Associate Director of Mental Health Access & Operations

Brightpoint invites you to join our team of mission-driven staff who share a common vision: an equitable world where all children and families thrive in strong communities. As a leader in the human services sector for 140 years, we aim to advance the well-being of children by investing in families and strengthening communities through data-informed, collaborative, and preventative solutions. The Associate Director of Mental Health Access & Operations provides statewide leadership for Brightpoint's Mental Health & Wellness (MHW) access, outreach, administrative operations, and strategic initiatives across Illinois. Responsible for creating a high-quality participant and partner experience while building efficient, scalable systems that strengthen access, program delivery, and sustainability. Provides leadership over access, intake, outreach, administrative, and operational functions; develops standardized workflows; leads complex cross-functional projects; monitors performance through data and dashboards; and partners across clinical, finance, compliance, information systems, and other organizational functions. The Associate Director also helps cultivate and strengthen external partnerships—particularly with schools and school districts—to expand pathways to mental health services and respond to community needs. As a member of the MHW leadership team, this position serves as a strategic and implementation partner to the Vice President of Mental Health & Wellness and may provide leadership or oversight for additional programs, functions, and strategic initiatives as organizational priorities evolve. Core Responsibilities and Essential Job Functions: Access and Administrative Operations • Designs, implements, and oversees standardized statewide access workflows for all Mental Health & Wellness programs. • Ensures timely, consistent, customer-centered processes from referral through service initiation. • Oversees statewide access operations to reduce barriers to care, eliminate bottlenecks, and improve participant experience. • Provides leadership over intake, administrative, and operational support staff and functions as assigned. • Establishes operational standards, service expectations, documentation requirements, and performance measures that promote consistent, high-quality participant access. • Develops and maintains standardized administrative procedures, workflows, and tools that improve operational consistency across Illinois. • Identifies opportunities to centralize administrative functions and improve efficiency across Mental Health & Wellness programs. • Partners with clinical leadership to align participant access with program capacity, staffing, and service models. • Partners with revenue cycle, billing, and eligibility teams to support Medicaid readiness, authorizations, and timely billable service initiation. Customer Experience • Champions a customer-service culture that prioritizes timely, compassionate, and responsive interactions with participants, families, referral partners, and community stakeholders. • Develops service standards and quality measures that promote an exceptional participant experience. • Uses participant feedback, operational data, and performance metrics to identify opportunities to improve access and customer satisfaction. • Builds and maintains strong relationships with referral partners including schools, healthcare providers, child welfare agencies, and community organizations. Operations and Project Management • Leads high-priority division initiatives on behalf of MHW leadership, bringing structure, coordination, accountability, and follow-through to complex work involving multiple programs or departments. • Translates strategic priorities into actionable workplans, identifies dependencies and barriers, and drives initiatives toward timely completion. • Leads statewide operational initiatives from planning through implementation, coordinating work across multiple departments and stakeholders. • Develops project plans, timelines, milestones, and performance measures for operational improvement initiatives. • Facilitates implementation of new workflows, technology, and organizational changes while supporting staff through change management. • Balances day-to-day operational oversight with long-term strategic planning and continuous improvement efforts. • Partners with organizational leaders to identify opportunities for innovation, operational excellence, and sustainable growth. Performance and Quality Improvement • Tracks, analyzes, and reports performance metrics including referral volume, conversion rates, access timelines, service initiation, customer experience, and operational efficiency. • Develops and maintains dashboards and reports that support data-driven decision making. • Identifies trends, risks, and regional variation and implements corrective action plans as needed. • Ensures accurate, timely, and compliant documentation related to participant access, outreach, administrative operations, and reporting requirements. • Ensures compliance with organizational policies, licensing requirements, accreditation standards, and payer requirements. Partnership Development and Outreach • Develops and strengthens strategic partnerships that expand access to MHW services, with particular emphasis on schools, school districts, and other organizations serving children and families. • Builds relationships with school and community leaders to understand emerging needs, identify