Executive Director, Clinical Institute of Behavioral Health

Job Description

Position Overview

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center seeks a nationally recognized physician leader to serve as Executive Director of the Clinical Institute of Behavioral Health. This enterprise-level role is responsible for defining and executing the strategic vision, clinical excellence, academic advancement, operational performance, and growth of behavioral health services across the Cedars-Sinai Health System.

The Executive Director will lead the development of a comprehensive, integrated behavioral health platform spanning inpatient, ambulatory, emergency, consultative, and virtual care settings, ensuring consistent standards of quality, safety, access, and patient experience across all sites. 
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Reporting Structure

This role operates within a matrixed executive structure, reporting to:

• Executive Vice President for Medicine and Health Sciences / Dean (academic & research) 
• Executive Vice President for Clinical Affairs / Chief Medical Officer (clinical quality) 
• Executive Vice President, Hospital Operations / Chief Operating Officer (hospital operations) 
• Executive Vice President, Medical Network (ambulatory operations)

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Key Responsibilities

Enterprise Leadership
• Provide executive oversight for all clinical, academic, and operational aspects of the behavioral health service line 
• Lead transformation into a unified, system-wide behavioral health enterprise 
• Serve as primary liaison to executive leadership, medical staff, and external stakeholders 
• Drive policy development, system-wide care models, and large-scale performance improvement initiatives 

Strategic Growth & Program Development
• Define and implement a multi-year strategic roadmap for behavioral health services 
• Expand a regional and nationally recognized behavioral health network 
• Standardize care pathways and operating models across the system 
• Lead growth through partnerships, affiliations, joint ventures, and digital health innovation 

Clinical Quality & Workforce
• Maintain accountability for clinical quality, safety, and patient experience 
• Oversee medical staff governance, credentialing, and performance 
• Lead recruitment, development, and retention of top-tier behavioral health clinicians 
• Establish clear performance metrics and accountability frameworks 

Academic & Education Leadership
• Provide strategic oversight for residency, fellowship, and interprofessional training programs 
• Partner with Cedars-Sinai Health Sciences University to expand workforce pipelines 
• Ensure national distinction and accreditation excellence in training programs 

Research Enterprise (In close collaboration with academic Chair)
• Set strategic direction for a robust behavioral health research portfolio 
• Expand funding through federal, industry, and philanthropic sources 
• Promote interdisciplinary and translational research aligned with institutional priorities 

Financial & Operational Management
• Maintain full accountability for financial performance and long-term sustainability 
• Optimize resource allocation, workforce models, and operational efficiency 
• Lead capital planning, infrastructure strategy, and philanthropic initiatives 
• Drive integration across inpatient, ambulatory, and virtual care platforms 

Organizational Environment

Cedars-Sinai is a nationally recognized academic health system known for:
• High-value, patient-centered care and top-tier clinical outcomes 
• Leadership in research, innovation, and translational medicine 
• A growing integrated network across inpatient, ambulatory, and virtual care settings 

Physicians and leaders are expected to uphold the highest standards of clinical excellence while advancing Cedars-Sinai’s mission as a regional and national leader in healthcare delivery, education, and discovery. 

The Cedars-Sinai Health System

The Cedars-Sinai Health System includes the nationally recognized Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Cedars-Sinai) and its affiliated physician network, major programs in physician and health professions education and the highly regarded Burns and Allen Medical Research Institute. The Cedars-Sinai Health System also includes the Marina del Rey Hospital; Torrance Memorial Medical Center and its affiliated physician network, the leading healthcare organization serving Torrance and the beach cities of Los Angeles; and Huntington Health and its affiliated physician network, the leading healthcare organization serving Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles. Through the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the Cedars-Sinai Health System is also a joint venture partner with Select Medical in the California Rehabilitation Institute, and Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center in Tarzana, California.

Cedars-Sinai Mission Statement

As a leading academic healthcare organization, our mission is to elevate the health status of the communities we serve.

• We deliver exceptional healthcare enhanced by research and education

• We prioritize high-quality care for all with equity and compassion

• We transform biomedical discoveries and innovations for better health

• We educate tomorrow’s physicians, nurses, researchers, and healthcare professionals

Our mission is founded in the Judaic tradition, which inspires our devotion to the art and science of healing.

