Regional Director of Operations

Relief Mental Health; Oak Brook (IL); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Relief Mental Health is seeking a Regional Director of Operations to oversee multiple clinics in the region. You will lead through Clinic Managers, drive census, capacity, and patient experience, and ensure clinics meet demand with strong leadership, metrics, and stellar operations.

You will partner with Clinical leadership and corporate teams to fuel growth, maintain quality, and develop ongoing succession plans while promoting a patient-first culture across the region.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience preferred.
• 5+ years of healthcare operations experience.
• Experience leading multiple locations or managers.
• Strong leadership, communication, and coaching skills.
• Behavioral health/psychiatry experience preferred.
• Willingness to travel regionally.

Responsibilities

• Own census, visit volume, operational performance, and regional growth across clinics and service lines.
• Set performance expectations for Clinic Managers and hold them accountable.
• Monitor KPIs and address barriers to growth, access, and retention.
• Develop action plans for underperforming clinics and support leadership development.
• Collaborate with Clinical Leadership, HR, Marketing, and Finance to support growth and capacity planning.
• Ensure operational readiness for new clinics and expansion within the region.

Skills

Leadership

Healthcare operations

Multi-location management

Staff development

Strategic planning

Data-driven decision making

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Job description

The Regional Director of Operations is responsible for the overall operational performance, growth, and success of Relief Mental Health clinics within the assigned region.

The RDO leads through Clinic Managers and is responsible for developing strong, independent leaders who take ownership of their clinic's performance, team, patient experience, and results. The RDO provides leadership, accountability, and support without taking over the day-to-day responsibilities of the Clinic Manager.

The RDO works closely with the Regional Clinical Director and other company leaders to ensure clinics have the staffing, provider capacity, operational infrastructure, and resources necessary to meet current demand and support continued growth.

Reporting Relationships & Scope

• Clinic Managers report directly to the RDO. The RDO is responsible for hiring, developing, evaluating, and holding Clinic Managers accountable for performance.
• Clinic staff report through their Clinic Manager. The RDO provides oversight and support through the Clinic Manager rather than managing clinic staff day to day.
• Licensed clinical providers report through the appropriate clinical leadership structure. The RDO partners with the Regional Clinical Director on provider capacity, schedules, productivity, workflows, and patient experience while maintaining clear separation between operational and clinical oversight.

Key Responsibilities

Regional Performance & Growth

• Own census, visit volume, operational performance, and growth across clinics and service lines within the region.
• Establish performance expectations with Clinic Managers, support and hold them accountable for achieving goals.
• Monitor key performance indicators and identify opportunities or barriers affecting clinic growth, capacity, patient access, and retention.
• Develop and oversee action plans for clinics that do not meet expectations.
• Partner with Clinical Leadership, Marketing, and Business Development to support patient growth and referral development.
• Ensure clinics have the operational capacity to support current and anticipated patient demand.
• Work with the Regional Clinical Director to match provider schedules and templates to patient demand.

Leadership & Team Development

• Hire, develop, coach, and evaluate Clinic Managers.
• Build Clinic Managers into independent leaders who understand their business, own their results, make sound decisions, and effectively manage their teams.
• Establish clear expectations and accountability for clinic leadership.
• Support Clinic Managers with hiring, onboarding, training, employee development, and performance management.
• Identify and develop future leaders and succession plans within the region.
• Promote Relief Mental Health's values, culture, and patient-first approach throughout the region.

Staffing, Forecasting & Capacity Planning

• Forecast staffing and operational needs based on census trends, provider capacity, expected growth, and new service lines.
• Partner with Clinic Managers, Clinical Leadership, and Human Resources to ensure hiring occurs proactively and clinics are appropriately staffed as they grow.
• Evaluate provider schedules, clinic hours, treatment capacity, rooms, and other resources to identify opportunities to increase access and utilization.
• Balance staffing and labor needs with operational and financial performance.
• Anticipate regional needs and develop plans before staffing or capacity becomes a barrier to growth.

Operational Excellence

• Maintain consistent operational standards and best practices across clinics.
• Ensure clinics operate efficiently and provide a consistent, high-quality patient experience.
• Monitor operational and front-end revenue cycle performance and partner with appropriate departments to address issues.
• Ensure clinics maintain compliance with applicable company policies, regulatory requirements, and operational standards.
• Serve as the escalation point for significant operational, patient, or employee issues that cannot be resolved at the clinic level.
• Identify and lead regional process improvement initiatives.

Partnership with Clinical Leadership

• Partner closely with the Regional Clinical Director to align operational capacity with clinical needs and patient demand.
• Collaborate on provider schedules, productivity, clinic capacity, workflows, and patient experience.
• Ensure operational and clinical responsibilities remain clearly defined while maintaining strong collaboration between the two functions.
• Escalate clinical or provider performance concerns through the appropriate clinical leadership structure.

New Clinics & Expansion

• Lead the operational planning and opening of new clinics within the region.
• Develop staffing and hiring plans based on projected opening dates, anticipated census, service mix, and expected growth.
• Coordinate with Human Resources, Clinical Leadership, Credentialing, Revenue Cycle, Marketing, Business Development, IT, and Finance to ensure new clinics are operationally ready.
• Oversee new clinic ramp-up, monitor performance against forecasts, and adjust staffing and operations as volume grows.
• Support the launch and expansion of new services within existing clinics.
• Help evaluate future capacity and expansion needs throughout the region.

Regional Leadership & Communication

• Serve as the primary operational leader for the assigned region.
• Communicate regional performance, staffing needs, risks, opportunities, and growth plans to senior leadership.
• Work cross-functionally with Human Resources, Finance, Revenue Cycle, Marketing, Business Development, Credentialing, IT, and other departments.
• Identify issues early and bring forward recommended solutions.
• Travel regularly throughout the assigned region. Occasional nights and weekends may be required.

How Success Is Measured

• Census, visit volume, and growth against goals
• Clinic operational and financial performance
• Patient access, utilization, retention, and experience
• Clinic Manager performance, development, and independence
• Employee retention and engagement
• Effective workforce planning, hiring, and staffing to support growth
• Ability to anticipate and meet provider, staffing, and capacity needs
• Successful opening and ramp-up of new clinics and service lines
• Operational consistency, compliance, and revenue cycle performance
• Development of future leaders and succession planning

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in healthcare administration, business, or related field preferred, or equivalent experience
• 5+ years of healthcare operations experience, including experience leading multiple locations or managing managers
• Behavioral health, psychiatry, or specialty outpatient healthcare experience strongly preferred
• Demonstrated success growing patient volume and operational performance in a multi-location environment
• Experience with workforce planning, hiring, and supporting organizational growth
• Experience opening or expanding healthcare locations preferred
• Proven ability to develop strong leaders and high-performing teams
• Strong understanding of healthcare operations, staffing, scheduling, patient access, and front-end revenue cycle
• Comfortable using data and KPIs to identify problems, forecast needs, and drive decisions
• Strong communication, leadership, coaching, problem-solving, and decision-making skills
• Ability to travel regularly throughout the assigned region

Relief Mental Health is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.