, and disseminating healthcare outcomes research using real-world data.
• Experience developing manuscripts, conference submissions, or external publications.

Responsibilities

• Develop and lead enterprise research strategy, priorities, publication roadmap, governance, and ethical standards.
• Oversee analyses of clinical, operational, and measurement-based care data to produce actionable insights.
• Establish publication standards and oversee manuscripts, white papers, abstracts, and annual reporting.
• Build scalable research operations, including project intake, study design support, IRB coordination, and reporting cadence.
• Partner with Clinical Excellence, Quality, Legal/Compliance, Privacy, Data Insights, and Operations to align research initiatives.
• Manage and cultivate external collaborations with academia, health systems, and vendors.
• Translate research findings into clinical quality improvement priorities and evidence-based recommendations.
• Lead and develop research staff and contractors, ensuring high-quality deliverables.
• Ensure research activities comply with laws, privacy, ethics, IRB expectations, and LifeStance policies.
• Prepare executive-ready updates and presentations for senior leadership and governance committees.

Skills

Clinical research leadership

Strategic planning

Data analytics

Manuscript development

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Doctoral degree (PhD, PsyD, MD, DrPH, ScD)

Master’s degree with leadership experience

Job description

At LifeStance Health, we strive to help individuals, families, and communities with their mental health needs. Everywhere. Every day. It’s a lofty goal; we know. But we make it happen with the best team in mental healthcare.

Thank you for taking the time to explore a career with us. As the fastest growing mental health practice group in the country, now is the perfect time to join our team!

LifeStance Health Values

• Belonging: We cultivate a space where everyone can show up as their authentic self.
• Empathy: We seek out diverse perspectives and listen to learn without judgment.
• Courage: We are all accountable for doing the right thing - even when it's hard - because we know it's worth it.
• One Team: We realize our full potential when we work together towards our shared purpose.

Benefits

As a full-time employee of LifeStance Health, the following benefits are offered: medical, dental, vision, AD&D, short and long-term disability, and life insurance. Additional benefits include a 401k retirement savings with employer match, paid parental leave, paid time off, holiday pay and an Employee Assistance Program.

ROLE OVERVIEW

The Head of Research is responsible for advancing LifeStance’s enterprise research, outcomes, and external publication strategy by building scalable research infrastructure, translating real-world clinical data into evidence, and partnering across Clinical, Quality, Data Analytics, Operations, and external collaborators. Success looks like a clinically governed, methodologically rigorous research portfolio that differentiates LifeStance through measurable outcomes, high-quality publications, strategic partnerships, and actionable insights that improve care for patients and support clinicians.

Consistent with LifeStance’s values, every member of the LifeStance team is expected to support each other and the mission, which may mean participating in projects and initiatives and performing functions and responsibilities not specifically outlined in this job description. Leaders at LifeStance are expected to foster a commitment to the organization values.

KEY RESPONSIBILITES

The intent of this job description is to provide a representative summary of the major duties and responsibilities performed by employees in this job. Employees may be requested to perform job-related tasks other than those specifically presented in this description.

Research Strategy & Governance:

Develop and lead the enterprise research strategy, including annual research priorities, publication roadmap, governance processes, and standards for ethical, compliant research execution.

Outcomes Research & Evidence Generation:

Oversee analyses of LifeStance clinical, operational, and measurement-based care data ensuring priorities and strategies are guided by Clinical Excellence to produce actionable insights regarding access, engagement, quality, safety, clinical effectiveness, and patient outcomes.

Publications & Thought Leadership:

Establish publication standards and oversee development of manuscripts, white papers, conference abstracts, annual outcomes reporting, and external-facing research narratives that strengthen LifeStance’s thought leadership.

Research Infrastructure & Operations:

Build scalable research operations, including project intake, prioritization, study design support, documentation, data request workflows, IRB and regulatory coordination, and reporting cadence.

Cross-Functional Partnership:

Partner with Clinical Excellence, Quality, Legal/Compliance, Privacy, Data Insights, Informatics, Practice Operations, Strategy, and Finance to ensure research initiatives are strategically aligned, operationally feasible, and clinically meaningful.

External Collaboration:

Develop and manage research collaborations with academic institutions, health systems, professional organizations, vendors, and external experts to advance evidence generation and dissemination.

Measurement-Based Care & Quality Improvement:

Collaborate with Clinical Excellence to translate research insights into clinical quality improvement priorities, measurement frameworks, and evidence-based recommendations that support clinicians and improve patient care.

Team Leadership:

Lead and develop research staff, consultants, and matrixed contributors by setting priorities, establishing clear expectations, providing coaching, and maintaining accountability for high-quality deliverables.

Compliance, Ethics & Data Integrity:

Ensure research activities align with applicable laws, regulations, privacy requirements, ethical standards, IRB expectations, and LifeStance policies governing data use, patient confidentiality, and external dissemination.