Vision

Trusted and respected worldwide, Cedars-Sinai will advance health and healthcare in Los Angeles and beyond.

To achieve this vision, Cedars-Sinai will:

• Demonstrate superior quality, equity, safety, affordability, and patient experience across the care continuum.

• Serve populations in this service area through enhanced ambulatory, primary and specialty care networks.

• Strengthen and advance excellence in biomedical research and graduate academic and professional education programs.

• Align with the best physicians and providers through collaborative care teams and pluralistic physician relationship models.

• Position Cedars-Sinai as the preferred healthcare employer in the Los Angeles region and among the most preferred in the nation.

• Advance the health status of the communities through health equity initiatives.

• Innovate and integrate the use of emerging digital and medical technologies.

• Ensure overall growth, financial performance and philanthropy to advance the mission and vision of the institution.

Nationally Recognized High-Quality Care Delivery

Detailed attention to quality of patient care, prevention of hospital-acquired infections, patient satisfaction and a high number of preventive health screenings are hallmarks of Cedars-Sinai. Clinical programs range from primary care to specialized treatments for rare, complex and advanced illnesses. In addition, Cedars-Sinai serves the community through its Medical Network and through a variety of programs that improve the health of the most vulnerable residents of Los Angeles.

Cedars-Sinai has been named to the Honor Roll for the 10th consecutive year in U.S. News & World Report’s 'Best Hospitals 2025-26' rankings. Cedars-Sinai ranked in the top ten nationally in six specialties: Gastroenterology and GI Surgery (#2); Orthopaedics (#5); Pulmonology and Lung Surgery (#5); Cardiology, Heart and Vascular Surgery (#6); Obstetrics and Gynecology (#8, tied), Diabetes and Endocrinology (#9). Three specialties were also #1 in California: Cardiology, Heart & Vascular Surgery, Gastroenterology and GI Surgery, and Orthopedics.

In 2025, Cedars-Sinai received its eight consecutive five-star rating in the Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings by CMS, the highest distinction by the federal agency. Of the more than 2,891 U.S. hospitals rated, only about 10% earned five stars.

Cedars-Sinai has received the National Research Corporation’s Consumer Choice Award twenty years in a row for providing the highest quality medical care in Los Angeles and has the longest-running Magnet Designation for Nursing Excellence in California. Cedars-Sinai continues to excel in patient experience, receiving top scores in the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey, exceeding both the national and California averages for both the “overall rating” questions and the “would recommend” question. Across all survey areas (inpatient, medical practice and emergency department), Cedars-Sinai performed in the top quartile of all hospitals nationwide.

Breakthrough Research

Discovery is a core value to Cedars-Sinai’s mission. The institution’s laboratories and clinics generate ideas, therapies, devices and systems that contribute to biomedical progress around the world. More than 2,000 current research projects explore the full breadth of biomedical research. Examples include investigating how high-fat diets promote liver cancer, the effects of near weightlessness on iPSCs in conjunction with NASA, connections among diabetes and chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer, and the genetic underpinnings of disease, exploiting the potential of stem cells, leveraging nanotechnology, parsing big data, and assessing how gender and metabolism impact health. During the last six years, Cedars-Sinai has more than doubled its federal awards. Cedars-Sinai’s FY24 federal awards totaled $158 million, with 2,300 publications and 2,200 active research projects. Cedars-Sinai is ranked 10th among non-university hospitals that receive NIH funding.

Cedars-Sinai is home to 19 academic departments, with faculty in anesthesiology, biomedical sciences, cardiac surgery, cardiology, computational biomedicine, emergency medicine, imaging, medicine, neurology, neurosurgery, obstetrics and gynecology, orthopaedics, pathology and laboratory medicine, pediatrics, physical medicine and rehabilitation, psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences, radiation oncology, surgery, and urology. The organization also has five broad based, interdisciplinary institutes, with the Smidt Heart Institute, the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, the Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute, the Geri and Richard Brawerman Nursing Institute, and the Women’s Guild Lung Institute. There are five research institutes: the Biomedical Imaging Research Institute, the Advanced Clinical Biosystems Research Institute, the Inflammatory Bowel and Immunobiology Research Institute, the Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute, and the Diabetes and Obesity Research Institute. 

