VP Operations Jobs in Illinois

The Vice President develops the overarching operational approach across CCBHC and behavioral health service lines, including mental health, substance use/SUPR, crisis, outpatient and community-based services, care coordination, psychiatric rehabilitation, targeted case management, and peer support.

Working in close partnership with the Vice President of Clinical Services, medical leadership, and organizational functions, this role determines how clinical strategy will be operationalized across programs and locations. Program directors and operational leaders are responsible for implementing these strategies within their respective service areas.

Responsibilities:

Enterprise Clinical Operations Strategy

• Translate the organization’s clinical model and strategic priorities into enterprise operating strategies, implementation frameworks, and measurable operational objectives.

• Design scalable approaches to service delivery that support consistency across programs while allowing for program- and population-specific needs.

• Identify system-level operational barriers affecting access, capacity, client experience, workforce performance, or financial sustainability and develop strategies to address them.

• Establish operational performance expectations and provide strategic direction to directors and leaders responsible for day-to-day implementation.

Access, Capacity & Service Delivery

• Establish enterprise strategies to improve timely access to CCBHC and non-CCBHC services across the continuum of care.

• Use trends in referrals, intake, scheduling, treatment initiation, utilization, and service demand to guide capacity planning and resource allocation.

• Develop approaches to optimize clinical capacity, service availability, hours of operation, and transitions between levels of care.

• Partner with Clinical Services to ensure operational strategies support the intended model of care and continuity across service lines.

Operating Model & Implementation

• Determine the operational infrastructure required to implement clinical models across crisis, mental health, substance use/SUPR, care coordination, rehabilitation, case management, and peer support services.

• Develop enterprise frameworks for staffing models, workflows, scheduling, technology, facilities, administrative support, and implementation sequencing.

• Lead operational planning for new services, changes to the clinical model, and expansion or redesign of existing programs.

• Provide directors with clear operational strategy, performance expectations, and implementation priorities.

Workforce & Leadership Strategy

• Develop organization-wide workforce and capacity strategies aligned with service demand, clinical requirements, and organizational priorities.

• Partner with Human Resources and Clinical Services on workforce planning, recruitment, retention, leadership development, and succession strategies.

• Establish expectations for operational leadership and management accountability across programs.

• Use workforce data and organizational trends to identify systemic staffing or leadership needs requiring enterprise-level intervention.

Performance, Financial & Resource Strategy

• Establish enterprise approaches to productivity, capacity, utilization, and operational performance in partnership with Finance, Clinical Services, and executive leadership.

• Use operational and financial data to identify trends, establish priorities, guide resource allocation, and recommend system-level improvements.

• Partner with Finance to align staffing models, service demand, budgets, reimbursement, and program sustainability.

• Partner with Revenue Cycle and other functions to address systemic barriers affecting documentation completion, billing, reimbursement, and financial performance.

Integrated Care & Community Operations

• Design operational frameworks that support integration of behavioral health, substance use, primary care, and social services.

• Establish organization-wide approaches for referrals, transitions of care, information sharing, hospital follow-up, and coordination with external partners.

• Develop operational strategies for relationships with hospitals, FQHCs, healthcare providers, social service organizations, governmental entities, and collaborating organizations.

• Ensure partnership structures and workflows support the clinical model and organizational performance expectations.

Quality, Compliance & CCBHC Implementation

• Partner with Clinical Services, Quality, and Compliance to translate CCBHC, Medicaid, IDHS/SUPR, licensing, accreditation, and contractual requirements into effective operational systems.

• Develop enterprise implementation strategies in response to audits, regulatory reviews, accreditation findings, and corrective action requirements.

• Ensure operational policies, processes, and performance structures support continuous CCBHC readiness and consistent implementation across programs.

Technology, Infrastructure & Business Continuity

• Provide strategic direction for EHR workflows, reporting, scheduling, referrals, and other technology required to support service delivery.

• Assess complete facility, technology, equipment, space, and infrastructure needs in relation to the clinical model and projected service demand.

• Guide business continuity and operational preparedness strategies for service disruptions, workforce shortages, emergencies, and other significant events.

Client Experience & Operational Improvement

• Establish strategies that support accessible, responsive, welcoming, trauma-informed, and person-centered service delivery throughout the organization.

• Use client experience, grievance, access, and utilization trends to identify systemic operational issues and opportunities for improvement.

• Partner with Clinical Services when client experience or operational trends indicate a potential need to reconsider the care model or clinical approach.

Experience:

• Minimum of 10 years of progressive healthcare, behavioral health, or human services experience, including at least 5 years in senior leadership with responsibility for multiple programs, service lines, departments, or locations.

• Demonstrated experience developing and implementing enterprise operational strategies within complex behavioral health or healthcare environments.

• Experience with CCBHC, community mental health, crisis services, substance use/SUPR programs, Medicaid, and integrated care strongly preferred.

• Demonstrated experience with workforce and capacity planning, productivity, financial management, performance improvement, technology-enabled workflows, and regulatory compliance.

• Experience leading large-scale change, service expansion, operational redesign, or implementation across multidisciplinary and geographically dispersed programs preferred.

• Strong ability to analyze complex operational data, identify system-level trends, and translate strategy into scalable implementation models.

Education:

• Master’s degree in Healthcare Administration, Business Administration, Public Health, Behavioral Health Administration, Social Work, Human Services, or a related field strongly preferred.

• Bachelor’s degree with significant senior-level behavioral health operations experience may be considered.