Director of Nursing

Job Description

Director of Nursing (DON) - Skilled Nursing

Location: Clancy, MT
Job Type: Full-time
Salary: Up to $160,000 annually
Strong Candidate Target: $150,000+
Relocation Assistance: Up to approximately $5,000 may be available
Sign-On & Performance-Based Bonus Opportunities May Be Available

Are you an accomplished Director of Nursing who has successfully stabilized nursing teams, improved clinical operations, and helped turn around challenging skilled nursing facilities?

Do you know how to reduce agency dependence, develop strong nursing leaders, improve retention, and create the systems necessary for sustainable clinical performance?

If you've already proven you can do more than simply maintain a nursing department, this could be the leadership opportunity you're looking for.

About the Opportunity

A busy skilled nursing and long-term care community in Montana is seeking an experienced Director of Nursing to lead and strengthen its nursing operations.

The facility handles a significant amount of Medicare Part A , creating a fast-paced clinical environment with frequent admissions and discharges. We're looking for a DON who understands the demands of skilled nursing and can create consistency and accountability even when the building is moving quickly.

The facility is also working to reduce its current reliance on agency staffing, making recruitment, retention, staff development, and nursing stability major priorities for the incoming DON.

This is not a maintenance-only DON position .

It's an opportunity for an experienced nursing executive to build a stronger department, develop the nursing leadership team, improve clinical and operational performance, and create sustainable change.

What We're Looking For

We're looking for a DON who has been through challenging situations before and can demonstrate what they did to improve them .

The strongest candidates will bring experience with:

• Skilled nursing and long-term care leadership
• Facility turnaround or stabilization
• Nursing operations and accountability
• Survey readiness and regulatory compliance
• Clinical quality improvement
• Staff recruitment and retention
• Reducing agency and traveler utilization
• Census development and operational performance
• Building strong nursing leadership teams
• Mentoring ADONs, Nurse Managers, and future DONs
• High-volume admissions and discharges
• Long-term culture improvement

Previous Director of Nursing experience is strongly preferred.

More importantly, we're interested in results . Candidates who can provide specific examples of teams they've stabilized, agency usage they've reduced, surveys they've improved, census they've supported, or clinical systems they've strengthened will stand out.

What You'll Do

As Director of Nursing, you'll have responsibility for the overall leadership and strategic direction of nursing services.

Key responsibilities include:

• Oversee day-to-day nursing operations.
• Lead, coach, mentor, and develop nursing management and frontline staff.
• Establish clear clinical expectations and standards of accountability.
• Strengthen nursing systems, processes, and workflows.
• Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local regulatory requirements.
• Maintain ongoing survey readiness.
• Lead quality assurance and clinical improvement initiatives.
• Monitor clinical outcomes and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Promote resident safety and consistently high standards of care.
• Improve employee engagement and nursing retention.
• Develop strategies to reduce reliance on agency and traveler staffing.
• Partner with recruitment and operational leadership to build a stable nursing workforce.
• Support appropriate census growth and operational performance.
• Strengthen admissions and discharge processes in a high-volume Medicare environment.
• Develop and mentor Assistant Directors of Nursing and other nursing leaders.
• Partner closely with the Administrator and interdisciplinary leadership team.
• Build productive relationships with residents, families, physicians, and staff.
• Help establish a stable, accountable, and consistent nursing culture.

Build Your Own Strong Nursing Leadership Team

The facility is also recruiting two Assistant Directors of Nursing , giving the incoming DON an opportunity to help build and develop the leadership structure underneath them.

Rather than carrying the department alone, the goal is to establish a nursing leadership team with complementary clinical, educational, compliance, and operational strengths.

For a DON who genuinely enjoys mentoring and developing future nursing leaders , this can be one of the most rewarding aspects of the position.

Retention incentives may also be structured around successfully developing and retaining the ADON team.

This Role Is About Sustainable Improvement

We're looking for someone who understands that meaningful change doesn't happen overnight.

There is significant upside within this community, along with operational and staffing challenges that will require stabilization, discipline, persistence, and long-term leadership .

The incoming DON should be comfortable taking ownership of an environment that needs:

• Nursing stabilization
• Stronger staff retention
• Reduced agency dependence
• Clinical leadership
• Consistent accountability
• Culture development
• Operational discipline
• Sustainable systems and processes
• Long-term improvement

If you've successfully walked into a challenging SNF before, developed a plan, built the right team, and stayed long enough to see the results, that's exactly the kind of experience we're interested in.

You'll Be a Great Fit If You:

• Are an active Registered Nurse eligible to practice in Montana.
• Have previous Director of Nursing experience.
• Have strong skilled nursing or long-term care experience.
• Have successfully helped stabilize or improve a challenging nursing operation.
• Understand CMS regulations, surveys, compliance, and clinical quality.
• Have experience improving staff retention and nursing stability.
• Know how to reduce dependence on agency and traveler staff.
• Can recruit, coach, develop, and retain nursing employees.
• Have experience developing ADONs, Nurse Managers, or other clinical leaders.
• Understand the relationship between clinical performance, staffing, admissions, and census.
• Can create structure and hold people accountable.
• Are comfortable making difficult leadership decisions when necessary.
• Have demonstrated career stability and are interested in making a long-term impact.

Compensation

Exceptional nursing leadership deserves competitive compensation.

Base Salary: Up to $160,000 annually

Highly qualified candidates with demonstrated SNF leadership and turnaround experience may be targeted at approximately $150,000+ , with the upper end reserved for candidates bringing particularly strong and relevant experience.

Depending on the candidate, the overall package may also include:

• Sign-on bonus
• Relocation assistance up to approximately $5,000
• Performance-based bonus opportunities

Performance incentives may be tied to measurable goals such as survey performance, staff retention, nursing stability, clinical outcomes, and other agreed operational objectives .

Final compensation and incentives will depend on qualifications, experience, and the individual arrangement.

Relocation Candidates Welcome

Don't live in Montana yet? Qualified relocation candidates are encouraged to apply.

Relocation assistance of up to approximately $5,000 may be considered depending on the candidate's individual circumstances.

Candidates traveling from farther away may also have the opportunity to begin the interview process virtually before progressing to an onsite meeting.

Ready to Build Something Stronger?

This position is designed for a DON who wants to do more than inherit a title.

We're looking for a nursing leader who can stabilize a workforce, develop future leaders, reduce agency dependence, improve clinical systems, strengthen survey performance, and build a nursing culture capable of sustaining those improvements .

If you've successfully done that before-and you're ready for a position where those skills will matter-we'd like to hear from you.

Apply today to learn more about this Director of Nursing opportunity in Clancy, Montana.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity in the workplace. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Job Type: Full-time
Salary: Up to $160,000 per year
Work Location: In person - Clancy, MT
License/Certification: Registered Nurse license applicable to Montana (Required)
Experience: Director of Nursing and skilled nursing/long-term care leadership exper