Clinical Director - LCSW-S or LPC-S

Clinical Director – IOP/PHP Behavioral Health Program Position Overview

Care Star Recovery & Wellness is seeking a highly experienced, operationally strong Clinical Director with deep expertise in Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP) and Partial Hospitalization Programs (PHP).

This is not simply a supervisory clinical position. We are looking for a leader who understands how to build, operate, audit, manage, and scale an IOP/PHP program from the ground up while maintaining exceptional clinical quality, documentation standards, regulatory compliance, and team accountability.

The ideal candidate will have significant hands-on experience with IOP/PHP operations, clinical documentation, chart auditing, treatment planning, utilization requirements, policies and procedures, staff supervision, payer expectations, and accreditation readiness.

A major responsibility of this position will be developing a strong clinical workforce model utilizing a combination of licensed therapists, associate-level clinicians, and appropriately supervised interns/graduate-level clinical trainees, while ensuring all services and supervision remain within applicable licensing, payer, and regulatory requirements.

The Clinical Director will primarily function as a clinical and operational leader rather than carrying a full therapy caseload. However, this person must be clinically strong and willing and able to step into individual or group services when necessary to support the program.

High-performing candidates will have opportunities for career advancement and performance-based additional compensation, including potential revenue-share incentives tied to business growth, operational performance, clinical quality, compliance, and measurable results.

Primary ResponsibilitiesIOP/PHP Program Development & Operations

• Lead the development, implementation, and ongoing operation of the organization's IOP and PHP programs.
• Build the clinical infrastructure necessary to operate a highly organized, compliant, and scalable behavioral health program.
• Establish appropriate programming schedules, clinical workflows, staffing structures, documentation standards, treatment planning processes, and supervisory systems.
• Understand the operational requirements of running successful IOP/PHP programs, including admissions, assessments, treatment planning, group programming, individual therapy, family involvement, discharge planning, utilization management, and continuity of care.
• Identify operational weaknesses and implement solutions before they become compliance, reimbursement, or patient-care problems.

Clinical Leadership & Team Management

• Recruit, develop, supervise, and manage a multidisciplinary clinical team.
• Create clear performance expectations and maintain accountability across the clinical department.
• Develop a staffing model utilizing licensed therapists, associate clinicians, and properly supervised interns/clinical trainees where permitted.
• Build relationships with universities and graduate programs to develop a sustainable clinical internship pipeline.
• Establish appropriate supervision structures and ensure clinicians and interns operate within their respective scopes of practice.
• Mentor clinical staff while maintaining high expectations for performance, professionalism, productivity, and documentation.
• Conduct regular clinical meetings, case reviews, supervision, and staff development.

Clinical Documentation & Chart Auditing

The Clinical Director must have exceptional knowledge of behavioral health documentation and chart auditing.

Responsibilities include:

• Routinely audit clinical charts for medical necessity, completeness, accuracy, timeliness, and payer compliance.
• Review assessments, treatment plans, progress notes, group notes, individual therapy documentation, discharge summaries, and other clinical records.
• Ensure documentation clearly supports the patient's diagnosis, level of care, treatment goals, interventions, progress, and continued medical necessity.
• Identify documentation deficiencies and immediately implement corrective action and staff retraining.
• Develop internal chart-audit systems and documentation standards designed to maintain continuous audit readiness.
• Work closely with billing, utilization review, and administrative teams to reduce documentation-related denials and reimbursement issues.

Policies, Procedures & Regulatory Compliance

• Develop, implement, maintain, and continuously improve comprehensive clinical policies, procedures, protocols, and workflows for IOP/PHP operations.
• Maintain strong working knowledge of applicable Texas requirements, Joint Commission standards, federal regulations, payer requirements, HIPAA, and behavioral health standards of care.
• Ensure clinical operations consistently follow established policies and procedures.
• Maintain readiness for accreditation surveys, payer audits, licensing reviews, and internal compliance audits.
• Develop corrective-action plans when deficiencies are identified and ensure they are successfully implemented.

Clinical Quality & Patient Care

• Maintain responsibility for the overall quality and integrity of clinical services.
• Ensure treatment is evidence-based, individualized, measurable, and clinically appropriate.
• Monitor patient outcomes, treatment engagement, attendance, clinical progress, and discharge outcomes.
• Establish quality-assurance and performance-improvement initiatives.
• Promote a professional, compassionate, structured, and patient-centered treatment environment.

Hands-On Clinical Support

This position is primarily designed for leadership, oversight, program development, and clinical management, not a full group-therapy caseload.

However, the Clinical Director must be a strong clinician who is willing to step into groups, individual sessions, assessments, crisis situations, or other clinical responsibilities when operationally necessary.

We are looking for a leader who leads from the front and understands the clinical work being performed by the team.

Payer, Utilization & Revenue-Cycle Knowledge

• Understand how clinical documentation directly impacts authorization, utilization review, claims, reimbursement, and denials.
• Maintain strong knowledge of commercial insurance and other applicable payer requirements for IOP/PHP services.
• Collaborate with utilization review, billing, credentialing, and administrative teams.
• Help ensure documentation supports appropriate levels of care and continued authorization.
• Identify clinical or documentation issues contributing to denials and implement corrective measures.

Program Growth & Expansion

• Help strategically grow IOP/PHP census while protecting clinical quality and compliance.
• Develop new clinical programming and evidence-based treatment tracks where appropriate.
• Establish referral relationships with hospitals, physicians, therapists, behavioral health providers, community organizations, and other referral partners.
• Help position Care Star Recovery & Wellness as a trusted provider of structured outpatient behavioral healthcare.

Required Qualifications

• Active Texas Mental Health License: LCSW-S, LPC-S.
• IOP/PHP Experience: Strong preference for candidates with direct leadership experience operating or developing IOP and/or PHP programs.
• Clinical Leadership: Minimum 4–8 years of progressive behavioral health experience, including significant clinical leadership or management responsibility.
• Chart Auditing: Demonstrated expertise reviewing behavioral health charts for medical necessity, treatment-plan quality, documentation compliance, and audit readiness.
• Program Development: Proven ability to build or improve clinical programs, workflows, policies, procedures, and staff structures.
• Team Management: Demonstrated ability to rec…