Seven years ago, we set out to change what was possible.

Communities throughout the Central Valley deserved access to high-quality treatment for mental health conditions — but many of the services people needed simply didn't exist.

So we built them.

Today, Sierra Meadows Behavioral Health operates a growing continuum of behavioral health services across California and Colorado, serving hundreds of individuals each day through mental health, substance use, dual diagnosis, eating disorder, adolescent, residential, PHP, and IOP programs.

Our outcomes demonstrate that our care works. We're expanding into new markets across California and the West Coast, with three additional programs launching in 2027 alongside our existing Central Valley and Colorado operations. Our need for exceptional regional leadership has never been greater.

At Sierra Meadows, safety isn't a policy — it's a promise. Every person who walks through our doors is met with a safe environment and excellent clinical care, because we believe that is where healing begins. Keeping that promise, every day, across every program and every market, takes more than good intentions. It takes leadership that can operate — and travel — at scale.

We are seeking a Regional Director of Operations — a business-minded leader who has run multi-site, multi-market operations before and knows what it takes to keep programs strong from a distance while still walking the floor often enough to know what's really happening. This leader understands that operational excellence exists for one reason: to protect and strengthen the environment of care, no matter how many miles separate one program from the next.

This is not a maintain-the-status-quo role. This leader will strengthen program performance across a growing regional footprint, manage risk, develop high-performing site teams, and take the lead role in launching the new programs that expand our reach — so that more people living with mental health conditions can find safety and exceptional care close to home, in more communities than ever before.

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Regional Director of Operations holds full operational, business, and regulatory accountability for our outpatient behavioral health programs across multiple sites and states — currently Fresno, Visalia, and Greeley, Colorado, with three additional markets opening in 2027. This is a leader who thinks like a multi-site owner — responsible for the performance, growth, and integrity of every program under their care, regardless of distance.

This role carries real regional scope: it requires weekly travel throughout the Central Valley to be present across Fresno and Visalia, plus regular out-of-area travel to Colorado and future markets. Candidates should be comfortable with a travel cadence that reflects the size of the territory — this is a role built for someone who has managed distributed teams and multiple locations before, not someone stepping into multi-site work for the first time.

Working closely with executive leadership, clinical directors, physicians, admissions, utilization review, and site-level operations staff, this leader ensures every program runs exceptionally — hitting census targets, sustaining revenue health, maintaining audit-ready compliance, and standing ready to launch what we build next — while partnering with clinical leadership to ensure the client experience never takes a back seat to the business.

Beyond overseeing existing sites, this leader plays a hands-on role in launching new programs — from site selection and licensure through staffing, systems build-out, and stabilization — making this as much a builder's role as a steward's role.

The Regional Director serves as a strategist, operator, and culture-builder across the entire portfolio — responsible for operational excellence in service of one outcome: exceptional care for every individual we serve, in every market we operate.

WHAT YOU'LL LEAD

Regional & Multi-Site Operations

• Own day-to-day performance across all outpatient sites — currently Fresno, Visalia, and Greeley, CO — with direct accountability for results at every location
• Maintain a consistent weekly travel cadence across Central Valley sites, supplemented by regular out-of-area and multi-state travel as the footprint grows
• Build standardized operating routines, reporting cadences, and communication systems that keep distributed sites aligned with organizational standards
• Serve as the connective tissue between site-level program managers and executive leadership, translating regional strategy into local execution
• Identify and address performance gaps between sites, sharing what works in one market to strengthen the others

Client Care & Program Quality

• Protect and strengthen a safe environment of excellent clinical care — the core value behind every operational decision across every site
• Partner with clinical leadership and physicians to ensure delivery of high-quality, evidence-based services for individuals with mental health conditions
• Monitor program quality, client experience, and outcome metrics across all locations — and act when standards slip at any site
• Ensure programs maintain appropriate level-of-care and medical necessity standards in partnership with utilization review
• Support escalation and resolution of complex client situations alongside clinical leaders, regardless of location
• Maintain a culture focused on measurable outcomes and client success across the region

Census, Revenue & Program Performance

• Own census performance across all outpatient sites — partnering with admissions and business development to keep every program full and clients moving through the right levels of care
• Drive revenue health through strong utilization review support, clean documentation practices, length-of-stay integrity, and authorization management at each site
• Monitor program performance indicators, operational goals, and financial metrics across the region — and act decisively when trends move in the wrong direction at any location
• Identify opportunities to improve workflows, efficiency, conversion, and the client experience, and standardize what works across sites
• Support admissions collaboration and discharge planning processes that protect both client outcomes and program performance

New Program Development & Launch

• Take the lead operational role in launching new programs in 2027 and beyond — from site selection and licensure through staffing, systems build, and stabilization
• Partner with executive leadership to scope, build, and open new markets that expand access to care, including out-of-state locations
• Evaluate community needs, payer landscapes, and clinical gaps to inform where we grow next
• Build the systems, standards, and clinical models that every new program launches on — designed from day one to work across multiple sites
• Manage the intensive travel and on-the-ground presence required during a program's launch and stabilization phase

