Chief Clinical Officer

Description

The Chief Clinical Officer (CCO) is BHA’s senior clinical and medical leader, accountable for the quality, safety, and effectiveness of every clinical and health service BHA provides. Reporting to the CEO and serving on the executive leadership team, the CCO sets clinical standards and provides oversight across behavior-analytic (ABA) services in the Early Intervention Clinic, Community Living, and BHA Academy; nursing and medical care; psychiatric and medication oversight through contracted providers; and clinical standards for speech-language and occupational therapy. This is a clinical leadership, oversight, and risk-mitigation role: the CCO raises the quality of care across BHA rather than carrying a caseload or producing revenue. 

Many of the children and adults BHA serves have complex behavioral, psychiatric, and medical needs, including self-injury, aggression, elopement, psychotropic medications, seizures, and swallowing risks, often in 24/7 settings staffed largely by non-licensed direct support staff. The CCO is expected to bring behavioral, medical, and therapy services together into one coordinated clinical system; ensure evidence-based, person-centered practice in every program; reduce clinical risk, including restrictive interventions, medication errors, and avoidable hospitalizations; and give the CEO, executive team, and Board clear visibility into clinical quality and outcomes. Guided by BHA’s Core Values, the CCO builds a clinical culture of excellence, dignity, and continuous learning.

Requirements

Scope of Authority:

• Serves as a member of BHA’s executive leadership team and as BHA’s highest clinical authority.
• Sets clinical, behavioral, nursing, and medical standards, policies, and protocols that all divisions, including operations leaders, are required to follow.
• Holds final clinical authority on behavior support plans that include restrictive procedures, medication and health protocols, clinical appropriateness of admissions, and clinical transitions and discharges.
• May require changes to an individual’s supports, or pause a clinical practice, that presents a clinical risk, with immediate notice to the CEO and COO.
• Approves clinical credentialing, licensure, and supervision requirements, and the engagement of contracted psychiatric and medical providers within the approved budget.
• Provides case consultation, high-risk case review, and clinical sign-off; does not carry a caseload or prescribe. Psychiatric services are provided through contracted providers. 

Education & Experience:

• Doctoral degree in Behavior Analysis, Psychology, Nursing, Medicine, or a related clinical field, with one of the following credentials: Board Certified Behavior Analyst–Doctoral (BCBA-D) with Missouri Licensed Behavior Analyst license; licensed psychologist (PhD or PsyD); board-certified Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP; DNP preferred) with experience in psychiatry or developmental disabilities.
• Active, unrestricted Missouri license (or eligibility to obtain one before hire); Kansas licensure or eligibility preferred.
• Minimum of 10 years of clinical experience serving individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, autism, or significant behavioral or psychiatric needs, including at least 5 years of clinical leadership at the director level or above across multiple programs or sites.
• Experience in settings comparable to BHA, such as IDD residential or waiver services, psychiatric residential treatment, psychiatric hospitals, ABA clinics, or special education.
• Experience leading interdisciplinary clinical services (behavioral, nursing or medical, and therapy) and integrating them into a coordinated model of care.
• Proven record leading clinical programs through regulatory surveys, payer audits, and quality reviews (e.g., DMH, DESE, Medicaid/CMS, or accreditation bodies).
• Experience building clinical quality, outcomes measurement, and restrictive-intervention reduction programs.

Skills & Competencies:

• Interdisciplinary leadership: credible with BCBAs, nurses, therapists, psychiatric providers, and educators, and knows where their own scope of practice ends and when to rely on other qualified clinicians.
• Expertise in applied behavior analysis and positive behavior support, restraint reduction, and trauma-informed care, with a working understanding of psychotropic medication management and health risks common in IDD.
• Working knowledge of Missouri DMH Division of Developmental Disabilities standards for behavior support, restrictive interventions, and medication administration; DESE restraint and seclusion requirements; Medicaid and commercial ABA requirements; the BACB Ethics Code; and nursing scope and delegation rules.
• Data-driven: uses clinical data and outcomes to evaluate effectiveness and drive improvement.
• Strong clinical judgment and calm decision-making in high-risk and crisis situations.
• Clear communicator with families, guardians, school districts, funders, regulators, and the Board.
• High ethical standards and discretion with protected health information.

Starting Pay: Our compensation is competitive within the market. Salary range is determined based on a combination of your education, relevant experience, and overall qualifications. There may be potential for performance based incentives in addition to annual base salary.