Director of Recuperative Care in Los Angeles, California at National Health Foundation

POSITION TITLE: Director of Recuperative Care

REPORTS TO: Director of Site Operations

LOCATION: Arleta, Ca

CLASSIFICATION: Exempt, Full Time

SALARY: $85,000 - $105,000.00

WORK SHIFT: Scheduled as needed

Director of Recuperative Care

The Director of Recuperative Care serves as the senior operational leader for an assigned National Health Foundation (NHF) recuperative care program and is accountable for the overall performance, culture, compliance, financial stewardship, staffing, quality, and day-to-day operations of the facility.

NHF's Recuperative Care Program provides post-hospital and transitional care services to individuals experiencing homelessness who no longer require acute hospitalization but continue to need a safe and supportive environment in which to recover. Services are delivered through a trauma-informed, harm-reduction, person-centered approach and include medical oversight, social services, behavioral health support, housing navigation, guest services, and connections to community resources.

The Director is responsible for ensuring successful 24/7/365 operations, appropriate staffing and leadership coverage, high-quality guest services, interdisciplinary coordination, employee performance, contractual and regulatory compliance, census and utilization goals, financial performance, safety, risk management, and strong stakeholder relationships.

The Director is expected to maintain a highly visible leadership presence, establish clear accountability throughout the facility, develop managers and supervisors, proactively address performance and operational concerns, and create a culture grounded in NHF's values, professional boundaries, accountability, safety, collaboration, and radical hospitality.

The Director must demonstrate the ability to lead through complex employee, guest, operational, and community situations while exercising sound judgment and appropriately escalating significant matters to executive leadership and/or People & Culture.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. PROGRAM LEADERSHIP & OPERATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY

• Serve as the senior operational leader for the assigned facility and assume overall accountability for site performance.
• Ensure appropriate 24/7/365 staffing, supervisory, and leadership coverage.
• Maintain a regular and visible presence throughout the facility and across shifts as operationally necessary.
• Establish clear standards of accountability for managers, supervisors, leads, and frontline employees.
• Develop, implement, evaluate, and continuously improve operational systems, procedures, and workflows.
• Conduct regular leadership and operational meetings to review staffing, census, guest concerns, incidents, compliance, performance, and other priorities.
• Ensure identified operational problems have documented owners, action plans, deadlines, and appropriate follow-up.
• Identify operational risks and implement corrective strategies before concerns significantly impact guests, employees, contractual performance, or the organization.
• Ensure appropriate emergency preparedness, business continuity, and incident-response procedures.
• Maintain a safe, structured, organized, welcoming, and professional facility.
• Keep the Managing Director and appropriate leadership informed of significant operational developments, risks, accomplishments, and areas requiring executive intervention.
• Provide operational leadership coverage when necessary to ensure continuity of services.

2. PEOPLE LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTABILITY

• Directly supervise assigned managers, department leaders, supervisors, and other designated employees.
• Effectively lead multiple departments and a substantial workforce within a 24/7 service environment.
• Establish measurable performance expectations for direct reports and hold leaders accountable for results.
• Conduct regular one-on-one meetings with direct reports and provide documented coaching, feedback, mentoring, and development.
• Complete timely and meaningful performance evaluations.
• Ensure managers appropriately supervise their teams rather than routinely escalating basic management responsibilities.
• Develop managers' capabilities in communication, employee relations, scheduling, coaching, documentation, conflict resolution, performance management, and policy enforcement.
• Establish succession and development plans for key leadership positions.
• Address leadership performance deficiencies promptly and consistently.
• Model professionalism, sound judgment, confidentiality, integrity, accountability, and respectful workplace behavior.

3. STAFFING, ATTENDANCE & WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT

• Maintain staffing levels necessary to meet guest, contractual, safety, and operational requirements.
• Monitor vacancies, turnover, attendance, overtime, agency/temporary staffing utilization, scheduling gaps, and employee retention.
• Hold managers accountable for maintaining appropriate schedules and addressing attendance and performance concerns.
• Partner with People & Culture and Talent Acquisition to ensure vacancies are addressed promptly and hiring processes move forward within established organizational timelines.
• Participate in recruitment and selection of management and other key positions.
• Ensure new employees receive appropriate orientation, onboarding, training, supervision, and performance feedback.
• Monitor new-hire performance and ensure concerns are addressed promptly during introductory periods.
• Develop staffing strategies that reduce unnecessary overtime, agency utilization, and preventable turnover while maintaining appropriate coverage.

4. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT & EMPLOYEE RELATIONS

• Work closely with People & Culture to establish and maintain a professional, respectful, inclusive, accountable, and productive work environment.
• Ensure managers consistently enforce NHF policies, procedures, attendance requirements, professional boundaries, safety expectations, and standards of conduct.
• Ensure employee concerns and complaints are promptly elevated through appropriate channels.
• Partner with People & Culture regarding employee relations matters, investigations, accommodations, leaves, corrective action, performance improvement plans, and separations.
• Ensure leaders maintain appropriate documentation of employee performance and conduct.
• Participate in investigations and fact-finding as requested by People & Culture.
• Maintain confidentiality regarding employee relations matters.
• Do not independently initiate significant corrective action, suspension, or termination without required People & Culture review and authorization.
• Promote appropriate management practices that support employee engagement while maintaining clear accountability.

