Chief Operating Officer

Griffith Centers is a non-profit organization headquartered in Denver, CO with offices in Buena Vista, Centennial, Colorado Springs, Greeley, and Grand Junction, reaching into many counties across the state. The organization's mission is to provide hope and healing through resources to support children, families, and individual adults through a full spectrum of mental and behavioral health programs for the under-served population.

Griffith Centers has served Colorado for almost a century, specializing in treating behavioral and mental health issues through various programs, serving children, adults, and families. Services are structured to meet the specific needs of everyone with the belief that each person can heal, find hope, and build resilience. We meet our clients where they are, with an attitude of acceptance, compassion, and non-judgment. We offer a variety of structured and therapeutic environments that empower our youth, families, and adults to build healthy relationships, succeed in educations, and empowerment to thrive in society. Those who are in our programs benefit from comprehensive and strengths-based programming.

Position Summary:

The ideal Chief Operating Officer for Griffith Centers is a seasoned, steady, and systems-minded leader—one who can bring coherence and consistency to a dynamic, multi-site behavioral health organization without diminishing its heart. They will be both a strategic integrator and a hands-on operator, equally comfortable developing organizational scorecards as they are walking the halls of residential programs or engaging with field teams. This leader will bring the credibility and humility to earn trust quickly, the operational rigor to align complex systems, and the emotional intelligence to navigate a mission-driven culture with care and clarity.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic & Operational Leadership

• Partner with the CEO/Visionary to translate organizational strategy into operational plans with clear milestones, metrics, and accountability.
• Act as the Integrator within the EOS framework: aligning leadership team efforts, resolving cross-departmental issues, and ensuring organizational focus on priorities.
• Lead operational execution across multiple locations, ensuring consistency in service delivery, compliance, and client experience.
• Foster a culture of accountability, performance, and continuous improvement across all levels of the organization.

Program & Facility Oversight

• Oversee daily operations for multiple clinics, residential facilities, and community-based programs.
• Leads executive oversight for developing and launching a PRTF under CDHS contract, ensuring compliance, collaboration, and goal alignment.
• Implement systems to ensure compliance with federal, state, and local regulations governing behavioral health services.
• Standardize clinical and operational processes across facilities while allowing for location-specific adaptation.
• Manage risk, safety, and emergency preparedness across all locations.

Financial & Business Management

• Work with the CEO and CFO to develop and manage operating budgets aligned with strategic and program goals.
• Ensure efficient utilization of resources while maintaining quality of care.
• Identify opportunities for operational efficiency, cost savings, and revenue growth.
• Oversee data systems and reporting to provide real-time performance metrics.

People & Culture

• Supervise and mentor program directors and administrative leadership.
• Implement systems for staff training, performance management, and leadership development.
• Build a strong culture of teamwork and mission alignment across geographically dispersed teams.
• Develop and implement an internal communication plan to ensure streamlined, prompt, and transparent information flow across departments.
• Ensure adequate staffing models that balance quality care with sustainability.

Board & External Relations

• Provide operational updates and key performance metrics to the Board of Directors.
• Represent the organization with external stakeholders including funders, regulators, healthcare networks, and community partners.
• Support fundraising, grant management, and strategic partnership development as needed.

EOS Integrator Accountabilities

• Own the organizational scorecard and ensure metrics are tracked and reviewed consistently.
• Drive the quarterly and annual planning process, ensuring Rocks are achieved.
• Lead Level 10 meetings, IDS (Identify, Discuss, Solve) issues, and keep leadership aligned and accountable.
• Ensure organizational communication is streamlined, timely, and effective.
• Balance the visionary’s big-picture ideas with operational discipline, ensuring sustainable execution.

Core Competencies

• Leadership Attributes Integrator Mindset: A natural harmonizer who can translate the CEO’s vision into actionable strategy, aligning people, processes, and performance across programs and departments.
• Emotionally Steady & Empathic: Demonstrates calm, grounded leadership in a high-stress, trauma-informed environment; leads with “carefrontation”— balancing compassion with accountability.
• Operational Architect: Skilled in building and refining systems for financial management, staffing, onboarding, performance metrics, and communication flow.
• Trust Builder: Gains credibility through transparency, consistency, and follow-through—especially important in a culture recovering from operational strain.
• Communicator & Connector: Builds reliable communication rhythms that replace reactive habits with clarity and confidence; adept at working across dispersed teams.
• Cultural Champion: Respects Griffith Centers’ legacy of care while reinforcing expectations for excellence, teamwork, and measurable outcomes.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in healthcare administration, Business Administration, Social Work, Psychology, or related field required. Master's degree preferred.
• Minimum of 10 years of progressive leadership experience, with at least 5 years in healthcare or behavioral health operations.
• Must be at least 21 years of age.
• Valid Colorado driver’s license or the ability to obtain one with a clean motor vehicle record.
• Must successfully complete a comprehensive background screening as a condition of employment, in accordance with Colorado Department of Human Services regulations for childcare facilities. This screening includes initial and ongoing state criminal background checks, fingerprinting, sex offender registry searches, and abuse and neglect clearances. If the employee has lived in any other state within the past five years, equivalent background and abuse/neglect checks from those states will also be conducted. In addition, employees are required to complete a health evaluation or physical examination prior to beginning service to confirm fitness for duty, and annually thereafter.

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary range: $130,000 - $160,000 annually
• Bonus potential based on organizational and personal performance
• Medical, dental, vison and voluntary benefits
• Retirement plan
• Paid time off and holidays
• Employee Assistance Program
• Professional development opportunities