The recently established Department of Computational Biomedicine is dedicated to cutting-edge informatics and computational sciences that can be applied to advance healthcare at Cedars-Sinai and beyond. The Department will advance the use of artificial intelligence and other methodologies for data analysis, including a focus on patient derived information, in addition to providing informatics support to the greater translational focused research community across the institution. 

Empowering Education

Cedars-Sinai’s robust academic enterprise shapes the experts who will help redefine medicine for the next generation. Cedars-Sinai has a fully accredited Graduate School offering PhD and MS programs as a degree-granting institution. As one of the leading independent academic medical centers in the country, Cedars-Sinai has a legacy of providing the most competitive graduate medical education programs, including 15 residency and 89 fellowship programs. Over 837 medical student rotations from around the country are completed at Cedars-Sinai each year. Cedars-Sinai offers its over 450 residents and fellows exposure to a wide range of procedures and populations in highly advanced facilities with state-of-the-art equipment and cutting-edge new technologies.

The institution boasts five major training grants from NIH, including four postdoctoral programs focused on heart, lung, endocrinology, and inflammatory diseases. Regarding the degree-granting programs, Cedars-Sinai is home to an NIGMS-NIH T32 titled, “Graduate Program in Biomedical and Translational Sciences.” A total of 42 candidates are currently enrolled in our Biomedical and Translational Sciences (BTS) PhD program, which is supported by substantial commitments by Cedars-Sinai. This program offers a unique, well-structured experience in translational research and exposure to clinical practice relevant to the student’s dissertation research. Importantly, the BTS PhD program at Cedars-Sinai has had proven success with the recruitment of underrepresented minorities into the graduate program (25% of total enrolled PhD students over 12 years). Additionally, Cedars-Sinai offers master’s degree programs, including in Magnetic Resonance Imaging and in Health Delivery Science.

Community Engagement

Cedars-Sinai fulfills its vital mission to the community by investing in programs and services to improve the health status of the community. The institution works closely with schools, Federally Qualified Health Centers, local government, senior centers and other agencies to improve community health, better meet community needs, and to expand the capacity of other organizations to serve those who are most vulnerable. Cedars-Sinai devoted over $1,030,603,000 in total community benefit spending through a variety of programs in FY23.

Founded by the Jewish community, Cedars-Sinai began in 1902 as a 12-bed hospital in the Angelino Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. Today, Cedars-Sinai serves more than 1 million people each year in over 40 locations.
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Opportunity
This role represents a unique opportunity to:
• Lead transformation of behavioral health at enterprise scale 
• Build a nationally recognized clinical and academic institute 
• Shape the future of integrated behavioral healthcare delivery 
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Application Process
Candidates should submit a CV and cover letter outlining leadership experience, strategic vision, and alignment with Cedars-Sinai’s mission.

Compensation Range
We offer competitive total compensation that includes pay, benefits, and other incentive programs for our employees. The total pay range shown considers the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including knowledge/skills; relevant experience and training; education/ certifications/licensure; and other business and organizational factors. This total pay range includes any incentive payments that may be applicable to this role. We also offer a comprehensive faculty benefits package. The total compensation range listed is a good faith determination of potential compensation at the time of this job advertisement and may be modified in the future.
Total Compensation Range: $775,000 - $960,000
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This position is suited for a physician executive seeking broad system impact, strategic authority, and the ability to build a premier behavioral health enterprise within a leading academic health system.

Qualifications

Qualifications
• MD (or equivalent) from an accredited institution 
• Board Certification in Psychiatry 
• Eligible for unrestricted California medical license 
• Demonstrated success building and leading a system-wide behavioral health enterprise 
• Proven experience in strategic planning, financial management, and operational leadership 
• Record of academic, clinical, and administrative excellence 
• Strong leadership competencies, including team development, stakeholder engagement, and change management 
• Experience with quality improvement, performance metrics, and large-scale healthcare systems