Executive Director

Thrive Now Recovery Centers – Pleasant Hill
Des Moines / Pleasant Hill, Iowa
Full-Time | On-Site | Exempt
Lead a Thriving Behavioral Health Facility in the Des Moines Market

Thrive Now Recovery Centers, in partnership with Ascension Recovery Services (ARS), is seeking an experienced, mission-driven Executive Director to lead our established residential substance use disorder treatment facility in Pleasant Hill, Iowa.

This is an opportunity to step into a facility with a strong foundation, an established team, and meaningful momentum — and help take it to the next level.

The Executive Director will be responsible for the overall operational, financial, cultural, regulatory, and strategic performance of the facility while ensuring that every decision remains centered on providing safe, high-quality, person-centered care.

We are looking for a leader who understands that excellent behavioral healthcare requires both compassion and operational discipline.

This is not simply a facility administrator role. The Executive Director serves as the senior leader responsible for building the team, strengthening the culture, growing the program, and creating an environment where both patients and employees can thrive.

Position Overview

• Overall facility operations and performance
• Patient census, growth, and market development
• Financial stewardship and labor management
• Regulatory compliance and accreditation readiness
• Clinical and quality oversight in partnership with clinical and medical leadership
• Team development, performance management, and culture
• Patient safety and quality outcomes
• Community and referral relationships
• Continuous improvement and organizational execution

The Executive Director works closely with Ascension Recovery Services’ centralized leadership and support teams, including Operations, Human Resources, Compliance, Finance, Revenue Cycle, Marketing, Admissions, IT, and Business Development, while maintaining strong local ownership and accountability for facility performance.

What You’ll Do

Operational Leadership

• Provide day-to-day leadership and oversight of all facility operations.
• Establish clear expectations, accountability, communication rhythms, and performance standards across departments.
• Ensure operational processes support safe, efficient, patient-centered care.
• Monitor facility performance and proactively identify operational barriers, staffing needs, and opportunities for improvement.
• Lead implementation of organizational initiatives, policies, procedures, and performance improvement plans.
• Ensure appropriate staffing levels and effective utilization of resources based on census and patient needs.
• Maintain a visible leadership presence throughout the facility and actively engage with employees and patients.

Financial Performance & Census Growth

• Maintain accountability for facility financial performance, operating budget, labor management, and expense control.
• Monitor key performance indicators including census, admissions, discharges, length of stay, staffing productivity, overtime, payer mix, and operating performance.
• Partner with Admissions and Business Development leaders to strengthen referral relationships and increase appropriate admissions.
• Identify opportunities to improve access to treatment and expand Thrive Now’s presence throughout the Des Moines market.
• Balance financial responsibility with patient safety, clinical quality, and employee sustainability.

Clinical Quality & Patient Experience

• Partner closely with the Clinical Director, Medical Director, nursing leadership, and interdisciplinary treatment team to maintain high-quality patient care.
• Ensure treatment services remain person-centered, evidence-based, and aligned with appropriate levels of care.
• Promote strong clinical documentation, treatment planning, discharge planning, and continuity of care.
• Monitor patient outcomes, grievances, incidents, safety concerns, and quality indicators.
• Champion a treatment environment built on dignity, accountability, compassion, and respect.
• Ensure patients experience a facility where they feel safe, supported, valued, and capable of building a meaningful life in recovery.

Regulatory, Compliance & Accreditation Leadership

• Maintain compliance with applicable Iowa behavioral health licensure requirements.
• Lead and support ongoing Joint Commission accreditation readiness.
• Ensure consistent implementation of facility policies, procedures, quality standards, and regulatory requirements.
• Maintain compliance with HIPAA, 42 CFR Part 2, patient rights requirements, and other applicable federal and state regulations.
• Partner with Compliance and Quality leadership to address findings, incidents, trends, corrective action plans, and performance improvement initiatives.
• Promote a culture where compliance and patient safety are embedded in daily operations rather than treated as periodic exercises.

People Leadership & Culture

• Recruit, develop, coach, and retain a high-performing interdisciplinary leadership team.
• Establish clear accountability while creating an environment where employees feel respected, supported, and connected to the mission.
• Develop leaders who can independently manage their departments while working collaboratively across the facility.
• Address performance concerns quickly, fairly, and consistently.
• Promote trauma-informed and recovery-oriented leadership practices.
• Build a culture where teamwork, professionalism, communication, and ownership are expected at every level.
• Recognize and develop high performers and create opportunities for professional growth.

