Program Director

Program Director – Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Program

CareNationDC, Inc.

Washington, DC

Full-Time | Leadership Position

Join Our Leadership Team

CareNationDC is seeking an experienced, organized, and results-driven Program Director to oversee the daily operations and continued growth of our Substance Use Disorder (SUD) program in Washington, DC.

Our program provides outpatient substance use disorder services, including ASAM Level 1.0 Outpatient and Level 2.1 Intensive Outpatient (IOP) services.

The Program Director will work closely with executive leadership, the Clinical Director, counselors, intake staff, administrative personnel, quality assurance staff, and community partners to ensure that services are delivered efficiently, ethically, and in accordance with applicable DC requirements.

We are looking for a leader who understands behavioral health operations and can successfully manage staff, client flow, compliance, productivity, documentation, and program growth.

Key Responsibilities

The Program Director will:

Oversee the day-to-day operations of the SUD program.

Provide leadership and operational supervision to program staff.

Coordinate closely with the Clinical Director regarding clinical services and quality of care.

Ensure timely intake, assessment, admission, treatment planning, service delivery, and discharge processes.

Monitor client enrollment, attendance, engagement, and retention.

Oversee the operational implementation of Level 1.0 Outpatient and Level 2.1 IOP services.

Help ensure services are consistent with ASAM principles and program requirements.

Monitor staff schedules, productivity, caseloads, and program coverage.

Ensure documentation is completed accurately and within required timeframes.

Work with Quality Assurance and leadership to identify and correct documentation or compliance deficiencies.

Participate in audits, reviews, corrective action plans, and quality improvement activities.

Help ensure staff maintain required credentials, training, and personnel documentation.

Conduct or coordinate staff meetings, training, coaching, and performance management.

Work with intake staff to improve admissions and reduce delays in accessing services.

Coordinate with billing and administrative teams to reduce authorization, documentation, and billing issues.

Track key program performance indicators, including admissions, active census, attendance, discharges, productivity, and service utilization.

Develop systems that support program growth while maintaining quality and compliance.

Build productive relationships with referral sources and community partners.

Assist leadership with recruitment, onboarding, and retention of qualified SUD professionals.

Address operational problems promptly and escalate significant compliance or clinical concerns appropriately.

Promote a professional, accountable, client-centered workplace culture.

Preferred Qualifications

The ideal candidate will have:

Previous leadership or management experience in a substance use disorder, behavioral health, mental health, or healthcare program.

Experience supervising multidisciplinary behavioral health staff.

Knowledge of outpatient SUD treatment and intensive outpatient programming.

Familiarity with ASAM criteria and the continuum of care.

Experience with treatment plans, assessments, progress notes, discharge planning, and behavioral health documentation.

Strong understanding of compliance, quality assurance, and audit readiness.

Experience working with Medicaid-funded behavioral health services preferred.

Previous experience working within a Washington, DC behavioral health/SUD program strongly preferred.

Strong organizational and problem-solving skills.

Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Ability to hold staff accountable while building a positive and supportive team culture.

Comfort working with electronic health record systems.

Ability to manage multiple priorities in a growing organization.

What We Are Looking For

We are especially interested in candidates who can answer yes to the following:

Can you lead a growing SUD program?

Can you manage people and hold staff accountable?

Can you monitor documentation and program performance?

Can you identify operational problems before they become compliance problems?

Can you work effectively with clinical, administrative, billing, and executive teams?

If so, we would like to hear from you.

Why CareNationDC?

CareNationDC is building a comprehensive behavioral health organization dedicated to expanding access to high-quality mental health and substance use disorder services in Washington, DC.

This position provides an opportunity to play an important leadership role in the development and growth of our SUD program while making a meaningful impact in the communities we serve.

Apply today to be considered for the Program Director position.

CareNationDC, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer.