State Director ABA

State Director Aba

Sacramento, San Jose, California

The State Director is the operational and business leader responsible for all Sunrise Aba performance within their assigned state. This role owns state-level growth, P&L, discipline, operational & scheduling optimization, intake pipelines, staffing stability, and regional performance. The State Director partners closely with Clinical Leadership (Bca Leads) to ensure Sunrise delivers high-quality, compliant Aba services while scaling efficiently and profitably. This position requires experience in the Aba field.

This role is geared toward a strategic operator who can drive strong results, create structure, support leaders, and elevate Sunrise's presence and performance across multiple regions within the state.

Key Responsibilities

• Own overall state-level P&L, margin performance, and billable hour growth.
• Lead and manage Ross team members and support them in hitting weekly, monthly, and quarterly performance targets.
• Drive operational efficiency: scheduling performance, utilization, staffing ratios, and cost-per-billable-hour.
• Ensure strong communication and execution of Sunrise's systems, expectations, and processes across all regions.

Growth & Market Expansion

• Oversee all referral growth and outreach efforts within the state.
• Partner/head up the Outreach/Intake teams to increase inquiry conversion rates and maintain strong relationships with referral sources.
• Identify and execute expansion opportunities: new regions, new centers, new partnerships.
• Support payor relationships, state-specific requirements, and contracting needs as the company scales.

Staffing & People Operations

• Drive staffing stability across Bts, Bcabas, and intake/support roles.
• Forecast hiring needs based on caseload demand and growth goals.
• Partner with Talent Acquisition leadership to ensure hiring velocity supports expansion.
• Support Regional Managers in coaching, performance management, and culture execution.

Clinical Partnership

• Work closely with State Clinical Leads/Bcaba Leads (clinical leadership does not report to this role clinically).
• Ensure operational support is in place for clinical quality, supervision, and staff development to run smoothly.
• Coordinate staffing, scheduling, caseload balancing, and service delivery to ensure families receive consistent, high-quality care.

Compliance & Quality

• Ensure state compliance with licensing requirements, employee credentialing, audits, and documentation standards.
• Support consistent rollout of Sunrise policies, updates, and quality-improvement initiatives.
• Maintain oversight of service authorization processes, intake timelines, and ongoing operational compliance.

Qualifications

• Must have 2-5 years experience in Aba operations.

Leadership Qualifications

• Communicates clearly, professionally, and effectively with team members, leadership, and external partners.
• Leads with a calm, solutions-oriented approach to people and problems, demonstrating sound judgment and professionalism.
• Serves as a conflict resolver rather than a conflict starter, addressing concerns early and working to de-escalate situations while preserving relationships.
• Thinks critically before acting, considering potential outcomes, risks, and downstream impacts of decisions.
• Model leadership aligned with the company's core values and culture, setting clear expectations and accountability.
• Takes initiative as a self-starter, identifying problems and developing thoughtful, sustainable solutions while also recognizing when there is a need for collaboration or consultation.
• Performs well under pressure, meeting deadlines while maintaining a steady, positive leadership presence.
• Demonstrates a growth-minded approach to leadership and ongoing development of self and others.

Role Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience managing departments, programs, or large-scale projects with a strong business and operational mindset.
• Proven experience leading and scaling multi-site or multi-region operations, including oversight of performance, staffing, and operational systems.
• Experience managing, coaching, and supporting teams of 10+ interdepartmental team members, including operations, scheduling, intake, or support functions.
• Strong background in employee-based conflict resolution, performance management, and navigating complex personnel situations professionally and compliantly.
• Experience in marketing, outreach, and/or sales strategy, including referral growth, partnership development, and conversion optimization.
• Proven ability to define KPIs, develop systems to track and monitor performance, and drive teams to meet goals within established timelines.
• Demonstrated strength in data analysis and operational decision-making, using metrics to inform priorities and improve outcomes.
• Experience managing budgets, forecasting, and/or P&L-related performance preferred.
• Familiarity with healthcare, behavioral health, or other regulated environments strongly preferred.
• Ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced, growth-oriented organization while maintaining accountability and operational excellence.
• Must be residing in the state that the role is located and/or able to travel monthly to the location if the state is developmental.

Salary

$90,000 - $120,000 Usd