Description

Director of Behavioral Services, BCBA
Columbia Cove is building a higher standard of 24 hour residential care for individuals with developmental disabilities and complex behavioral support needs. We are not looking for someone who simply wants a clinical title. We are looking for a builder, a leader, and a behavior professional who wants to help shape the future of behavioral services inside a growing residential agency.

This role is for a BCBA who believes that excellent care requires structure, discipline, compassion, accountability, and strong systems. The Director of Behavioral Services will help create the clinical foundation for how Columbia Cove supports individuals with complex behavioral needs, trains staff, responds to risk, improves outcomes, and advocates professionally for the people we serve.

Our values are Extreme Ownership, Professional Advocacy, and Unwavering Excellence. We expect this leader to model those values every day.

The Mission
The mission of this role is to build behavioral systems that help residents live safer, more stable, more independent, and more dignified lives.

You will work closely with leadership, direct support staff, families, guardians, case managers, and other professionals to ensure behavioral supports are practical, person centered, compliant, and consistently implemented in the home.

This is not a desk only role. This is a leadership role for someone who can assess real situations, coach real staff, solve real problems, and build systems that last.

What You Will Own
Behavioral Services Leadership
Lead the development and implementation of behavioral support systems across Columbia Cove programs.

Provide clinical direction for residents with complex behavioral needs.

Help establish Columbia Cove as a trusted provider for individuals who require strong behavioral support.

Partner with agency leadership to strengthen service quality, safety, documentation, staff competency, and resident outcomes.

Behavior Support Planning
Develop, review, and update behavior support strategies based on resident needs, assessments, incident trends, and team input.

Ensure behavior plans are clear, practical, measurable, and usable by direct support staff.

Translate clinical concepts into simple, effective staff instructions that can be implemented consistently in the home.

Monitor whether behavior strategies are working and revise supports when outcomes are not improving.

Staff Training and Coaching
Train direct support staff, supervisors, and managers on behavior support strategies, de escalation, documentation, prevention, reinforcement, and crisis response.

Observe staff in the home and provide direct coaching.

Help staff understand the reason behind behavioral supports, not just the task they are being asked to complete.

Build staff confidence and competence when supporting individuals with challenging behaviors.

Quality Improvement and Data
Review incident reports, behavior documentation, progress notes, and other data to identify patterns and risks.

Use data to recommend changes in support strategies, staffing approaches, environmental structure, and training needs.

Help create simple systems for tracking behavioral progress and staff implementation.

Provide leadership with clear updates on behavioral trends, risks, progress, and needed action.

Professional Advocacy
Participate in meetings with case managers, guardians, families, clinical providers, and agency partners.

Advocate for resident needs with professionalism, accuracy, and respect.

Help ensure services are aligned with each resident’s goals, rights, support needs, and safety.

Represent Columbia Cove with clarity, confidence, and high standards.

Program Growth
Help build the behavioral services department as Columbia Cove grows.

Support the development of future clinical roles, systems, training materials, and quality standards.

Contribute to the agency’s ability to serve individuals with higher behavioral support needs safely and effectively.

This position has room to grow as the organization grows.

Who We Are Looking For
We are looking for someone who takes ownership without needing to be chased.

Someone who can lead calmly under pressure.

Someone who understands that behavior services must work in real homes with real staff, not only on paper.

Someone who can hold high standards while still treating people with dignity.

Someone who wants to build something meaningful.

Minimum Qualifications
Current BCBA certification required.

Must meet all applicable state licensing and practice requirements.

Experience supporting individuals with developmental disabilities, autism, mental health needs, or complex behavioral challenges preferred.

Experience creating and implementing behavior support plans preferred.

Strong ability to train, coach, and lead direct support professionals.

Strong written documentation skills.

Ability to communicate professionally with staff, families, guardians, case managers, and external partners.

Ability to analyze behavior data, incident trends, and implementation concerns.

Success in This Role Looks Like
Residents are supported with clear, practical, person centered behavioral strategies.

Staff understand what to do, why it matters, and how to respond consistently.

Behavior plans are implemented in the home, not just stored in a file.

Incident trends are reviewed and addressed before they become larger problems.

Families, guardians, and case managers experience Columbia Cove as professional, prepared, and accountable.

The behavioral services department becomes a strength of the agency.

Why This Role Matters
The people we support deserve more than basic supervision. They deserve structure, advocacy, growth, and a team that refuses to lower the standard.

This role will directly shape the quality of care residents receive and the future of Columbia Cove’s behavioral support model.

If you are a BCBA who wants responsibility, growth, mission, and the opportunity to build a behavioral services department inside a growing residential agency, we want to hear from you.

Requirements

Current BCBA certification required.

Experience developing, implementing, and monitoring behavior support plans preferred.

Must be comfortable reviewing incident reports, behavior data, staff documentation, and resident support plans.

Must be able to participate in team meetings with leadership, staff, families, guardians, case managers, and outside professionals.

This is a hybrid role, meaning some work may be completed remotely, including documentation, data review, plan development, virtual meetings, and administrative follow up. However, this position also requires regular in person presence at Columbia Cove homes for staff training, observation, coaching, resident support, team meetings, and program development. This is not a fully remote position.

Must be able to travel locally to residential program sites as needed.

Must be able to work independently, take ownership of assigned responsibilities, and communicate clearly with leadership.

Must align with Columbia Cove’s values of Extreme Ownership, Professional Advocacy, and Unwavering Excellence.