ABA Program Supervisor Trainee (Mid Tier)

Job Description

Job Description

KEY ESSENTIALS TO BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT CORP

Program Supervisor Trainee

Pre-Certification Clinical Supervision

Role

Program Supervisor Trainee  —  Pre-Certification Clinical Supervision

Compensation

$28 – $31/hr

Employment Type

Full-time positions preferred; part-time considered for graduate-program candidates

Reports To

Clinical Director (Jazmin)

Location

Indio 

Service Setting

Clinic-based with home and community session options

Credential

Master's degree in behavior analysis, psychology, special education, or related field (in progress accepted) · BCaBA or BCBA candidacy · 1+ years of ABA experience required

Why This Role Exists

Most ABA companies don't invest in supervisors before certification — they expect you to either already be a BCaBA/BCBA or to stay an RBT while you finish your Master's. That gap is where a lot of good clinicians get stuck. The Program Supervisor Trainee role exists because KEBM refuses to make you choose. You'll develop supervisory skill now, with full pay and full support, while you finish your Master's and sit for your BCaBA or BCBA. The trainee period isn't a holding pattern — it's deliberate development.

About Us

We're a five-clinic ABA therapy company with four locations across Southern California and one in Georgia, founded in 2016 by a BCBA with 25+ years in the field. Our team of 68+ professionals delivers evidence-based therapy through our proprietary S.O.C.I.A.L. P.O.D.S. methodology — and our Sensory Spot locations prove that therapy can actually feel like play.

We serve every client who walks through our doors — insurance-funded, private pay, open play, and camp families alike. We're women-founded, minority-owned, and we don't sacrifice clinical quality for profit. If you want to work somewhere that's serious about outcomes and serious about its people, you're in the right place.

How S.O.C.I.A.L. P.O.D.S. Work

S.O.C.I.A.L. P.O.D.S. is our proprietary group ABA therapy methodology — a pod-based model where social skills, behavior intervention, and individualized goals are delivered inside a structured group dynamic. Here's how it works on the ground:

• Each pod has 3 to 6 clients with varied diagnoses — autism, ADHD, ADD, Down syndrome, developmental delays — grouped by age, skill level, and goal alignment.
• The facilitator-to-client ratio is 1:3 inside the pod.
• A supervisor is always on-site, and clinical support is always available in your pod. Your on-site supervisor is a Program Supervisor, BCaBA, or BCBA, and they move between pods providing real-time coaching, oversight, and support for challenging behaviors. You are never figuring it out alone.
• We use a push-in / pull-out model: group work happens inside the pod, and 1:1 intensive instruction pulls out when a client needs dedicated skill-building or behavior support.
• BCBAs and Program Supervisors move between pods providing real-time coaching, clinical oversight, and support for challenging behaviors.

Who We Serve

KEBM serves every client who walks through our doors — no tiers, no priority treatment, no "real clients vs. drop-ins." That means:

• Insurance-funded ABA clients (Medi-Cal, Medicare, commercial insurance)
• Private pay therapy clients
• Open play participants at our Sensory Spot locations
• Camp participants — spring break, winter break, summer, and any seasonal KEBM camp
• Consultation clients in adult residential and group home settings (Program Supervisor Master's level and above)

A camp kid gets the same quality of care as an insurance client. An open play family gets the same respect as a full-time ABA family. If that feels natural to you, you're going to fit here. If the idea of treating any of those clients as less-than bothers you, this isn't the place.

The Role — What You'll Actually Do

In this role, you'll:

• Run pods and supervise RBTs with real authority within your scope — under the Clinical Director's oversight. You're not shadowing; you're supervising, coached by Jazmin as you develop.
• Contribute to functional behavior assessments (FBAs) and treatment plans — building the clinical reasoning skills you'll use for the next 20 years of your career.
• Deliver direct clinical services — skill acquisition programs, behavior reduction protocols, crisis intervention when needed. You're in the room, not just on the org chart.
• Coach Lead RBTs and RBTs in real time — data interpretation, program fidelity, intervention selection. Your job is to make them better, not just monitor them.
• Document everything defensibly — progress notes, session summaries, data review, program changes. This is where BCaBA/BCBA exam readiness is built, one clean note at a time.
• Serve every client equally — insurance, private pay, open play, camps, and (at Master's level) consultation into adult residential and group home settings.

In your first 90 days, success looks like:

Running pods independently with Jazmin's oversight, documentation consistently defensible to the BCBA team, on a clear track toward sitting for your BCaBA or BCBA within the next 6–12 months.

Who You Are

You might be perfect for this if:

• You're pursuing your Master's (or have it) and you want clinical supervisory experience now — because the BCaBA or BCBA certification opens doors only if you already know how to supervise.
• You're ready to hold other clinicians accountable — coaching an RBT is fundamentally different from being one. If you've never held that line, this role will stretch you. If you're ready, it'll launch you.
• You read data before you act on intuition — and you can explain your clinical reasoning to a BCBA when asked. This is the core skill being developed in this role.
• You take the pipeline seriously — BCaBA or BCBA is the goal, not a maybe. KEBM will invest in your supervised hours and support your exam prep, but the commitment has to come from you.

