Vice President of Residential Services

Birch Family Services is a leading provider of education, employment, and community support services for individuals with autism and developmental disabilities and their families in New York City. Every year, the organization supports more than 2,000 people across 31 locations in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx. From preschool to graduation, employment, housing, and beyond, Birch Family Services provides fully integrated programs and services to support individuals in achieving their goals across their lifetime.

Are you a mission‑driven executive with a passion for creating safe, person‑centered homes for people with autism and developmental disabilities? Birch Family Services is seeking a Vice President of Residential Services to provide strategic leadership across our entire residential portfolio, spanning 24/7 programs supported by more than 500 dedicated staff. As a key member of our senior and executive leadership team, you'll drive innovation, ensure quality and compliance, and champion a culture where individuals are empowered to lead full, inclusive lives.

With 8–10+ years of progressive leadership experience in I/DD residential services, you'll partner across departments — Clinical, Finance, HR, Quality Assurance, and more — to deliver integrated, holistic care. As Birch celebrates over 50 years of service, we're looking for a leader who can translate our mission into real outcomes for the individuals, families, and staff who depend on us.

If you're ready to lead at scale and make a lasting impact, we'd love to hear from you.

Vice President of Residential Services

The Vice President provides leadership to Birch Family Services residential programs serving more than 200 individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities and supported by more than 500 staff across New York City. The Vice President ensures that Birch's residential services are person-centered, high quality, safe, compliant, and mission-aligned – empowering the individuals served to reach their potential and lead full, inclusive lives.

Core Responsibilities

• Provide vision, leadership, and oversight for all Birch residential services, including 24/7 residences, residential models for people with complex needs, and new initiatives.
• Translate Birch's mission, values, and strategic goals into quality outcomes for individuals supported, drive innovation and best practices in service delivery, adhere to program requirements, and be efficient.
• Participate in executive planning and strategic decision‑making that contributes to organization/department growth and ongoing sustainability.
• Promote the Birch culture across residential services and represent the organization and its strategic priorities to external partners.

Residential Program Oversight

• Oversee the daily operations of all residential programs ensuring consistency of standards, policies, and protocols across locations while recognizing the uniqueness of each program.
• Promote person-centered, trauma-informed approach to services that enhance choice and self-advocacy.
• Ensure programs maintain supportive environments that maintain stability, ensure quality health care and life skills development, community inclusion, and long-term quality of life.
• Monitor staffing patterns, program activity/structure, and overall service outcomes to ensure effectiveness across all shifts.

Staff Leadership & Culture

• Foster Birch's corporate culture to promote cooperation, collaboration, learning, support, and accountability.
• Directly supervise middle/senior residential operations and clinical leadership staff.
• Champion staff recruitment, retention, engagement, and professional development activities.
• Ensure leadership teams are equipped to support staff working in diverse 24/7 environments.

Family & Stakeholder Engagement

• Implement system with program leadership for proactive ongoing family and self-advocate engagement.
• Be the senior contact for families, guardians, and external stakeholders related to residential services.
• Address escalated concerns with transparency, professionalism, and problem-solving.
• Promote family involvement in treatment planning process while honoring individual choice and rights.

Compliance, Quality & Risk Management

• Ensure compliance with OPWDD and all applicable regulatory, licensing, contractual, and billing requirements.
• Provide leadership and oversight of incident management, investigations, trend analysis, and corrective action planning in cooperation with quality assurance.
• Lead preparation for audits, surveys, and reviews in cooperation with Quality Assurance; ensure timely and effective responses to findings.
• Maintain a strong culture of health, safety, and dignity across all residential settings.

Cross-Department Collaboration

• Promote strong communication, collaboration, and cooperation amongst residential leadership and other departments in the organization.
• Partner with Finance to develop and manage residential budgets, maintain entitlements, and ensure required documentation for billing and personal allowance resources.
• Partner with Finance and HR to monitor staffing ratios, overtime, and resource utilization.
• Identify opportunities for operational efficiency, program development, and service enhancement.
• Work closely with Clinical Services, Behavior Intervention, Community Services, Operations, and Human Resources to ensure coordinated, holistic support.
• Support smooth transitions and coordination of services for individuals across education, residential, day, and other community-based services.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Master’s degree in social work, psychology, public administration, or another related field preferred.
• Minimum 8–10 years of progressive leadership experience in residential services for people with I/DD.
• Demonstrated administrative and clinical experience overseeing 24/7 residential programs supporting individuals with complex needs.
• Strong knowledge of NYS OPWDD regulations, ICF, and HCBS Waiver programs.
• Proven experience in staff supervision, program oversight, and system-wide leadership.

Core Competencies

• Mission-driven leader with effective collaborative skills and sound judgement.
• Excellent communication, clinical, management, and organizational skills.
• Effective at developing strong working relationships with all stakeholders – internal and external.
• Demonstrated written and verbal communication skills with various stakeholders.
• Demonstrated proficiency in organization and documentation skills as needed for program standards, compliance, and regulatory requirements.
• Demonstrated capability in supporting individuals with autism and other complex needs and managing 24/7 residential services.
• Demonstrated effectiveness at building strong teams, staff professional development, and accountability.

EEO Statement

Birch Family Services provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements. Birch Family Services complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

Birch Family Services expressly prohibits any form of workplace harassment based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, identity or expression, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status.