Director of Client Safety in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey at Bierman Autism Centers

We're building the Teaching Hospital for pediatric therapy.

At Bierman Autism Centers, we're creating a category of one by delivering exceptional outcomes for children, developing world-class clinicians, building payer trust, and embedding systems that drive excellence across everything we do.

Safety is the foundation that makes all of that possible. We're looking for an experienced Director of Client Safety to build, own, and continuously strengthen the enterprise-wide systems that protect our clients, families, and team members.

This isn't a traditional compliance role. It's an opportunity to build the safety infrastructure that supports one of the nation's leading pediatric autism organizations. If you're energized by designing scalable systems, improving operational excellence, and creating environments where children can safely thrive, we'd love to meet you.

Position Summary

As the Director of Client Safety, you'll own Bierman's enterprise client safety operating system. This role will report to the VP of Clinical Excellence.

You'll establish the policies, standards, escalation frameworks, training programs, audit processes, and measurement systems that define how safety is delivered consistently across every Bierman center.

You'll partner across Clinical, Operations, Human Resources, Facilities, Compliance, and Executive Leadership to ensure safety isn't simply documented—it is consistently implemented, measured, improved, and embedded into our culture.

From developing enterprise standards to coordinating investigations, identifying trends, training leaders, and continuously strengthening our systems, you'll play a critical role in protecting children while helping Bierman become the industry's gold standard for pediatric therapy safety.

What You'll Own

Enterprise Client Safety System

You'll design, implement, and continuously improve Bierman's comprehensive client safety operating system. This includes ownership of enterprise-wide policies, standards, documentation requirements, and operational expectations surrounding:

• Client protection standards
• Supervision expectations
• Safety policies and operating procedures
• Incident reporting and escalation protocols
• Investigation coordination
• Documentation standards
• Environmental safety and physical infrastructure expectations
• Cross-functional safety workflows
• Escalation frameworks and decision trees

You'll ensure these standards are practical, scalable, and consistently applied across every Bierman location.

Safety Standards & Clinical Protocols

You'll establish and maintain clear operational standards for situations that directly impact client safety, including:

• Appropriate physical interaction and touching standards
• Bathroom and personal care procedures
• Elopement prevention and response protocols
• Transportation procedures
• Safety Care implementation
• Visibility expectations and camera monitoring standards
• Mandated reporting processes
• Environmental and facility safety expectations
• Client supervision during therapy and transitions
• Emergency response procedures

You'll continuously evaluate industry best practices and evolving regulations to strengthen Bierman's safety protocols over time.

Safety Implementation & Quality Assurance

Creating policies is only the beginning. You'll ensure our standards are consistently executed across the organization by developing systems that verify implementation and identify opportunities for improvement.

Responsibilities include:

• Obtain and maintain Safety Care trainer certification
• Leading enterprise-wide safety audits
• Conducting protocol adherence reviews
• Performing operational spot checks
• Reviewing documentation quality
• Monitoring compliance trends
• Identifying recurring safety risks
• Coordinating corrective action planning
• Supporting center leaders with implementation coaching

You'll regularly visit centers, observe operations, collaborate with leaders, and help close gaps before they become larger issues.

Safety Intelligence & Continuous Improvement

You'll build the tools that allow Bierman to proactively monitor safety performance across the organization.

This includes developing:

• Enterprise safety scorecards
• Early warning indicators
• Safety dashboards
• Trend analysis
• Recurring issue tracking
• Risk reporting
• Investigation summaries
• Organization-wide improvement initiatives

You'll use data to identify patterns, strengthen protocols, and continuously raise the standard for client safety.

Training & Safety Culture

You'll create engaging, practical training that helps every team member understand their role in protecting clients. You'll develop and deliver:

• New hire safety onboarding
• Recurring enterprise safety training
• Scenario-based learning
• Leadership safety education
• Incident response training
• Investigation training
• Refresher courses as standards evolve

You'll help build a culture where safety is everyone's responsibility—not just a policy manual.

Incident Management & Cross-Functional Partnership

You'll serve as a key leader when significant safety events occur. You'll coordinate cross-functional responses by partnering with:

• Clinical Leadership
• Operations
• Human Resources
• Facilities
• Compliance

Executive Leadership

Responsibilities include:

• Coordinating investigations
• Supporting incident reviews
• Ensuring consistent documentation
• Facilitating escalation processes
• Identifying root causes
• Recommending system improvements
• Tracking follow-up actions through resolution

You'll ensure lessons learned become improvements embedded into our operating system.