5. GUEST SERVICES & QUALITY OF CARE

• Ensure guests receive high-quality, respectful, trauma-informed, harm-reduction, and person-centered services.
• Provide operational oversight of interdisciplinary services, including nursing/medical services, social services, guest services, behavioral health support, environmental services, food services, and other program functions.
• Promote effective collaboration among clinical, social service, operational, and support teams.
• Ensure guest concerns, grievances, incidents, and service issues are appropriately documented, reviewed, escalated, investigated, and resolved.
• Monitor quality indicators, guest outcomes, service delivery, and program performance.
• Ensure appropriate professional boundaries are maintained between employees, guests, volunteers, interns, contractors, and other individuals associated with the program.
• Promote a culture of dignity, safety, respect, accountability, recovery, and radical hospitality.

6. COMPLIANCE & QUALITY ASSURANCE

• Maintain compliance with applicable contracts, regulations, policies, funder requirements, program standards, and NHF procedures.
• Maintain working knowledge of applicable LAHSA requirements, contractual requirements, and National Institute for Medical Respite Care (NIMRC) standards and guidance, as applicable.
• Ensure readiness for internal and external audits, monitoring visits, inspections, and compliance reviews.
• Ensure requested audit documentation is accurate, complete, and submitted within established deadlines.
• Develop and oversee required Plans of Corrective Action (POCAs) and ensure corrective measures are implemented, monitored, and sustained.
• Establish and monitor quality-assurance and continuous-improvement activities.
• Conduct routine operational reviews to identify compliance gaps.
• Ensure required agency and program records are accurate, current, appropriately maintained, and available for authorized review.
• Monitor recurring findings and implement sustainable corrective solutions rather than temporary responses.

7. SAFETY, INCIDENT & RISK MANAGEMENT

• Promote a strong culture of employee and guest safety.
• Ensure incidents involving guest safety, employee safety, workplace violence, threats, injuries, emergencies, boundary concerns, or other significant events are immediately addressed and appropriately reported.
• Ensure required incident reports are timely, factual, complete, and escalated through appropriate organizational channels.
• Review incident trends and develop prevention and corrective strategies.
• Partner with People & Culture and organizational leadership regarding workplace safety matters and employee-related incidents.
• Ensure employees receive required safety, de-escalation, emergency-response, and other applicable training.
• Ensure managers understand and follow required procedures for workplace injuries and other safety incidents.
• Immediately escalate significant legal, regulatory, reputational, guest, employee, or contractual risks.

8. FINANCIAL & BUDGET ACCOUNTABILITY

• Partner with the Managing Director to manage the financial performance of the program.
• Develop a strong working knowledge of the approved operating budget and applicable revenue and expense drivers.
• Review and understand budget-to-actual reports, P&L reports, staffing costs, overtime, temporary labor expenses, supplies, vendor costs, and other operational expenses.
• Identify significant financial variances and implement appropriate corrective strategies.
• Ensure staffing decisions consider both program needs and financial sustainability.
• Monitor and manage vendor performance and expenditures.
• Ensure information required for billing, reimbursement, invoicing, and financial reporting is accurate and timely.
• Demonstrate responsible stewardship of organizational and contractual resources.

9. CONTRACT MANAGEMENT

• Read, understand, and maintain working knowledge of applicable program contracts and scopes of work.
• Ensure managers understand operational requirements associated with assigned contracts.
• Monitor contractual deliverables, performance standards, reporting deadlines, census requirements, and other obligations.
• Identify potential contract-performance concerns before they become formal findings.
• Partner with the Managing Director and other organizational leaders regarding corrective strategies when performance is below contractual expectations.

10. CENSUS, DATA & PROGRAM PERFORMANCE

• Maintain accountability for established census, utilization, referral, admission, discharge, length-of-stay, housing, and other program-performance goals.
• Monitor program data routinely and use information to drive operational decisions.
• Ensure timely and accurate entry of required data into designated systems.
• Hold appropriate leaders accountable for data quality and documentation.
• Identify trends, performance gaps, and opportunities for improvement.
• Develop action plans when established goals are not achieved.
• Complete and submit required monthly and periodic reports to the Managing Director within established deadlines.
• Present program performance and corrective strategies to organizational leadership as requested.

11. COMMUNITY & STAKEHOLDER RELATIONS

• Develop and maintain productive relationships with hospitals, health plans, government agencies, LAHSA, funders, referral partners, community organizations, service providers, neighborhood stakeholders, and other partners.
• Professionally represent NHF during meetings, presentations, community events, audits, and stakeholder discussions.
• Serve as an authorized spokesperson for the program when designated.
• Address community concerns promptly and professionally in partnership with organizational leadership.
• Identify partnership opportunities that strengthen services and outcomes for guests.
• Protect NHF's reputation and promote its mission within the community.

