Senior Director, Social Work, Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital

Discover Vanderbilt University Medical Center:  Located in Nashville, Tennessee, and operating at a global crossroads of teaching, discovery, and patient care, VUMC is a community of individuals who come to work each day with the simple aim of changing the world. It is a place where your expertise will be valued, your knowledge expanded, and your abilities challenged. Vanderbilt Health is committed to an environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and where your uniqueness is sought and celebrated. It is a place where employees know they are part of something that is bigger than themselves, take exceptional pride in their work and never settle for what was good enough yesterday. Vanderbilt’s mission is to advance health and wellness through preeminent programs in patient care, education, and research.

Organization:

VPH Administration

Job Summary:

Vanderbilt Health – Executive Search Team is conducting a national search for a Senior Director, Social Work, Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital.

Accountable to: Vice President, Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital.

The Senior Director of Social Work provides strategic leadership, operational oversight, and clinical direction for all social work services within Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital. This executive leader is responsible for advancing excellence in patient care, care coordination, discharge planning, behavioral health outcomes, regulatory compliance, staff development, and interdisciplinary collaboration. The Senior Director serves as a key member of the hospital leadership team and partners closely with physicians, nursing leadership, case management, quality, and community stakeholders to ensure the delivery of high-quality, evidence-based, patient-centered behavioral health services.

The Senior Director fosters a culture of clinical excellence, innovation, workforce engagement, and continuous improvement while ensuring social work services align with the mission, values, and strategic priorities of Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital (VPH) consists of a number of key areas and services, including the 106-licensed bed inpatient hospital, psychiatric emergency department, neuromodulation services, and select outpatient services. The inpatient hospital includes 6 acute inpatient units treating child, adolescent, general adult, psychotic disorders, mood disorders, addiction, and geriatric psychiatric patients. The psychiatric emergency department is attached to the hospital building and is known as PAS (Psychiatric Assessment Services). Neuromodulation services include ECT (Electroconvulsive Therapy) and TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation). The outpatient services include Partial Hospitalization Programs (PHP) and Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP). VPH also partners closely with other ambulatory outpatient services and across the VUMC system.

VPH achieved Magnet designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center for the fourth time in 2022. VPH is one of only three stand-alone Magnet-designated psychiatric hospitals in the US and the only in the Southeast. VPH is also the only stand-alone psychiatric hospital that has achieved Magnet designation four times.

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Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership

• Develop and execute a comprehensive vision and strategic plan for social work services across Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital.
• Align departmental goals with organizational priorities related to quality, patient experience, employee engagement, financial stewardship, and growth.
• Lead initiatives that improve access to behavioral health services, care transitions, and community partnerships.
• Serve as the social work subject matter expert and advisor to hospital and health system leadership.
• Champion innovation and best practices in psychiatric social work and behavioral health care delivery.

Clinical Operations & Program Management

• Direct social work operations across inpatient psychiatric units, specialty programs, consult services, and other assigned behavioral health settings.
• Ensure consistent implementation of evidence-based social work practice standards and care management processes.
• Oversee psychosocial assessments, crisis intervention services, discharge planning, utilization management support, and community resource coordination.
• Monitor patient throughput and transition-of-care metrics to improve clinical outcomes and operational efficiency.
• Establish performance standards, operational goals, and key performance indicators for the department.

Leadership & Talent Development

• Lead, mentor, and develop managers, supervisors, and social work staff.
• Create a high-performance culture focused on accountability,