Clinical Director

The shift and schedule are subject to change based on business needs. This role will be fully onsite. While the position offers flexibility, evening hours may be required, as needed.

About Us

Maple Counseling is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to providing affordable, comprehensive mental health services to individuals of all ages, couples, and families. We also offer training for graduate and postgraduate students pursuing licensure in the mental health field. More than just a counseling center, Maple is the Heart of Mental Health—a sanctuary of healing and wellness, where soothing music and dedicated meditation spaces create a calming environment.

When you don’t know where to turn, turn to Maple. You are welcome here!

Position Summary

Maple Counseling’s new second location at the Palisades Community Renewal Center (PCRC) is a program of the Picerne Family Foundation in Santa Monica. The inspiration and vision of Maple Counseling is to create a place where anyone in need of mental health help will feel welcome and be assisted in their journey toward mental wellness. This vision is closely aligned with the intention at PCRC to create a space for healing, renewal, and rebuilding by providing counseling and therapy, arts programming, wellness activities, and a range of events designed to reconnect and support community members impacted by the fires.

The Clinical Director at PCRC provides clinical leadership, oversight, and supervision to ensure high-quality, ethical, and trauma-informed mental health services for the community. This role balances clinical excellence, staff support, and program integrity, while working closely with Maple Counseling leadership to align care delivery with organizational standards, values, and mission.

In addition to clinical oversight, the Clinical Director supports the development and refinement of clinical programs at PCRC as community needs emerge, helping ensure services remain responsive, effective, and mission-aligned.

This position plays a critical role in establishing Maple Counseling as a trusted community resource, especially in supporting those affected by the Palisades Fire and surrounding areas. The incumbent will also build and maintain collaborative relationships with a broad range of mental health providers and social service organizations to enhance referral pathways and continuity of care.

The ideal candidate will embody a welcoming presence and demonstrate the ability to explain mental health treatment options with clarity, empathy, and cultural sensitivity. This is a unique opportunity to help shape a growing program and contribute to a mission-driven initiative focused on making mental wellness accessible to all. The role is dynamic and may evolve to meet the changing needs of the community and organization.

Essential Tasks

These are core functions of the job. Additional duties may be assigned as needed.

Clinical Oversight & Quality of Care

• Provide clinical oversight to ensure services are ethical, evidence-based, and aligned with PCRC and Maple standards.
• Support clinicians in assessment, diagnosis, treatment planning, and risk management.
• Ensure appropriate clinical decision-making related to scope of practice, clinical fit, and level of care.
• Monitor quality of documentation and adherence to clinical policies and procedures
• Monitor clinician capacity and ensure session availability is optimized to serve as many clients as possible.

Supervision & Consultation

• Provide individual and/or group consultation to clinicians.
• Offer case consultation, especially for high-risk, complex, or ethically nuanced cases.
• Monitor and provide clear expectations for clinician productivity and workload.
• Direct clinicians on workflows, policy, and administrative processes.
• Identify and address patterns or gaps in clinician performance and elevate concerns to leadership.
• Recruit, interview, onboard and train new PCRC clinicians.
• Foster a culture of consultation, learning, and clinical accountability.
• Support clinicians in managing countertransference, boundaries, and professional development.
• Risk Management & Compliance.
• Oversee clinical response to high-risk situations (e.g., SI/HI, abuse, DV, psychosis).
• Ensure mandated reporting requirements are followed appropriately.
• Direct incident review, consultation, and corrective action when needed.
• Collaborate with leadership on policies related to clinical risk and client safety.

Risk Management & Compliance

• Oversee clinical response to high-risk situations (e.g., SI/HI, abuse, DV, psychosis).
• Ensure mandated reporting requirements are followed appropriately.
• Direct incident review, consultation, and corrective action when needed.
• Collaborate with leadership on policies related to clinical risk and client safety.

Program Development & Growth

• Identify emerging clinical needs within the PCRC community.
• Collaborate with leadership to develop, pilot, and refine clinical programs as needed (e.g., groups, brief interventions, community-facing services).
• Direct the clinical design and implementation of new services to ensure appropriate scope, staffing, and level of care.
• Evaluate program effectiveness and make recommendations for improvement or expansion.
• Build and maintain relationships with community partners, referral sources, and service providers.
• Represent Maple Counseling at community events, resource fairs, and outreach activities.
• Maintain an up-to-date directory of trusted community resources.