12. LEADERSHIP PRESENCE & COMMUNICATION

The Director is expected to:

• Maintain a visible and approachable leadership presence.
• Regularly engage employees across departments and shifts.
• Communicate organizational and operational expectations clearly and consistently.
• Address concerns promptly rather than allowing issues to remain unresolved.
• Provide leadership during high-pressure or complex situations.
• Maintain appropriate professional boundaries with employees and guests.
• Communicate significant issues upward promptly and accurately.
• Demonstrate accountability for decisions and outcomes.
• Support organizational change and communicate changes effectively to employees.

KEY PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS

Success in this position will be evaluated based on measurable results, including, but not limited to:

• Maintenance of appropriate 24/7 staffing and leadership coverage.
• Employee turnover, retention, vacancies, attendance, and overtime.
• Timeliness of recruitment and vacancy management.
• Employee performance and completion of required training.
• Guest safety and quality-of-service indicators.
• Census and program utilization.
• Contractual performance and compliance.
• Audit findings and timely closure of corrective-action plans.
• Incident trends and timely incident reporting.
• Budget performance and expense management.
• Temporary/agency labor utilization.
• Data accuracy and timeliness of required reporting.
• Guest outcomes and service quality.
• Development and performance of managers and supervisors.
• Stakeholder and community relationships.
• Overall facility readiness, professionalism, safety, and operational stability.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Healthcare Administration, Business Administration, Public Health, Social Work, Human Services, Psychology, Behavioral Health, or a related discipline required.
• Master's degree in a related field preferred.
• Relevant advanced leadership experience may be considered where permitted by contractual and program requirements.
• California behavioral health licensure is preferred when relevant to the assigned program but is not required unless mandated by contract, regulation, or the specific scope of the position.

Management Experience

• Minimum five (5) years of progressive management experience within healthcare, recuperative care, homeless services, behavioral health, residential services, supportive housing, social services, or another complex service-delivery environment.
• Minimum three (3) years directly supervising managers, supervisors, or department leaders strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience providing leadership to a substantial multidisciplinary workforce, preferably within a 24/7 operation.
• Experience with employee performance management, including coaching, corrective action, performance improvement, and separations in partnership with Human Resources/People & Culture.
• Demonstrated experience managing staffing, scheduling, attendance, vacancies, and workforce coverage.
• Experience managing budgets, financial reports, operational expenses, and vendors.
• Experience with audits, compliance reviews, contracts, quality assurance, corrective-action plans, and performance metrics.
• Experience working with individuals experiencing homelessness, behavioral health conditions, substance-use disorders, complex medical needs, or other vulnerable populations strongly preferred.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES

• Demonstrated ability to lead managers and multidisciplinary teams.
• Strong operational leadership and accountability.
• Ability to appropriately delegate while maintaining oversight and accountability.
• Strong performance-management and conflict-resolution skills.
• Ability to make sound decisions in complex or high-pressure situations.
• Working knowledge of trauma-informed care, harm reduction, professional boundaries, and person-centered service delivery.
• Ability to interpret policies, contracts, budgets, financial reports, compliance requirements, and operational data.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent written, verbal, presentation, and interpersonal communication.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills.
• Ability to simultaneously manage multiple high-priority operational matters.
• Ability to work effectively with employees and guests from diverse backgrounds and experiences.
• Demonstrated cultural humility and sound professional judgment.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and electronic database, scheduling, and program-management systems.

WORK SCHEDULE & AVAILABILITY

This is an exempt leadership position supporting a 24-hour, 7-day-per-week, 365-day-per-year operation.

The Director must maintain an on-site schedule appropriate to operational and leadership needs. The position requires flexibility to respond to significant operational issues outside regularly scheduled business hours and may require evening, overnight, weekend, or holiday presence when circumstances warrant.

The Director may participate in an established leadership on-call rotation.

Regular and reliable attendance is an essential requirement of the position.

PHYSICAL & WORK ENVIRONMENT REQUIREMENTS

The position operates within an active recuperative care environment serving individuals with varying medical, behavioral health, mobility, and social-service needs.

The Director must be able to move throughout the assigned facility, participate in operational rounds, attend meetings in different areas of the facility, and respond to operational situations as necessary.

Reasonable accommodations will be provided to qualified individuals with disabilities in accordance with applicable law.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY & REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

National Health Foundation is committed to equal employment opportunity and prohibits unlawful discrimination, harassment, and retaliation consistent with applicable federal, state, and local law.

NHF will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified applicants and employees with disabilities and will consider other legally protected accommodation requests as required by applicable law.

Applicants or employees requiring a reasonable accommodation to participate in the application process or perform the essential functions of the position should contact People & Culture.

DISCLAIMER

This job description describes the general nature and level of work expected of the Director of Recuperative Care. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, qualifications, or working conditions.

Responsibilities may be modified based on organizational, contractual, regulatory, funding, and operational requirements.

Nothing in this job description alters the at-will employment relationship where applicable under California law.