Director, Addiction Services - Full Time - Behavioral Health

Overview

Our team members are the heart of what makes us better. At Hackensack Meridian Health we help our patients live better, healthier lives — and we help one another to succeed. With a culture rooted in connection and collaboration, our employees are team members. Here, competitive benefits are just the beginning. It’s also about how we support one another and how we show up for our community. Together, we keep getting better - advancing our mission to transform healthcare and serve as a leader of positive change.

The Director, Addiction Services will provide strategic oversight and leadership to our comprehensive continuum of care for individuals with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD), co-occurring Substance Use Disorders (SUD), and mental health conditions (MH). The Director will be responsible for the expansion of addiction services within the network and will oversee the activities outlined in our opioid settlement proposal. This role is pivotal in advancing our mission to treat substance use as a health condition, increase equitable access to services, and reduce drug-related fatalities in New Jersey.

The Director will provide oversight to behavioral health services across the network, including in our emergency departments, on medical floors, and within our existing outpatient and detox residential addiction treatment programs. This leader will be instrumental in creating a more robust, accessible, and integrated system of care that fosters recovery and well-being for all patients.

*This is a three-year grant-funded position.

Responsibilities

A day in the life of a Director of Addiction Services at Hackensack Meridian Health includes:

• Directs the strategic expansion of addiction treatment services across New Jersey, focusing on withdrawal management, residentil treatment, and Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) for individuals with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) and co-occurring SUD/MH conditions.
• Provides operational oversight and business development support to network detox and residential programs, and leads the expansion of the EmPATH unit to ensure rapid assessment, stabilization, and buprenorphine induction for patients in opioid crisis.
• Drives the expansion of MOUD/MAT prescribing capacity (including buprenorphine and naltrexone) among addiction psychiatrists and physicians across emergency departments, primary care offices, and community settings.
• Ensures network-wide delivery of evidence-based psychotherapies, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Motivational Interviewing (MI), Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET), Contingency Management (CM), and Trauma-Informed Care.
• Oversees the integrated assessment and treatment of co-occurring mental health conditions by combining MOUD/MAT, psychotropic medications, and behavioral therapy.
• Provides clinical leadership to Peer Recovery Specialists and on-call multidisciplinary teams to deliver rapid overdose interventions and robust 30-90 day post-discharge case management aimed at addressing social drivers of health and minimizing relapse risk.
• Administers essential wraparound services and grant funding, specifically overseeing transportation and financial access to housing for individuals with OUD.
• Facilitates care coordination and referrals to appropriate providers to address the complex physical health needs of patients with OUD, including infectious disease, cardiology, and obstetrics/gynecology specialists.
• Partners with community coalitions and organizations (such as the Support Team for Addiction Recovery [STAR] and Cover Now) to increase their capacity and broaden remote access by expanding addiction telehealth services and call center support.
• Directs the targeted distribution of naloxone to at-risk patients upon hospital discharge and oversees overdose-reversal education initiatives for families, schools, and the general public.
• Develops and implements comprehensive OUD and MOUD education programs for HMH team members and healthcare professionals, including primary care physicians, maternal health providers, and dentists.
• Monitors and formally reports on strictly defined grant Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), including overall patients served, MOUD initiations, peer support engagements, housing placements, transports, naloxone dissemination, and reductions in withdrawal management readmission rates.
• Other duties and/or projects as assigned.
• Adheres to HMH Organizational competencies and standards of behavior.

Qualifications

Education, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required:

• Master's degree in Public Health or other related fields.
• Minimum of 10 or more years of experience in Addiction Services positions.
• Experience leading programs and/or grant-funded initiatives
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Proficient computer skills that include but are not limited to Google Suite and/or Microsoft Office platforms.

If you feel the above description speaks directly to your strengths and capabilities, then please apply today!

Starting Minimum Rate

Minimum rate of $174,491.20 Annually

Job Posting Disclosure

HMH is committed to pay equity and transparency for our team members. The posted rate of pay in this job posting is a reasonable good faith estimate of the minimum base pay for this role at the time of posting in accordance with the New Jersey Pay Transparency Act and does not reflect the full value of our market-competitive total rewards package. The starting rate of pay is provided for informational purposes only and is not a guarantee of a specific offer. Posted hourly rates may be stated as an annual salary in the offer and posted annual salaries may be stated as an hourly rate in the offer, depending on the level and nature of the job duties and credentials of the candidate. The base compensation determined at the time of the offer may be different than the posted rate of pay based on a number of non-discriminatory factors, including but not limited to: Labor Market Data: Compensation is benchmarked against market data to ensure competitiveness. Experience: Years of relevant work experience. Education and Certifications: Level of education attained, including specialized certifications, credentials, completed apprenticeship programs or advanced training. Skills: Demonstrated proficiency in relevant skills and competencies. Geographic Location: Cost of living and market rates for the specific location. Internal Equity: Compensation is determined in a manner consistent with compensation ranges for similar roles within the organization. Budget and Grant Funding: Departmental budgets and any grant funding associated with the job position may impact the pay that can be offered. Some jobs may also be eligible for performance-based incentives, bonuses, or commissions not reflected in the starting rate. Certain positions may also be eligible for shift differentials for work performed on evening, night, or weekend shifts. In addition to our compensation for full-time and part-time (20+ hours/week) job positions, HMH offers a comprehensive benefits package, including health, dental, vision, paid leave, tuition reimbursement, and retirement benefits.