opportunities for collaboration, and connect partners with appropriate Brightpoint services and resources. • Works with MHW clinical and program leaders to translate partnership opportunities into sustainable referral pathways, service partnerships, and implementation plans. • Provides leadership and direction for statewide outreach strategies and ensures outreach activities align with program capacity, community needs, and organizational growth priorities. • Represents MHW in external meetings, presentations, partnership discussions, and community or systems-level initiatives. Candidate Requirements and Preferred Qualifications: Education: • Bachelor’s degree in education, business administration, public administration, healthcare administration, human services, public health, or a related field required. • Master’s degree in public administration, healthcare administration, business administration, public health, or a related field preferred. Licensure: • No licensure required. Experience: • Minimum five years of progressively responsible experience in operations, program leadership, education, behavioral health, human services, project management, partnership development, or another complex service environment. • Minimum three years of supervisory or leadership experience, preferably involving multiple teams, programs, locations, or functions. • Demonstrated experience leading complex projects or strategic initiatives involving multiple stakeholders. • Experience developing external partnerships, referral networks, or collaborative initiatives strongly preferred. • Experience working with schools, school districts, or education systems strongly preferred. • Experience using data and performance measures to guide decision-making and improvement. • Experience within behavioral health, Medicaid-funded, publicly funded, or other complex human-service systems preferred. Required or Preferred Program-Related Knowledge: • Participant access, intake, referral management, and service delivery processes. • Healthcare or human service administrative operations. • Customer service principles and participant-centered service delivery. • Process improvement methodologies and workflow optimization. • Project management principles and change management. • Operational performance measurement and dashboard development. • Program, licensing, accreditation, and payer requirements. • Behavioral health systems preferred but not required. Skills: • Exceptional customer service leadership and commitment to creating positive participant and partner experiences. • Strong project management skills, including planning, prioritization, implementation, and execution. • Demonstrated ability to build credibility and productive relationships with external partners, including school and community leaders. • Ability to move fluidly between strategic planning and hands-on execution. • Ability to navigate ambiguity, establish structure, and advance multiple priorities in a changing environment. • Strong operational leadership and administrative management skills. • Excellent verbal and written communication skills. • Ability to build collaborative relationships across departments and geographic regions. • Strong organizational and time management skills. • Analytical thinking and the ability to translate data into operational improvements. • Systems thinking with the ability to design scalable operational processes. • Leadership, coaching, and staff development skills. • Problem-solving and continuous improvement mindset. • Strong change management skills, including successfully implementing organizational improvements. • Ability to influence and collaborate without direct authority. • Business acumen and sound operational judgment. • Proficiency with Microsoft Office, reporting tools, and electronic client information systems. • Initiative, adaptability, and consistent follow-through. • Commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and culturally responsive service delivery. Job details: Compensation: Salary Range $90,000-$110,000; offers are commensurate with experience. The salary range provided represents our current estimate for this role at the time of posting and is subject to change. The final salary will be determined based on a range of factors, including but not limited to, a candidate's relevant experience, education, qualifications, skills, certifications, and alignment with organizational needs. We are dedicated to fair and equitable compensation practices and are committed to fostering a diverse workforce while providing equal opportunities for all candidates. Benefits: Medical/dental/vision insurance, 3+ weeks paid time off in the first year including the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day (PTO increases with tenure); 11 paid holidays, supplemental insurance options, 401(k) with match ( more benefits details here ). Location: Hybrid (remote/home office); Home office location ( Western ); Travel locally and to other locations in the state up to approximately 25% of the time. Schedule: Full-time, salaried; general business hours with flexibility for occasional evening and weekend hours based on program needs. We don’t just hire talent—we grow it: Emerging Leaders will have access to leadership development opportunities and one-on-one mentorship. Student Loan Forgiveness: Brightpoint is an approved agency for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). Current or former Chicago Public Schools (CPS) employees are strongly encouraged to apply.