Director of Behavioral Health Services

At Northwest Human Services (NWHS), you’ll have the opportunity to shape the mental health and crisis systems that thousands of people across Marion and Polk counties rely on. The Director of Behavioral Health Services provides leadership across three key service areas: outpatient mental health counseling, integrated behavioral health within primary care, and our 24/7/365 crisis and 988 hotline services.

NWHS is a financially stable Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) that has served our community for more than 55 years.

What Success Looks Like

As Director, you will:

• Integrate behavioral health into primary care so patients receive support earlier and more effectively.

• Provide proactive, decisive leadership to teams serving patients with complex behavioral health needs.

• Use data, sound clinical judgment, and operational expertise to strengthen quality, access, and outcomes.

• Lead with compassion, accountability, and high standards.

• Build trust across disciplines and identify sustainable solutions to operational and clinical challenges.

We are seeking a licensed behavioral health leader with strong clinical judgment, extensive operational leadership experience, and a people-centered leadership style. The ideal candidate has experience leading outpatient mental health operations, integrated behavioral health, and complex or crisis programs, along with expertise in compliance, billing, performance improvement, and multidisciplinary collaboration.

What You’ll Lead

Mental Health Counseling Services

• Oversee clinical quality, documentation, compliance, and program operations.

• Support clinicians managing high-risk cases, including suicide risk assessment and safety planning.

• Review critical incidents and lead discussions focused on prevention, quality improvement, and operational response.

Integrated Behavioral Health Within Primary Care

• Partner with clinical leadership and medical providers to integrate behavioral health into primary care workflows.

• Support evidence-based models, including brief interventions and population-based care.

• Provide approximately 0.1 FTE on-call Primary Care Behavioral Health Consultant coverage for complex cases.

• Support clinicians with risk assessment, safety planning, care coordination, and crisis response.

• Ensure staff are prepared to respond effectively to behavioral health emergencies.

Crisis Hotline and 988 Services

• Provide senior-level oversight of 24/7/365 crisis hotline operations.

• Maintain quality standards, trauma-informed crisis response, accreditation readiness, and contractual requirements.

• Support coordination with community partners and crisis response systems.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic & Operational Leadership

• Provide strategic and operational leadership aligned with NWHS mission, values, goals, and service standards.

• Use KPIs, audits, dashboards, EHR data, and operational trends to guide decisions and continuous improvement.

• Oversee staffing plans, budgets, resource allocation, productivity, and fiscal stewardship.

• Develop departmental goals, workflows, and performance improvement initiatives.

• Identify and address barriers affecting access, quality, staff effectiveness, and service delivery.

People Leadership & Staff Development

• Lead, coach, develop, and support behavioral health leaders, clinicians, and program staff.

• Promote transparency, psychological safety, accountability, inclusion, ethical conduct, and continuous improvement.

• Partner with HR and organizational leadership on employee relations matters.

• Support staff engagement, performance management, professional development, succession planning, and change management.

Clinical Quality, Compliance & Risk

• Ensure behavioral health services are safe, effective, and aligned with clinical, organizational, and regulatory standards.

• Support compliance with HIPAA, 42 CFR Part 2, Oregon regulations, HRSA/FQHC requirements, contracts, accreditation standards, payer requirements, and organizational policies.

• Promote trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and equity-centered care.

• Partner with Quality, Compliance, Risk, and clinical leadership on incidents, trends, documentation standards, corrective actions, and improvement opportunities.

Required Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Social Work, Counseling, Psychology, or a closely related field.

• Active, unrestricted Oregon behavioral health license, such as LCSW, LPC, LMFT, or Psychologist.

• Minimum 5 years of clinical behavioral health experience, including direct patient care.

• Minimum 5 years of demonstrated progressive leadership of an outpatient behavioral health program, including responsibility for clinical quality, compliance requirements, and billing.

• Experience managing outpatient mental health operations with accountability for client access, clinician productivity, financial sustainability, clinical quality, and regulatory compliance.

• Experience supervising licensed clinicians and/or behavioral health consultants.

• Strong knowledge of integrated care models, including Primary Care Behavioral Health and/or Collaborative Care.

• Experience working in a multidisciplinary healthcare environment.

• Minimum 5 years of demonstrated experience with federal and state regulations affecting behavioral health services, including HIPAA, 42 CFR Part 2, Oregon Administrative Rules or similar state laws, and HRSA/FQHC expectations.

• Experience using clinical, operational, quality, and EHR data to improve documentation, programs, and performance outcomes.

• Strong leadership, communication, coaching, conflict resolution, and prioritization skills.

• Commitment to trauma-informed care, cultural humility, and health equity.

• Valid Oregon Driver’s License and proof of automobile insurance.

• Current BLS/CPR certification.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in an FQHC, community health center, safety-net, or community-based healthcare setting.

• Experience leading integrated behavioral health programs, crisis services, 988/Lifeline operations, or behavioral health crisis response systems.

• Experience with grant-funded programs, contract compliance, regulatory reporting, budgets, staffing models, or resource planning.

• Familiarity with Oregon behavioral health initiatives, payer requirements, value-based care, or alternative payment methodologies.

• Experience with process improvement, staff training, coaching, professional development, public speaking, telehealth, or digital behavioral health tools.

• Bilingual or multilingual skills relevant to the communities we serve.

Benefits

NWHS offers a comprehensive and competitive benefits package, including:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance

• Employer-paid group life, short-term disability, and long-term disability

• 403(b) retirement plan with 2% employer contribution plus up to 3% employer match

• Flexible Spending Account

• PTO beginning at 10 hours per month for full-time employees, increasing with tenure

• 7½ paid holidays plus 2 paid floating holidays for full-time employees

• Continuing education and training benefits

• Employee Healthy Living Program, including gym membership and smoking cessation support

Why Join NWHS?

Your work matters. Join a mission-driven organization dedicated to improving the health and well-being of underserved and resilient communities. Be part of a compassionate, collaborative, and forward-thinking team committed to delivering exceptional healthcare and community support.

This position offers the opportunity to lead established and trusted behavioral health services while helping determine what comes next. NWHS invests in leadership development through programs such as our Leadership Academy and provides leaders with the resources and support needed to strengthen care, teams, and community impact.

To Apply

Visit the Northwest Human Services Employment page to apply.

For additional information, contact the HR/Recruiting Department at [email protected] | 503.588.5828.

All candidates who receive a written offer of employment will be required to undergo a comprehensive background investigation.

Equal Opportunity Employer | We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

This posting provides a high-level overview of the position and is not the full, all-inclusive job description.