Program & Team Collaboration

• Collaborate with PCRC, Welcome Center, Care Manager, and leadership to ensure smooth referral flow and continuity of care
• Lead and participate in program planning and continuous quality improvement efforts.
• Attend designated leadership or clinical meetings as required.

Culture, Values & Leadership

• Model professionalism, warmth, integrity, and ethical leadership.
• Support a trauma-informed, client-centered, and team-oriented culture.
• Uphold PCRC’s mission of accessible, compassionate mental health care for the community.
• Serve as a clinical ambassador for PCRC when appropriate.

Quality Improvement & Data-Informed Operations

• Develop data reports and summaries to support program evaluation and management.
• Track and analyze client feedback, utilization trends, and service gaps.
• Lead in quality improvement and performance improvement initiatives.
• Develop referral protocols, resource guides, and workflow improvements.

Client Experience & Clinic Environment

• Ensure the clinic environment remains welcoming, organized, and trauma-informed.
• Support walk-in visitors and front-facing client needs as appropriate.
• Ensure materials, consents, and resource guides are current and accessible.

Recruitment & Talent Support

• Identify, recruit, review, interview and onboard talented clinicians to support Maple Counseling’s programs across PCRC.
• Identify training/learning needs of clinicians to support quality care and professional development.

Desired Knowledge

• Deep understanding of trauma-informed care, grief and loss, and evidence-based therapeutic modalities.
• Familiarity with community mental health systems and public/private mental health resources across Los Angeles County.
• Strong knowledge of care coordination and referral best practices for mental health and social services.
• Awareness of cultural and socioeconomic factors impacting mental health access and outcomes.
• Knowledge of program evaluation methods, data collection, and outcome tracking for continuous quality improvement.
• Current knowledge of local social service systems, public benefits programs, and other supportive resources available to clients.

Capabilities & Values

• High achievement orientation ; goal-oriented with a strong ownership mentality; willingness to roll up your sleeves and do whatever it takes to achieve goals.
• Agile & strategic thinker who is able to see the big picture as well as map out the details to achieve goals.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills/EQ with the ability to communicate openly, honestly and with humility across all groups; and collaborate to foster positive relationships across all stakeholders. – demonstrating emotional intelligence, warmth, approachability, empathy, active listening, patience, reliability, confidence. diplomacy, thoughtfulness, and clear communication.
• Multi-tasker and ruthless prioritizer ; you are happiest when you are working on many things at once yet are able to sort through the important from the unimportant.
• Creates a fun and exciting environment that inspires learning and innovation while embracing evaluation that leads to excellence and impact.
• Passion for working with others to achieve social impact and drive positive change.

Job Requirement

To perform this role successfully, the individual must be able to carry out each essential duty with a high level of professionalism and effectiveness. The qualifications below represent the necessary education, skills, and abilities required for success in this position:

• Active California licensure (LMFT, LCSW, LPCC, or Psychologist).
• Minimum of 5 years post-licensure clinical experience.
• Prior experience providing clinical supervision or consultation.
• Strong clinical judgment and risk assessment skills.
• Experience working with trauma, complex presentations, or community-based mental health.
• Strong emotional intelligence with the ability to demonstrate compassion, empathy, and cultural sensitivity.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to present information clearly to individuals and groups.
• Advanced problem-solving and analytical skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build trusting relationships with clients, colleagues, and diverse community members.
• Skilled in conducting research and utilizing internet tools to identify appropriate mental health and social service resources.
• Ability to work independently, manage multiple priorities, and maintain professional judgment in a dynamic environment.
• Understand and practice HIPAA regulations compliance.

Physical Requirements

• Candidate must be able to lift up to 30 pounds.
• Ability to move within the office environment and ability to climb stairs.
• Ability to write by hand and use a keyboard to perform general office functions.
• Ability to communicate continuously by speech and hearing.
• Visual acuity (close, distant, peripheral vision, and the ability to adjust focus and view accurate color perception and objects at near distances) needed for detail work and computer use.
• Ability to sit for extended periods of time.

Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.