Community Development Manager

Be the backbone of hope and healing.
At Rockbridge Treatment and Lakeside Academy, every role matters in helping people overcome addiction and find a new path forward. Whether you’re working directly with clients or supporting behind the scenes, your contributions make recovery possible. In return, we offer a values-driven workplace, supportive managers, and opportunities to grow. That commitment has earned us recognition from Newsweek as a Best Addiction Treatment Center and seven straight Star Tribune Top Workplace awards.

Job Summary

The Community Development Manager serves as a strategic ambassador for RockBridge Treatment & Recovery, Lakeside Academy, and Minnesota Adult & Teen Challenge. This role builds executive-level relationships across healthcare, government, corrections, business, philanthropy, faith, education, and community sectors to increase referrals, census, strategic partnerships, donor support, and community visibility. The Manager develops referral demand and partnerships for RockBridge’s adult behavioral health and substance use disorder services while expanding awareness and referral networks for Lakeside Academy’s adolescent treatment and recovery services. Success requires strong business and financial acumen, executive presence, and the ability to convert relationships into measurable revenue growth and sustainable mission impact.

Essential Job Duties/Responsibilities:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential job duty satisfactorily. The essential functions include the following:

Referral and Census Development

• Develop and execute annual referrals, census, partnership, and community development plans tailored to each program’s population, services, and market opportunities.
• Build and maintain high-value referral relationships with hospitals, behavioral health providers, counties, schools, child protection agencies, juvenile justice and correctional systems, social service organizations, payers, and community partners.
• Identify underdeveloped markets, service gaps, and new referral pathways that expand access and support sustainable census growth.
• Lead partner meetings, presentations, and program tours that clearly communicate services, outcomes, admission criteria, clinical capabilities, and client experience.
• Maintain disciplined follow-up that moves prospective partners from initial engagement to active referrals.

Strategic Partnerships and Philanthropic Development

• Cultivate executive-level relationships with healthcare, government, corrections, business, civic, faith, education, and philanthropic leaders.
• Identify and advance strategic partnerships, donations, sponsorships, major gifts, and community investment opportunities.
• Represent the programs at chamber events, conferences, coalitions, professional forums, and community events.
• Develop collaborative opportunities such as educational programs, referral protocols, community initiatives, and corporate or foundation partnerships.

Market Positioning and Outreach

• Partner with Marketing to develop audience-specific messaging, presentations, outreach materials, and campaigns.
• Clearly communicate each program’s distinct value to referral partners, families, donors, and community stakeholders.
• Gather market intelligence on referral needs, placement barriers, competitor activity, emerging service gaps, and changes in the behavioral health environment.
• Ensure effective preparation, lead capture, and follow-up for conferences, meetings, and community events.

Growth Performance and Operational Alignment

• Maintain an active CRM pipeline of referral partners, donors, sponsors, and strategic
• Track and report referrals, admissions, census, conversion rates, donations, revenue impact, outreach activity, account growth, and partnership development.
• Use CRM, admissions, financial, and market data to evaluate results, prioritize opportunities, and recommend course corrections.
• Provide regular reports to leadership on pipeline health, financial impact, market activity, risks, and growth opportunities.
• Collaborate with executive leadership, program leaders, admissions, clinical teams, marketing, outreach, and development staff to support seamless referral-to-admission experience.
• Identify and help resolve operational, access, and conversion barriers while ensuring external commitments align with program capacity, client needs, and organizational standards.

Required Skills & Experience (Minimum Qualifications):

• Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, healthcare administration, communications, nonprofit leadership, or a related field.
• Five or more years of experience in business development, fundraising, referral development, healthcare outreach, account management, or community partnerships.
• Demonstrated success generating measurable referrals, census growth, donations, sponsorships, or partnership revenue.
• Strong financial acumen, including the ability to understand budgets, revenue drivers, return on investment, and growth performance.
• Ability to build credibility with hospital executives, government and correctional leaders, donors, business leaders, and community stakeholders.
• Excellent presentation, negotiation, relationship-building, and written communication
• Experience using CRM and performance data to manage pipelines and
• Ability to travel regularly, including occasional evening and weekend
• Comfort and compassion in working with individuals facing life-controlling challenges, such as mental health issues and addiction.
• Demonstrate MnTC's mission, Culture of Honor, core values, and Putting Honor in Action principles through daily interactions, fostering a welcoming, respectful, and relationship-centered environment.

• At least 1 year of freedom from problematic
• Valid driver’s license and ability to meet organizational driving
• Must successfully complete and maintain all required training and competency requirements applicable to the position prior to providing direct care or client services, including training related to client rights, confidentiality, mandated reporting, professional boundaries, and other applicable licensing and regulatory requirements.
• Must successfully complete a Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) background study and maintain eligibility for all DHS background studies, clearances, and requirements applicable to assigned services and programs prior to providing direct care or client

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in behavioral health, substance use disorder treatment, healthcare, human services, or nonprofit development.
• Experience cultivating major donors, corporate sponsors, foundations, or charitable
• Familiarity with Minnesota healthcare, county, school, juvenile justice, correctional, and behavioral health systems.
• Established relationships within Minnesota’s healthcare, philanthropic, business, civic, or behavioral health communities.
• Experience in a faith-based or mission-driven

Physical Requirements:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

• Travel regularly throughout Minnesota, with occasional out-of-state
• Attend meetings, conferences, tours, and community
• Present to small and large
• Occasionally lift and transport materials weighing up to 25

Target Compensation (Negotiable based on Qualifications)

$60,000-$80,000/year

We seek to recruit, develop and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool in order to successfully meet our mission of helping every Minnesotan find help and healing from addiction.

Mn Adult & Teen Challenge is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate based on any category protected by federal, state or applicable laws.

Reasonable accommodation is provided upon request.