Clinical Director, Patient Safety

Headway’s mission is a big one – to build a new mental health care system everyone can access. We’ve built technology that helps people find great therapists with the first software-enabled national network of providers accepting insurance.

1 in 4 people in the US have a treatable mental health condition, but the majority of providers don’t accept insurance, making therapy too expensive for most people. Headway is building a new mental healthcare system that everyone can access by making it easy for therapists to accept insurance and scale their practice.

Headway was founded in 2019. Since then, we’ve grown into a diverse, national network of over 60,000 mental healthcare providers across all 50 states who run their practice on our software and have served over 1 million patients. We’re a Series D company with over $325m in funding from a16z (Andreessen Horowitz), Accel, GV (formerly Google Ventures), Spark Capital, Thrive Capital, Forerunner Ventures and Health Care Service Corporation.

We want your time here to be the most meaningful experience of your career.

Join us, and help change mental healthcare for the better.

We’re seeking a Clinical Director, Patient Safety to join our Clinical Strategy team and play a critical role in building a safer, more reliable care experience for Headway’s patients and providers. In this role, you’ll serve as a subject matter expert on clinical risk and patient safety, providing timely, compassionate, and evidence-informed support to both internal teams and our nationwide behavioral health provider network.

You’ll be responsible for responding to high-risk clinical events, developing scalable safety protocols, and coaching providers through complex clinical situations, always with a focus on ethical, high-quality care. You’ll also collaborate cross-functionally with compliance, legal, operations, and product teams to strengthen Headway’s safety infrastructure and continuously improve the provider and patient experience.

This is an ideal role for a licensed clinician with strong clinical judgment, patient safety expertise, and experience in high-acuity or crisis care—whether from a large health system or a fast-paced startup—who is eager to drive systems-level safety improvements in a mission-driven environment.

You Will

Respond to High-Risk Clinical Events: Act as a trusted responder for complex and urgent patient safety concerns, providing real-time guidance to providers and internal teams to ensure safe and timely resolution.

Develop Patient Safety Protocols and Workflows: Lead the creation, implementation, and refinement of scalable patient safety processes in partnership with Clinical Operations, Legal, and Compliance.

Educate and Support Providers: Coach and train providers on risk safeguards, documentation best practices, and ethical care delivery to strengthen Headway’s provider network and promote clinical confidence.

Strengthen Compliance and Risk Mitigation: Partner with cross-functional teams to ensure adherence to licensing, regulatory, and ethical standards across the provider network.

Drive Continuous Quality Improvement: Analyze safety trends and root causes, and translate findings into system-level improvements that enhance quality, safety, and provider/patient experience.

How Success Will Be Measured

Timely and Effective Response: Measured by response time, appropriateness of escalation, and successful resolution of high-risk events.

Provider Engagement: Increased provider confidence and satisfaction in managing safety issues, reflected in training participation and provider feedback.

Process Adoption: Consistent implementation and use of safety protocols across internal teams and provider networks.

Compliance Outcomes: Reduced compliance exceptions and strong performance on regulatory or audit reviews.

Quality Improvements: Demonstrable reductions in repeat safety incidents, improved documentation accuracy, and measurable impact on patient safety indicators.

You’d Be A Great Fit If You Have

You are an independently licensed psychologist (PhD, or PsyD) with 5+ years of post-graduate experience in both clinical practice and fast-paced business environments

Demonstrated expertise in managing clinical risk or patient safety concerns, including crisis intervention or adverse event response

Exceptional communication skills with the ability to document clearly, educate providers, and advise cross-functional teams

Strong organizational and systems-thinking skills, with the ability to manage complex workflows and improve processes

Comfort with Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Drive) and adaptability with new technology

A proactive, solution-oriented mindset and the ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment

Deep commitment to ethical, patient-centered care and continuous quality improvement

Preferred But Not Required

2+ years of experience at a healthtech, digital health, or behavioral health startup

Experience Supporting Or Coaching Other Clinicians Through Complex Or High-risk Cases

Background in managed care, payer relations, or large network/provider support

Compensation And Benefits

The expected base pay range for this position is

$174,760 - $257,000

, based on a variety of factors including qualifications, experience, and geographic location.

We are committed to offering a comprehensive and competitive total rewards package, including robust health and wellness benefits, retirement savings, and meaningful ownership opportunities through equity. Compensation decisions are made holistically, ensuring fairness and alignment with market benchmarks while recognizing individual contributions and potential.

Benefits Offered Include

Equity Compensation

Medical, Dental, and Vision coverage

HSA / FSA

401K

Work-from-Home Stipend

Therapy Reimbursement

16-week parental leave for eligible employees

Carrot Fertility annual reimbursement and membership

13 paid holidays each year as well as a Holiday Break during the week between December 25th and December 31st

Flexible PTO

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Training and professional development

We believe a team's strength is in its people, and we cannot achieve this mission without a team that reflects the diversity of this problem – across race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, age, national origin, religion, family status, disability, military status, and experience.

Headway is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, Headway will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided with reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please inform the recruiter when they contact you to schedule your interview.

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