Community & Market Leadership

• Serve as a visible representative of Thrive Now Recovery Centers within the greater Des Moines community.
• Develop strong relationships with hospitals, healthcare providers, referral partners, community organizations, behavioral health providers, and other stakeholders.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen Thrive Now’s reputation and expand access to treatment.
• Partner with organizational leadership on strategic growth opportunities and community needs.
• Represent the organization professionally and consistently with Thrive Now’s mission and values.

Who You Are

You are a strong operator who also understands people.

You know how to hold leaders accountable without losing the human side of leadership. You are comfortable reviewing financials in the morning, addressing a staffing challenge at noon, meeting with a referral partner in the afternoon, and walking the facility before going home to make sure the patient and employee experience reflects the standards you expect.

You do not wait for problems to become crises.

You create clarity, build strong teams, follow through, and understand that culture is shaped by what leaders consistently model, recognize, and tolerate.

Most importantly, you believe people can recover — and that the quality of the environment, leadership, and team surrounding them matters.

Qualifications

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Administration, Behavioral Health, Business, Human Services, or a related field.
• Minimum of 5 years of progressive leadership experience in behavioral health, substance use disorder treatment, healthcare, residential treatment, or a comparable environment.
• Demonstrated experience leading multidisciplinary teams.
• Strong operational leadership and performance management experience.
• Experience managing budgets, labor, staffing models, and key operational metrics.
• Experience working within a regulated healthcare environment.
• Strong communication, problem-solving, decision-making, and organizational skills.

Preferred

• Master’s degree in Healthcare Administration, Business Administration, Behavioral Health, Social Work, Counseling, or related field.
• Leadership experience in residential substance use disorder treatment.
• Experience overseeing ASAM-aligned levels of care.
• Joint Commission accreditation or survey experience.
• Experience with Iowa behavioral health or substance use disorder treatment regulations.
• Experience leading a facility through growth, operational improvement, or organizational change.
• Strong understanding of admissions, utilization review, payer relationships, and behavioral healthcare revenue cycles.

Leadership Competencies

The Successful Executive Director Will Demonstrate

• Operational Discipline & Execution
• Financial Acumen
• Accountability & Follow-Through
• Regulatory & Compliance Leadership
• Strategic Thinking
• High Emotional Intelligence
• Talent Development
• Culture Building
• Effective Communication
• Collaborative Leadership
• Sound Judgment
• Patient-Centered Decision Making
• Mission-Driven Leadership

Why Join Thrive Now?

Thrive Now Recovery Centers is committed to providing safe, high-quality, evidence-based substance use disorder treatment while helping individuals build meaningful lives in recovery.

At Pleasant Hill, you will have the opportunity to lead an established facility with strong potential for continued growth and impact.

You will also have the support of Ascension Recovery Services, a national behavioral health management organization providing centralized expertise in operations, compliance, human resources, finance, revenue cycle, admissions, marketing, technology, and strategic growth.

You will have resources.

You will have support.

And you will have real ownership of the facility you lead.

Benefits

• Eligibility for performance-based incentive compensation
• Medical Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Vision Insurance
• 401(k)
• Paid Time Off (PTO)
• Paid Holidays
• Company-Paid Basic Life Insurance
• Company-Paid Short-Term Disability
• Professional Development Opportunities
• Employee Assistance Program

Equal Employment Opportunity & Reasonable Accommodations

Thrive Now Recovery Centers provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetics, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities and for sincerely held religious beliefs in accordance with applicable law. Individuals requiring an accommodation during the application process or to perform the essential functions of the position should contact Human Resources.

Why This Role Matters

The Executive Director sets the tone for the entire facility.

When leadership is strong, employees know what is expected of them. Teams communicate. Standards remain high. Patients feel safe. Families trust the organization. Referral partners want to work with us. And more people receive the opportunity to recover.

Pleasant Hill already has momentum.

We are looking for a leader who can build on that momentum, strengthen what is working, address what needs improvement, and help Thrive Now become one of the premier behavioral health treatment programs in the Des Moines region.

If you are a disciplined, compassionate, results-oriented leader who wants to make a measurable difference in the lives of patients, employees, and the community, we invite you to apply.