Clinical Director

San Diego, CA
Full Time
Manager/Supervisor

FWC is seeking an experienced Clinical Director to provide strategic and clinical leadership for our growing mental health practice! This role oversees clinical operations, supports and develops our clinical team, and ensures high-quality, ethical care aligned with our mission and values. The Clinical Director plays a key role in shaping the future of the practice through collaboration, community engagement, and accountability for professional networking and referral development, helping ensure consistent caseloads and meaningful access to care within the community. The Clinical Director partners closely with the Director, Practice Manager, and Clinical Leadership Team to support clinicians, strengthen systems, and guide the continued growth and sustainability of the practice.

First, a Little About Freedom Within Therapy and Wellness Center:  

We are a group practice providing psychotherapy to adults. We have a team of dedicated Associate and Licensed therapists who provide individual and couples therapy to adults. We also offer nutritional counseling and medication management services. We do not see children in our practice. A large number of our clients are active duty military, Veterans, and young professionals. Our practice focuses on treating PTSD, trauma, anxiety, relationship concerns, perinatal/postpartum, and transitional issues.  

Our mission is to provide quality care using a genuine, down to earth approach that incorporates compassion, humor, and authenticity. We strive to partner with our clients to help release their pain and restore their sense of freedom within. We are looking for therapists who also embody this mission. 

Our core values are Connection, Humor, Authenticity, Respect, Growth and Excellence, we emulate these values in our work with one another as well as our work with our clients. Honesty, genuineness, humility, compassion and humor and important characteristics of our team members! We love to have fun, collaborate as professionals, engage in events outside of the office to connect as a team, fill our break room with snacks, and just enjoy being awesome, down-to-earth people.  

Our ideal candidate is:  

  • A great, experienced leader: Knows how to tap into people’s strengths to set team members up for success. Able to motivate others to do their best work. Strong focus on leading by example. Leads through a trauma-informed lens.
  • Forward thinking: Proactively monitors industry trends and community needs. Takes ownership of implementing innovative, mission-aligned practice offerings that support quality care and sustainable growth.
  • Flexible and adaptable: As a leader, they must have the ability to ebb and flow to support the success and needs of others.  
  • Tech savvy: Knows their way around/is willing and able to learn Google Workspace, EHR's (we use Simple Practice), and CRMs.
  • Organized: Able to identify and balance various priorities and have systems for organization. 
  • An independent, creative problem-solver: Able to conduct efficient research and use critical thinking to develop creative and successful solutions to a variety of complex problems.  
  • A great communicator: Excellent verbal, written, and presentation skills. Able to positively influence others through great communication.  
  • Able to “get ahead of needs”: Can anticipate the needs of various team members and organize systems and processes to ensure that goals are met. 
  • Responsive and accountable: Respond to all requests in a timely manner, follow through, and complete tasks and assignments timely, according to deadlines.  
 

Clinical Director Key Job Responsibilities: 

Clinical Leadership & Quality of Care

  • Provide oversight of all clinical operations to ensure excellence in client care, ethical practice, and compliance with legal and professional standards.
  • Maintain a clinical caseload (average of 12 clients seen per week) to remain engaged in direct service delivery and informed by clinical realities.
  • Ensure quality assurance through regular review of clinical documentation, client feedback, and clinical outcomes.
  • Proactively identify and address clinical, ethical, or risk-related concerns to maintain a high standard of care across the practice.

Staff Leadership & Management

  • Lead, mentor, and support the Clinical Leadership Team, including Site Supervisors and Clinical Supervisors, fostering collaboration, accountability, and professional development.
  • Oversee therapist performance management, including annual reviews, feedback processes, and development planning.
  • Cultivate a workplace culture that values transparency, feedback, learning, and engagement while balancing staff needs with business priorities.
  • Support staff morale through consistent communication, recognition of milestones, team meetings, and engagement initiatives.

Hiring, Onboarding & Professional Development

  • Partner with leadership to assess staffing needs and support recruitment, interview, and hiring processes.
  • Provide oversight of clinician onboarding to ensure consistency, clarity, and alignment with clinical and organizational standards.
  • Ensure access to ongoing training and professional development opportunities that reflect the needs of clinicians, the practice, and the community served.

Operations, Policies & Systems

  • Oversee the development, review, and implementation of clinical policies, procedures, and documentation standards.
  • Maintain and update clinical operations manuals, informed consent forms, and client-facing materials as needed.
  • Collaborate with leadership on updates to the Employee Handbook and operational workflows.
  • Provide strategic input on CRM systems, workflows, and enhancements to support efficient clinical operations and accurate reporting.

Community Engagement, Outreach & Referral Development

  • Serve as a visible ambassador for the practice within the professional community.
  • Provide leadership and hold accountability for professional networking, outreach, and marketing efforts to maintain strong, reliable referral networks.
  • Develop and sustain relationships with referral partners, including healthcare providers, community organizations, and aligned professionals.
  • Collaborate with leadership to ensure outreach and marketing efforts support stable caseloads, practice growth, and community access to care.
  • Monitor referral patterns and proactively identify opportunities to strengthen and expand referral pipelines.