Risk Management, Compliance & Quality Assurance

• Serve as the front-line owner of organizational risk across every site — anticipating, identifying, and mitigating clinical, regulatory, and operational exposure before it becomes a problem for patients or the organization
• Ensure ongoing compliance with Joint Commission, DHCS, HIPAA, ADA, and other applicable regulations across California and Colorado
• Oversee utilization review, medical necessity standards, and insurance compliance requirements at every location
• Conduct in-person chart audits and EMR reviews at each site to ensure documentation excellence
• Lead quality improvement initiatives and corrective action planning when necessary
• Maintain constant readiness for audits, accreditation reviews, and regulatory inspections across all markets

Team Development & Leadership

• Recruit, develop, and retain high-performing program teams at every site
• Lead program managers, coordinators, and support staff across multiple locations — and partner with clinical supervisors on the clinical side of the house
• Facilitate staff meetings, trainings, and cross-functional collaboration, in person and remotely
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement across a growing regional team
• Mentor developing leaders within the organization, including future site-level leadership as new markets open

Community & Strategic Partnerships

• Serve as an ambassador for Sierra Meadows Behavioral Health within each community we serve
• Build relationships with referral sources, healthcare partners, and community stakeholders in existing and new markets
• Support family engagement and continuity of care initiatives across all sites
• Collaborate with leadership on future growth opportunities and service expansion

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

This role is accountable to clear, measurable performance standards across every site. Success in this position is not a matter of opinion — it's tracked, reported, and reviewed on a regular cadence.

Census & Growth

• Average daily census (ADC) against site-specific and regional targets
• Referral-to-admission conversion rate at each site
• Length-of-stay integrity against clinically appropriate benchmarks
• Year-over-year census growth across the regional portfolio

Financial Performance

• Revenue performance against budget at each site and in aggregate
• Authorization and utilization review turnaround and approval rates
• Budget variance and cost-per-client-day management across sites
• Payer mix health and denial rate trends

Quality, Compliance & Risk

• Chart audit and documentation compliance scores at every site
• Incident rate and time-to-resolution for risk and safety events
• Audit and accreditation readiness scores (Joint Commission, DHCS, and other applicable bodies)
• Corrective action plan completion rate and timeliness

Program Launch & Expansion

• On-time, on-budget delivery of new program launches against project plan milestones
• Time-to-licensure and time-to-first-admission for new sites
• New site ramp-to-target-census timeline

Team & Regional Leadership

• Site-level manager retention and performance ratings
• Staff turnover rate across the regional portfolio
• Consistency of standardized operating routines across sites, as measured through regional audits

MEETING CADENCE & REPORTING

This is a highly visible, highly accountable role. The Regional Director of Operations is expected to maintain a disciplined reporting and meeting rhythm that keeps executive leadership and site teams aligned:

• Weekly one-on-one with the Chief Operating Officer to review KPIs, risks, and priorities
• Weekly or bi-weekly check-ins with each site's Program Manager, in person where travel allows
• Monthly regional performance review presenting census, revenue, and compliance metrics against targets
• Quarterly business review with executive leadership tied directly to the performance-based bonus structure below
• Ad hoc leadership participation in site visits, launch-readiness reviews, and audit or accreditation preparation

PERFORMANCE-BASED BONUS STRUCTURE

In addition to base salary, this role is eligible for a quarterly performance-based bonus, designed to reward the outcomes that matter most: strong census and revenue performance, disciplined compliance, and successful program launches.

• Bonus eligibility is evaluated quarterly against a scorecard built from the KPIs above, weighted across census/growth, financial performance, and quality/compliance
• An additional launch bonus is available tied to on-time, on-budget delivery of new program openings
• Target incentive opportunity will be finalized based on candidate experience and discussed during the offer process
• Full bonus structure, weighting, and payout schedule will be detailed in the formal offer and compensation plan

WHY JOIN SIERRA MEADOWS BEHAVIORAL HEALTH?

Be Part of Something Bigger

• Serve an organization caring for hundreds of patients every day, across a growing multi-state footprint
• Join a company in the midst of significant regional expansion, with new markets opening in 2027
• Lead programs that produce measurable clinical outcomes across multiple sites
• Work alongside experienced executives and clinical leaders
• Influence the future direction of behavioral healthcare across California and the West Coast

Invest in Your Leadership Growth

• Executive-level exposure and collaboration
• Real regional ownership: census, revenue, risk, and the programs we build next
• Opportunity to shape programs, systems, and clinical standards across an expanding portfolio
• Significant autonomy and influence within a growing, multi-state organization
• Supportive leadership culture focused on innovation and excellence