Performance Excellence Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Easterseals Southern California transforms lives every day. For over a century, Easterseals has championed inclusion and independence-delivering essential services like early childhood programs, autism services, employment and independent living support to more than 29,000 people each year. Through advocacy and education, we break barriers and create opportunities for the one-in-four Americans with disabilities.

OVERVIEW OF POSITION:

The Senior Regional VP (SRVP), Quality Performance Excellence provides strategic leadership for service quality, performance excellence, and compliance across Autism Services. This role sets the vision, standards, and operating approach for quality assurance, performance monitoring, continuous improvement, and regulatory adherence, ensuring a coordinated and data-informed framework across Clinical Services, Network Provider, and Operations teams. In close partnership with senior leadership and Enterprise Risk Management, the SRVP drives consistency, accountability, and sustained improvement in service delivery, documentation integrity, and organizational readiness. In all responsibilities, the position demonstrates a strong commitment to ESSC's mission and values by supporting a high-quality, person-centered service environment.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Leads the Quality Performance Excellence (QPE) function for Autism Services, establishing a unified and coordinated approach to quality assurance, compliance, quality improvement, and process optimization across clinical services, network providers, and operational teams.
• Establishes and governs service line quality standards and measurement frameworks, defining expectations for service quality, documentation integrity, compliance, and operational execution.
• Owns associate performance standards resulting in service quality, partnering with Clinical Services, Network Provider, and Operations leadership to ensure standards are realistic, measurable, and consistently applied.
• Oversees compliance with payor, contractual, regulatory, and accreditation requirements, ensuring external requirements are effectively translated into internal policies, operational guidelines, tools, and practice.
• Directs quality assurance, compliance, and accreditation programs, including audit strategy, cadence, scope, methodology, tools, and quality control expectations.
• Ensures organizational readiness for external audits and reviews, coordinating planning, documentation integrity, response preparation, and cross-functional execution in partnership with Clinical Services, Operations, Network Provider teams, and Enterprise Risk Management.
• Leads root cause analysis and remediation governance for quality or compliance gaps, including corrective action planning, escalation pathways, prevention strategies, and sustained verification that issues are resolved and do not recur.
• Monitors regulatory, payor, and contractual changes, ensuring timely communication, policy updates, procedural changes, documentation updates, and adoption across impacted teams. Builds and maintains a data-informed quality strategy, including standard definitions, reporting practices, dashboards, performance insights, and transparency needed to inform leadership decision-making and improvement prioritization.
• Leads continuous quality improvement and process redesign initiatives, using data analysis, audits, and stakeholder feedback to drive measurable improvements in service consistency, efficiency, and outcomes.
• Partners closely with teams to ensure audit findings, quality gaps, and new standards are translated into effective training, tools, and capability building supports. Builds and leads a high-performing Quality Performance Excellence team, defining functional lanes (QA, compliance monitoring, quality improvement, associate performance), ensuring adequate capacity, and establishing clear operating rhythms for execution, reporting, and accountability.
• Maintains awareness of emerging best practices and evolving standards relevant to autism services quality, compliance, and performance improvement, applying insights to strengthen internal systems.
• Performs other duties as assigned in support of Autism Services quality, compliance, performance consistency, and organizational effectiveness.

EDUCATION:

• Master's degree or higher is required from an accredited college or university in behavior analysis, psychology, speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, healthcare administration, public health, organizational leadership, or a related field.
• Active clinical licensure or certification required, such as Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA/BCBA-D),Licensed Psychologist, Licensed Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP), Licensed Occupational Therapist (OT), or other comparable clinical licenses appropriate to autism or behavioral health services.
• Professional certifications related to quality, compliance, or performance improvement strongly preferred, such as healthcare quality or patient safety certifications (e.g., CPHQ or equivalent), process improvement or continuous improvement certifications (e.g., Lean, Six Sigma, or similar), and Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) or performance improvement certifications.
• Equivalent combinations of advanced education, clinical licensure, certifications, and progressive leadership experience may be considered.