Practice Growth & Strategic Development

  • Partner with leadership to review practice goals and performance metrics on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis, using data and clinical insight to guide strategic decision-making.
  • Maintain awareness of trends in the mental health field, including changes in private practice models, insurance landscapes, reimbursement structures, and payer requirements.
  • Anticipate shifts in the industry and proactively identify opportunities to adapt clinical services, operational models, and revenue strategies to support long-term sustainability.
  • Take ownership of identifying, developing, and implementing practice pivots or new offerings that align with evolving community needs, clinician sustainability, and organizational values.
  • Support strategies that promote consistent caseload fulfillment, financial health, and resilience in a changing healthcare environment.
  • Identify and support the development of additional services and programs, including groups, workshops, intensives, retreats, and other innovative offerings that enhance access to care and diversify services.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

  • Champion inclusive and equitable practices within the organization and in clinical service delivery.
  • Support ongoing learning and dialogue related to diversity, equity, and inclusion for the clinical team.
  • Regularly review policies and practices to ensure equity across hiring, onboarding, employment, and transition processes.


Clinical Director Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

  • Current, unrestricted California licensure as an LCSW, LMFT, LPCC, or Licensed Psychologist
  • Minimum of two years post-licensure clinical experience
  • Strong clinical judgment and experience working with adult populations
  • Demonstrated leadership, organizational, and communication skills
  • Experience overseeing or managing clinical operations in a mental health setting

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Clinical supervision training and experience
  • Experience working with military service members, Veterans, and their families
  • Minimum of two years as Clinical Director of a group therapy practice or mental health organization


Skills and Abilities


To be successful in this role, these are the required Skills and Abilities that our new Clinical Director will have:  

  • High level interpersonal and communication capabilities. Ability to communicate effectively verbally, written and graphically through presentations; convey information and instructions to the public and other employees in situations requiring tact, courtesy, and poise. 
  • Teamwork orientation. Establish and maintain effective working relationships with those encountered during performance of duties. 
  • High degree of flexibility and adaptability.  
  • Punctual, dependable, and reliable.  
  • Attention to detail. Retain and recall information to respond to inquiries and efficiently search files and retrieve data as required. 
  • High level of organization and follow-through. Organize, plan, and prioritize own workload and adjust to changes in workload and assignments to meet critical deadlines under pressure.  
  • Ability to accurately evaluate business operations and act on results.  
  • Excellent decision-making skills. Ability to take decisive action to solve problems and mitigate liability and risk.  
  • Ability to conduct effective independent research to solve problems.  
  • Creative, independent problem-solving. Problem-solve, compile, and analyze data, and use sound judgment.  
  • Excellent conflict management and resolution skills.  
  • Ability to work independently; use good judgment and reasoning to solve complex problems.  
  • Adhere to HIPAA and regulatory compliance standards. Identify and secure confidential, highly sensitive records and written or verbally communicated information, and record such information accurately.  
  • Ability to receive and provide straight-forward, candid performance feedback.  
  • Tech-savvy. Successfully use CRM, online payroll systems, spreadsheet and/or internet applications depending on assignments.  
  • Listening and decision-making skills. Understand information requests of others and respond courteously, efficiently, and accurately.  
 

Promoting inclusion: We welcome and strongly encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, including those from historically marginalized or underrepresented communities. Our practice is dedicated to fostering an inclusive environment that honors the diverse identities of our team and clients. We promote hiring of varying backgrounds, beliefs, and specialties to better serve the diverse and unique experience of our clients. It is also important that our office promotes a foundation of diversity, equity, and inclusivity in its culture and practice. We hold bi-monthly DEI group discussions to further understand our own biases, and to look at how we can better serve our diverse community and minority populations. 

Benefits Include:  

  • Paid sick time 
  • Paid vacation off 
  • Paid holidays 
  • 401(k) Retirement Account with company matching 
  • Health insurance, vision, and dental
  • Company charitable donation match 
  • Paid volunteer opportunity 
  • Great team environment – we like to have fun and support one another with quarterly team building activities 
  • Fully furnished, calm and inviting office space 

Please review our website to better understand what we do and who we serve: www.freedomwithincenter.com

HOW TO APPLY (PLEASE READ THOROUGHLY AND FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS)

If you would like to apply for the Clinical Director position, please complete the application form here: https://xl982.infusionsoft.app/app/form/a78b3bb9db438a363dca5eea53a3d8dc  

Additionally, please email a current resume/CV in word or pdf format to [email protected] and kpenski @freedomwithincenter.com with the subject line Attn: Clinical Director Hiring Department.

Upon reviewing your responses and resume, if you appear to be a good fit we will contact you to schedule an initial interview. Interviews are conducted by members of our leadership team.

Thank you for your time and interest!

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