Director of Care Access

Job Description

Job Description

Join a team that’s transforming mental healthcare. Founded by psychiatrists, Headlight is more than a company: it’s a movement. A movement that exists on the front lines of the mental health crisis, transforming the way people access care and the way clinicians deliver it. In order to help people in their time of need and ensure that every person who comes to us has options, we are transparent about our capabilities, treatments, and coverage, we champion innovation, and we leverage our rich data to continuously implement better ways of delivering care. Our mission is simple but powerful: Improving lives, one session at a time.  

Our highly skilled and principled clinical team enjoys autonomy and institutional support so they can put their focus where it should be: on improving patient outcomes. Our clinicians want to do more than help individual clients, so they work to affect the system as a whole, elevating standards of care so that their efforts reverberate far beyond what they could do in private practice.

As the most trusted behavioral health partner in the Western U.S., we’ve established deep relationships that give us unparalleled access, interoperability, and first-priority referrals. This exclusivity, combined with our best-in-class coordinated care and feedback loops, results in superior outcomes and cost savings.

Our services are convenient, accessible, and expert, combining personalized client engagement with advanced technology to enhance, not replace, human connection. Indeed, we hold that human-to-human relationships are indispensable, so from the match to the session to the time between sessions, we provide whole person care so nobody falls through the cracks and there is a brighter path forward for all.

The Director of Care Access leads the end-to-end care access function, with full accountability for converting referrals and inquiries into scheduled and completed first appointments while achieving organizational access and growth targets. This role oversees team performance, structure, and daily operations, ensuring execution against growth targets, access standards, and patient experience expectations. The Director establishes and manages a disciplined operating rhythm centered on key funnel metrics (referral → scheduled → kept), driving speed-to-contact, follow-through, and consistent closure of patient interactions. 

This role requires a hands-on, in-office leader who actively coaches, develops, and holds team members accountable while building a coaching-first culture grounded in measurable performance and continuous improvement. The Director uses operational data, performance metrics, and real-time coaching to improve team effectiveness, increase access outcomes, and ensure consistent execution across the patient access funnel. Success is measured by improved access outcomes, strong team performance, and a reliable, high-quality experience for patients and referring partners. 

Our Pillars

• Make things easier.
• Forge genuine connections.
• Elevate the standard.

Roles & Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end performance of the patient access funnel (referral → scheduled → kept appointment), including accountability for achieving daily, weekly, and monthly intake targets, conversion goals, speed-to-contact expectations, and appointment completion metrics while continuously improving funnel performance and identifying opportunities to increase access 

• Use operational dashboards and funnel metrics to monitor performance, identify trends, evaluate team effectiveness, and proactively address barriers impacting patient access and organizational goals 

• Forecast intake performance using referral volume, conversion trends, staffing capacity, and operational metrics to identify risks, optimize resources, and implement plans to achieve daily, weekly, and monthly targets 

• Lead daily operations of the Care Access team, ensuring consistent execution, adherence to standards, and timely issue resolution 

• Build and maintain a coaching-first environment through regular 1:1s, performance reviews, quality audits, and documented development plans 

• Review patient interactions, quality metrics, and performance trends to provide timely coaching, reinforce best practices, and improve both patient experience and conversion outcomes 

• Manage and develop Team Leads and frontline staff, including hiring, onboarding, training, and career progression planning 

• Establish and enforce operating rhythms (daily huddles, weekly reviews, monthly performance reporting) tied to key funnel metrics 

• Maintain visibility into the patient access pipeline to ensure timely progression of every referral through scheduling and completed first appointment 

• Monitor individual and team performance, establish clear performance expectations, recognize high performers, and implement coaching and accountability plans to address performance gaps 

• Define and maintain speed-to-contact expectations, follow-up standards, and quality benchmarks for all patient interactions 

• Monitor key operational metrics—including speed-to-contact, conversion, scheduled appointments, kept appointments, and overall funnel performance—to ensure organizational targets are consistently achieved 

• Ensure consistent, timely, and accurate communication with patients and referring providers, including closing the loop on all inquiries and referrals 

• Identify process gaps or inefficiencies in the access workflow and lead continuous improvement initiatives that improve referral-to-scheduled and scheduled-to-kept conversion, increase operational efficiency, and enhance the patient access experience 

• Partner with leadership to develop and refine performance incentives, workflows, and operational tools that improve productivity, quality, patient experience, and access outcomes 

• Maintain strong on-the-floor presence to reinforce accountability, provide real-time coaching, and support team engagement 

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Management, or a related field preferred; equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered 

• 5+ years of experience leading high-volume, metrics-driven teams (e.g., sales, patient access, admissions, contact center, or care coordination) 

• 2+ years of experience managing frontline leaders (Team Leads, Supervisors, or equivalent) 

• Demonstrated success improving conversion rates, speed-to-contact, and overall funnel performance 

• Experience building and scaling teams in a fast-paced, growth-oriented environment 

• Strong background in performance management, coaching, and developing employees in a structured, accountability-driven setting 

• Demonstrated ability to use operational data and performance metrics to drive decision-making and improve outcomes 

• Experience with CRM platforms (Hubspot), contact center technologies (Five9), or workflow management systems preferred 

• Familiarity with healthcare operations, patient access workflows, or behavioral health environments strongly preferred 

 

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY 

This position will supervise the Care Access team leads and team members; 15-20 employees  

If you need any accommodations for your interview please email View email address on ziprecruiter.com prior to scheduling.

Not meeting all the requirements? Research indicates that women, communities of color, and historically underrepresented individuals are often hesitant to apply for jobs unless they meet every qualification. We are committed to cultivating a diverse, inclusive, and genuine workplace. If you're enthusiastic about this position but your previous experience doesn't precisely match every qualification listed, we enthusiastically encourage you to submit your application. You could be the ideal candidate for this role or others!

Headlight is committed to the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusiveness and seeks to create a working environment reflective of this commitment. We seek to provide a diverse clinician base to support the diversity of our clients. Headlight supports and respects diversity of people, culture, and ideas throughout our organization. Headlight thrives to be a welcoming, diverse and discrimination- and harassment-free workplace.

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Job Postings on Indeed and other job boards may post with total compensation (base + bonus). For the exact base salary range please check our website or our job-site

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.