Executive Communication:

Prepare executive-ready updates, dashboards, recommendations, and presentations for senior leadership, governance committees, and other internal stakeholders.

ADDITIONAL JOB-RELATED INFORMATION

Supervision

This role is expected to supervise research staff and/or contractors as the research function scales. It may also provide functional leadership to matrixed contributors in Analytics, Clinical Excellence, Quality, and Operations who support research and outcomes projects.

Project Management

This role owns cross-functional and enterprise-level research initiatives, including publication timelines, outcomes reporting, external collaborations, research governance, and implementation of scalable research processes.

Decision Making

This role has significant autonomy in setting research priorities, determining study design recommendations, shaping publication strategy, and translating data into research deliverables. Input or approval is required when decisions involve legal, regulatory, privacy, patient safety, reputational, vendor, or material enterprise resource implications.

Legal Risk

Research decisions may affect privacy, data use, external reporting, regulatory readiness, scientific integrity, and organizational reputation. This role partners with Legal, Compliance, Privacy, Quality, and the CMO to mitigate risk before research activities, analyses, or publications are implemented or released.

Financial Impact

This role does not typically carry direct revenue accountability but indirectly supports growth, payer and partnership credibility, clinician engagement, and brand differentiation through rigorous evidence generation, outcomes reporting, and thought leadership. The role may influence expenses through vendor, consulting, analytics, publication, and research infrastructure recommendations.

REQUIREMENTS

Minimum Required Education and Experience

• Doctoral degree such as PhD, PsyD, MD, DrPH, ScD, or equivalent terminal degree in psychology, psychiatry, behavioral health, public health, health services research, statistics, data science, epidemiology, or a related field. Master’s degree with significant equivalent research leadership experience may be considered.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in clinical research, behavioral health research, health services research, outcomes research, quality improvement, data analytics, or a related healthcare research function.
• 5+ years of leadership experience managing research teams, cross-functional research programs, external collaborators, or complex multi-stakeholder research initiatives.
• Demonstrated experience designing, analyzing, interpreting, and disseminating clinical or healthcare outcomes research using real-world data, EHR-derived data, claims data, survey data, or measurement-based care data.
• Experience developing manuscripts, conference submissions, white papers, executive research summaries, or external publications.

Required Licenses or Certifications

• No specific license is required unless the candidate’s professional discipline requires active licensure for the work performed.
• Human subjects research training, IRB familiarity, or equivalent research compliance training required or completed upon hire.

Essential Competencies

• Research strategy, study design, outcomes methodology, data interpretation, and evidence generation expertise.
• Strong understanding of behavioral health care delivery, measurement-based care, quality improvement, and clinical governance.
• Ability to translate complex data and research findings into clear, actionable recommendations for clinical, operational, and executive audiences.
• Executive communication, publication development, stakeholder influence, and cross-functional leadership skills.
• High standards for research ethics, data integrity, privacy, equity, and compliance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in a large, multi-site, multi-state behavioral health, outpatient mental health, or healthcare delivery organization.
• Peer-reviewed publication record, grant experience, academic partnership experience, or national conference presentation experience.
• Experience with measurement-based care, patient-reported outcomes, real-world evidence, health equity research, value-based care, or predictive analytics.
• Experience managing external research partnerships, vendors, consultants, or data collaboration agreements.

Employment Eligibility, EEO & Inclusion

• Qualified candidates must be legally authorized to be employed in the United States.
• LifeStance is an EEO/Affirmative Action Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.
• Demonstrates awareness, inclusivity, sensitivity, humility, and experience in working with individuals from diverse ethnic backgrounds, socioeconomic statuses, sexual orientations, gender identities, and other various aspects of culture.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

• The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit, stand, bend, talk and hear. The employee is frequently required to walk. The employee must be able to lift and/or move objects up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and the ability to adjust focus.
• This role is primarily performed in a remote office or similar indoor environment, requiring reliable internet access and a quiet, distraction-free, dedicated HIPAA-compliant workspace. Work involves extended periods of sitting, frequent computer use, audio/video calls, meetings, writing, data review, and collaboration with internal and external stakeholders.
• Travel may be required periodically for enterprise meetings, research collaborations, conferences, leadership discussions, or operational engagement.

COMPENSATION

$210,000 - $225,000/annually in addition to a competitive bonus plan and equity potential

LifeStance provides the compensation range and benefits that it in good faith believes it might pay and/or offer for this position. LifeStance reserves the right to ultimately pay more or less than the posted range and offer additional benefits and other compensation, depending on circumstances not related to an applicant’s sex or other status protected by local, state, or federal law.

#LI-TS1

LifeStance is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are fully committed to creating an inclusive work environment for all our employees. Learn moreabout Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at LifeStance.

LifeStance Health complies with federal and state disability laws and makes reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees with disabilities. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact our Human Resources Team at [e-mail]. Please note: This contact isintended solely for accommodation requests. Inquiries regarding applications, resumes and applicant status should not besent to this email addressas they will not be reviewed or responded to.