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Associate Director, Strategic Partnerships

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Weekly outpatient therapy isn't always enough, and a trip to the ER isn't the only answer. Patients and their families rely on Compass Health Center when in crisis – every day, we help people overcome depression, anxiety, suicidality, obsessions/compulsions, trauma, chronic pain, and other obstacles in order for our patients to live freely.

About This Role 

Compass Health Center is the leading provider of Partial Hospitalization Programs (PHP) and Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP) in Illinois, delivering immediate access to evidence-based mental health care for children, adolescents, young adults, and adults. With flagship operations in Chicago and expanding programs across Maryland, Wisconsin, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Minnesota, Compass bridges the gap between outpatient and inpatient care—diverting patients from emergency departments and inpatient hospitalization while achieving measurable clinical outcomes.

As our home and most mature market, Chicago represents a critical growth and innovation hub for Compass. We are continuing to evolve our business development function into a high-performing Strategic Partnerships engine—one that is accountable, data-driven, deeply integrated with admissions, and centered on both the patient and referrer experience.

The Associate Director of Strategic Partnerships – Chicago is a clinically informed, relationship-driven business development professional responsible for driving referral growth, strengthening high-impact partnerships, and expanding Compass’s market leadership across the Chicago and greater Chicagoland area.

This role blends clinical fluency, consultative sales, and sophisticated account management in one of the most competitive behavioral health markets in the country. This is not a traditional community outreach role—it is a performance-based partnership sales position with clear expectations tied to referral volume, admissions growth, partner satisfaction, and long-term referral behavior.

Location: Hybrid/Chicago, IL

What You'll Do:  

Business Development & Account Management (Chicago Market)

  • Own and grow a portfolio of High-Value Target (HVT) accounts across Chicagoland, including:
    • Major hospital systems and emergency departments
    • Academic medical centers and residency programs
    • Large outpatient and group practices
    • School districts, therapeutic day schools, and universities
    • Employer, EAP, and payer-aligned partners
  • Develop and execute Chicago-specific account plans, informed by:
    • Neighborhood- and system-level referral trends
    • Capacity constraints and access gaps
    • Competitive dynamics unique to the Chicago market
  • Build trusted relationships with psychiatrists, therapists, case managers, discharge planners, school counselors, PCPs, and ER staff
  • Translate relationships into measurable qualified referrals, admissions, and pipeline growth
  • Partner closely with Admissions to ensure:
    • Warm handoffs
    • Clear admission criteria alignment
    • Rapid resolution of referral friction and access barriers

Referral & Market Intelligence

  • Track referral behavior, volume, and feedback using HubSpot CRM and Sigmund Aura
  • Monitor Chicago-area competitive dynamics across:
    • PHP/IOP providers
    • Hospital-affiliated programs
    • Virtual and hybrid care competitors
  • Identify trends, gaps, and referral opportunities and translate insights into actionable growth strategies
  • Serve as the primary market intelligence lead for Chicagoland, bringing real-time insights on:
    • Patient acuity and demand
    • Payer-related access issues
    • Program and specialty needs

Clinically Informed Messaging

  • Maintain a strong working knowledge of:
    • Compass treatment models (PHP, IOP, TMS, specialty programming, age-specific tracks)
    • Admission criteria and payer considerations
    • Clinical outcomes and differentiators
  • Confidently represent Compass’s value proposition to:
    • Hospital leadership
    • Senior clinicians
    • Executive and operational stakeholders
  • Leverage clinical background to:
    • Build credibility in a clinically sophisticated market
    • Align referring providers with Compass clinicians
    • Ensure referrals are appropriate, timely, and well-matched to programs

Growth Campaigns & Strategic Initiatives

  • Execute Chicago-focused growth campaigns tied to:
    • New program launches and capacity expansion
    • Seasonal surges (e.g., back-to-school, winter acuity, post-holiday demand)
    • Payer alignment and access initiatives
  • Collaborate with Marketing on:
    • Co-branded campaigns and provider education
    • CE events, lunch-and-learns, and referral webinars
    • Multi-channel outreach across Chicagoland
  • Support strategic initiatives such as:
    • Concierge referral pathways
    • Expedited admissions workflows
    • CompassForward discharge and step-down strategies

External Visibility & Community Presence

  • Represent Compass at key Chicago-area events, including:
    • Behavioral health coalitions and professional associations
    • Hospital system forums and provider roundtables
    • School and university mental health networks
  • Connect Compass clinical leaders with opportunities for:
    • Speaking engagements
    • Panel discussions
    • Educational presentations
  • Manage a strategic calendar of community, hospital, and partner engagements aligned with growth goals

Who You Are:    

  • Clinical license or license-eligible (LCSW, LCPC, LMFT, PsyD, PhD, or equivalent) preferred
  • 2+ years of clinical experience in mental health; PHP/IOP or higher levels of care strongly preferred
  • Strong business development, account management, or healthcare partnership experience
  • Proven ability to build trust with senior clinical and executive stakeholders
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills
  • Data-literate and tech-savvy; experience with CRM and performance dashboards preferred
  • Entrepreneurial, accountable, and growth-oriented mindset

Success In This Role Means: 

  • Driving consistent referral and admissions growth in Compass’s most competitive and strategic market
  • Building durable, high-trust partnerships with Chicago’s leading healthcare and referral organizations
  • Acting as a strategic connector between referrers, admissions, and clinical teams
  • Strengthening Compass’s position as the provider of choice for PHP/IOP care in Chicagoland

We are committed to a fair and equitable work environment. The expected compensation range for this role is below. This range includes multiple career path levels across the organization; where you fall in the range is dependent upon a number of factors including, but not limited to, your years of experience, type of experience, location, and education/certifications. Compass reserves the right to update these ranges.

This role may also be eligible for an annual bonus which is dependent upon individual and company performance.

Compensation

$90,000 - $110,000 USD

We know job descriptions can be intimidating, so if this sounds like an opportunity for you, please don't hesitate to apply! 

Who We Are 

Compass Health Center is a recognized leader in crisis-level mental health, bringing passion, connection, and patient-centered care to the Partial Hospitalization and Intensive Outpatient space (PHP/IOP). Based in Chicagoland, we serve hundreds of patients every day, ranging from ages 5 through adulthood, in our onsite facilities or through our flourishing virtual programming. Compass fills a critical gap between outpatient and inpatient care through an intermediate level of Behavioral Healthcare.  

A few more things we want you to know: our values are super important to us, and hopefully will be to you, too. Cultural humility, teamwork, continuous improvement, connection, patient centered care, passion, innovation, and agility should be your power sources. Joining Compass is an opportunity to feel fulfilled through a joint mission towards healing our communities. 

Benefits & Perks 

We know that you will be dedicated to your purpose here. We look at that investment as a two-way street. We are proud to offer plenty of space for growth, and opportunities to pursue continuous development within our organization. 

For eligible positions, our other benefits include: comprehensive medical/dental/vision plans, 401k program with company matching, generous PTO (including competitive parental leave after 1 year of employment), and continuous training through CEU seminars and volunteering opportunities.  

What’s Next? 

Compass is committed to cultivating diverse and dynamic teams who exude passion for their craft, so whether or not you check all the boxes, we encourage you to apply – we’d be grateful to hear from you! 

 

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