Bonus points if you have:

• Already hold your RBT certification
• Some supervised hours accumulated toward BCaBA/BCBA
• Bilingual (Spanish)
• Prior experience supervising direct-care staff in any setting

What You Get

Compensation

$30 – $33/hr —  published transparently on this posting.

We don't play the "competitive compensation" game, and we don't bait candidates with the top of the band and pay the bottom. Where you land in the range depends on credential level, experience, and market — and we'll tell you exactly why during the offer conversation.

Benefits — Full-Time

Medical, dental, and vision  •  Paid time off  •  Paid holidays  •  401(k) eligibility after qualifying period  •  CEU reimbursement for certification maintenance  •  Supervision hours for BCaBA/BCBA pathway at no cost  •  Professional liability coverage  •  Ongoing S.O.C.I.A.L. P.O.D.S. methodology training

Benefits — Part-Time

Paid sick time (per state law)  •  CEU reimbursement for certification maintenance  •  Supervision hours for BCaBA/BCBA pathway at no cost  •  Professional liability coverage  •  Ongoing S.O.C.I.A.L. P.O.D.S. methodology training  •  Priority access to full-time roles as they open

Growth

At KEBM, your next role isn't hypothetical. We built a 15-step clinical pipeline from Social Skills Assistant through Chief Clinical Director, and every seat has a real compensation band, a real scope of responsibility, and a real path to get there.

Your direct next step from this role: Program Supervisor, typically within 12–18 months once your certification is complete. From there, BCaBA and BCBA are the next steps.

Ask about it in the interview — we'll show you the map.

Culture

We run on the S.O.C.I.A.L. P.O.D.S. framework, which means structured collaboration — not chaos. Our leadership team (COO Lynda, Chief Clinical Director Maritza, Clinical Director Jazmin) actually leads, so you're not reporting into a black hole. Our CEO is a BCBA who built this from the ground up starting at $8.50/hour as a paraeducator in 1999 — she gets what your day looks like.

Physical Requirements

This role is physically active. You'll spend most of your day standing, walking, sitting on the floor, transitioning between activities, and occasionally responding to challenging behaviors.

• Frequent (4–8 hours): sitting, standing, walking, simple grasping, reaching (all directions), bending, twisting, kneeling, squatting
• Occasional (1–3 hours): keyboarding, fine manipulation, stairs, lifting or carrying 1–50 lbs
• Crisis readiness: the ability to respond appropriately to behaviors including elopement, aggression (hitting, kicking, spitting, throwing), and self-injury — with full training and supervisory backup

This is not desk work. But you are never handling it alone — a supervisor is always on-site and clinical support is always available.

What You'll Actually Encounter — The Honest Section

Most ABA job posts sanitize this part and then lose hires at day 30 when reality hits. We'd rather tell you now.

• Aggression — hitting, kicking, biting, scratching, throwing objects. Training and crisis protocols are in place; you'll never be expected to manage it alone.
• Elopement — clients running or leaving the session space. The clinic is designed to be safe; staffing is set to make elopement manageable.
• Self-injury — head-hitting, scratching, and similar behaviors. Protocols exist for every scenario.
• Non-compliance and task refusal — some sessions will test your creativity and persistence.
• Vocal stereotypy and scripting — understanding function is part of the clinical picture.
• Sensory-seeking and sensory-avoidant behaviors — our Sensory Spot locations are designed with this in mind.

Why we tell you this upfront:

Because we respect your decision-making. This work isn't for everyone — and that's okay. But for the right person, there's nothing more rewarding than helping a child build the skills that change the trajectory of their life. And you won't be doing it alone — a supervisor is always on-site, clinical support is always available, established crisis protocols are in place, and a team has your back.

The KEBM G-W-C Test

Three questions. Take 60 seconds with them before you apply. If you can answer all three with an honest "yes," send your resume today. If any one is a no, that's information too — we'd rather you filter yourself now than find out three months in.

1.  Do you GET IT?

Do you understand what this role actually is — the real work, the hard days, the kids and families we serve? Not the idealized version. The actual job.

2.  Do you WANT IT?

Not the paycheck. Not the title. The work itself. Do you want to do this specific job, with these specific clients, inside the S.O.C.I.A.L. P.O.D.S. model?

3.  Do you have the CAPACITY?

Time, skill, emotional bandwidth, physical readiness. The capacity question is not whether you're smart or capable — it's whether your current life has room for this role to be done well.

How to Apply

Apply at the link in this posting, or send your resume and a short note about why this role caught your eye to View email address on ziprecruiter.com. Questions before you apply? Call us at View phone number on ziprecruiter.com — a real person will answer.

We review every application and respond to every candidate. You're not shouting into the void.

Screening questions

Please answer both in your application:

• What's your plan for BCaBA or BCBA pursuit, and what would you need from an employer to make it happen on your timeline?
• Tell me about a time you had to coach or correct someone — what worked, what didn't, and what would you do differently now?

Key Essentials to Behavior Management Corp is an equal opportunity employer. We are women-founded, minority-owned, and committed to hiring without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.