EXPERIENCE:

• Minimum of fifteen (15) years of progressive experience in healthcare, behavioral health, human services, or a related field, with demonstrated responsibility for quality, compliance, performance improvement, or clinical operations.
• At least seven (7) years of leadership experience in roles with increasing scope and complexity, including responsibility for setting standards, leading teams, and driving system-level improvement initiatives.
• Demonstrated experience leading quality assurance and compliance functions, including oversight of audits, monitoring programs, payor and regulatory requirements, and remediation of identified gaps across multi-site or distributed service environments.
• Proven experience designing and implementing performance and quality improvement systems, translating requirements, data, and findings into measurable improvements in service quality and operational effectiveness.
• Experience partnering with clinical leadership and service teams to define realistic and meaningful performance expectations, assess adherence in practice, and strengthen consistency and accountability in service delivery.
• Demonstrated success leading cross-functional initiatives involving clinical services, operations, training, risk management, and other stakeholders to improve performance and mitigate risk.
• Experience building, leading, and scaling teams, including managing senior leaders or subject-matter experts and establishing clear roles, operating rhythms, and accountability structures.
• Experience working within highly regulated environments, maintaining awareness of evolving standards, contractual obligations, and best practices, and ensuring organizational readiness and sustained compliance.

EXPECTED NUMBER OF DIRECT REPORTS: Up to 8; expected to include managing associates.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ABILITIES:

• Demonstrated ability to establish, govern, and sustain quality and compliance standards within complex, highly regulated healthcare or human services environments.
• Strong knowledge of clinical quality assurance, regulatory compliance, and performance monitoring practices, including payor, contractual, and accreditation requirements applicable to autism or behavioral health services.
• Demonstrated ability to translate requirements, standards, and audit findings into clear expectations, operational processes, and measurable performance outcomes.
• Proven ability to analyze performance and quality data, identify trends, risks, and root causes, and use insights to inform corrective action, continuous improvement, and prevention strategies.
• Strong capability to partner effectively with Clinical Services, Operations, Network Provider teams, and Enterprise Risk Management, balancing accountability with collaboration to drive consistent adoption of standards.
• Demonstrated leadership and change management skills, including the ability to guide teams and leaders through performance improvement efforts while maintaining trust, clarity, and forward momentum.
• Strong organizational, project management, and prioritization skills, with the ability to manage multiple initiatives, competing requirements, and time-sensitive compliance obligations.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to present complex quality and compliance information clearly to senior leaders, clinical teams, and external stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to build, lead, and develop high performing teams, establishing clear expectations, accountability, and professional standards.
• Strong analytical, problem solving, and judgment capabilities, with the ability to make informed decisions in ambiguous or high risk situations.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams) and comfort working with data systems, dashboards, and reporting tools to support quality and performance monitoring.
• Strong interest and commitment to working in multi-cultural settings.
• Able to obtain and maintain a criminal record/fingerprint clearance from the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation per Easterseals Southern California and/or program requirements.
• Ability to travel throughout Southern California with reliable transportation, maintain driving record in compliance with Transportation Safety Standards; must have and maintain proper auto insurance and vehicle registration.
• Ability to pass post-offer medical examination.
• Must pass all drug testing required by ESSC.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS IN ACCORDANCE WITH ADA:

• Carrying/Lifting:

Occasional / 0-10 lbs.

• Standing:

Occasional / Up to 3 hours per day.

• Sitting:

Constant / Up to 8 hours per day.

• Walking:

Occasional / Up to 3 hours per day

• Travel:

Up to 50 % of time.

• Repetitive Motion/Activity:

Keyboard activity, telephone use, writing.

• Visual Acuity:

Ability to view computer monitor and read newsprint.

• Environmental Exposure:

Regular duties do or do not involve exposure to blood, body fluids, or tissues, but employment may require performing unplanned tasks that do involve such exposure.