What Success Looks Like

Successful leaders in this role will:

• Build an enterprise safety system that scales with organizational growth
• Improve consistency across every Bierman center
• Strengthen leadership confidence around safety expectations
• Reduce recurring incidents through proactive systems
• Equip leaders with practical tools to respond effectively
• Increase visibility into organizational safety performance through meaningful metrics
• Foster a culture where safety is embedded into everyday decision-making

You're a Great Fit If You Have

• 5–10+ years of leadership experience in healthcare, pediatric services, behavioral health, ABA, quality management, risk management, patient safety, or related operational environments
• Experience designing and implementing enterprise-wide policies, standards, operational systems, or risk management programs
• Experience leading incident management, investigations, root cause analyses, or corrective action planning
• Strong knowledge of child safety, risk management, regulatory expectations, and operational best practices
• Demonstrated success building scalable systems across multi-site organizations
• Strong analytical skills with experience using data to identify trends, monitor performance, and drive improvement
• Excellent communication and facilitation skills with the ability to influence leaders across departments
• A systems-oriented mindset balanced with strong operational execution
• Sound judgment, professionalism, and composure when navigating complex or sensitive situations
• A passion for creating environments where children, families, and team members feel safe, supported, and protected

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in Healthcare Administration, Nursing, Public Health, Behavioral Health, Psychology, Social Work, Risk Management, or a related field
• Experience in pediatric healthcare, ABA, behavioral health, children's hospitals, or other child-serving organizations
• Experience supporting multi-state healthcare operations
• Knowledge of healthcare compliance, accreditation, licensing, and regulatory requirements
• Experience developing enterprise training programs and operational audits
• Familiarity with Safety Care and Safety Care certified, crisis management, or similar behavioral safety frameworks

Why You'll Love Bierman

• Mission That Matters Everything we do supports our mission of helping children with autism achieve meaningful progress. Your work will directly strengthen the systems that protect our children, families, and clinicians every day.
• Help Build Something Unique We're building the Teaching Hospital for pediatric therapy. You'll play a foundational role in creating the safety systems that allow clinical excellence to flourish as we continue to grow.
• Room to Grow We're scaling rapidly and investing in leaders who want to build systems with lasting impact. This role offers significant opportunity to grow alongside the organization.
• Collaborative, Purpose-Driven Culture You'll partner with passionate clinical and operational leaders who believe that continuous improvement and strong systems create better outcomes for children.
• Competitive Compensation & Benefits Competitive salary, performance-based bonus, flexible PTO, 401(k), health, dental, vision, telehealth, pet insurance, short- and long-term disability, and comprehensive benefits beginning on Day One.
• Ready to Make an Impact? If you're excited by the opportunity to build, strengthen, and scale the systems that keep children safe while helping shape the future of pediatric therapy, we'd love to hear from you.

Apply today or connect with our Talent Acquisition team to learn more.

Our Story: A Legacy of Progress, Fueled by Play

In 2006, Bierman Autism Centers began with a simple dream: to empower children with autism to thrive. We believed in the power of letting kids be kids and initially offered in-home care to foster a comforting and familiar environment.

We were driven by three core beliefs: achieving remarkable progress with children, creating a great team that enjoys working together, and building a workplace that fosters internal career paths and growth for our team members. Our dedication to progress led us to a pivotal moment. Recognizing the potential of center-based care, we opened our first center in Indiana in 2010. This wasn’t just about location; it shifted our philosophy. Centers allowed us to create consistent, nurturing environments tailored to each child’s needs.

This shift became the cornerstone of our success. Today, Bierman Autism Centers are beacons of innovative care across Arizona, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, and Rhode Island. We offer ABA therapy, Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Diagnostic Services within center-based settings designed for the comprehensive development of our children.

Bierman Autism Centers values diversity in the workplace. The company provides equal opportunity for employment and promotion to all qualified employees and applicants on the basis of experience, training, education, and ability to do the available work without regard to race, religion, color, age, sex/gender, sexual orientation, national origin, gender identity, disability, marital status, veteran status, genetic information, ancestry, or any other status protected by law.

Furthermore, Bierman Autism Centers is committed to providing an equal opportunity workplace that is free of discrimination and harassment based on national origin, race, color, religion, gender, ancestry, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, marital status, veteran status, genetic information, or any other status protected by law.

As an equal opportunity employer, Bierman Autism Centers does not discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities. If you require a reasonable accommodation as a candidate for employment, please inform a member of the Talent Acquisition team.

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