Vice President- Residential Programs

Join our team today! At Mercy Home for Boys & Girls, we are dedicated to empowering Youth, fostering hope, and creating brighter futures. Our mission is to be advocates, educators, coaches, and role models for the Youth we serve. We strongly believe that every young individual deserves a chance to thrive and reach their full potential.

As one of the Top 100 Places to Work in Chicago according to the Chicago Tribune for the past thirteen consecutive years, Mercy Home prides itself on prioritizing the growth and well-being of our team. We provide comprehensive training as well as ongoing professional development opportunities throughout your time here.

If you're passionate, driven, and dedicated to making the world a better place, then we want you on our team. The committed coworkers at Mercy Home provide healing, guidance, and opportunity to young men and women in need.

How You’ll Make an Impact:

As Vice President of Residential Programs, you will provide visionary leadership and strategic direction to ensure the highest quality of care and support for youth in Mercy Home’s programs. You will oversee the safety, development, and goal achievement of all residential clients, ensuring programs are trauma-informed, client-centered, and aligned with best practices in child welfare.

In this executive role, you will serve as a key member of the Mission Leadership Team (MLT), collaborating cross-functionally to drive organizational effectiveness and uphold the agency’s mission. Your leadership will foster a culture of accountability, compassion, and continuous improvement while advancing integrated services that empower youth to heal, grow, and thrive.

What we need from you:

• Master’s degree in psychology, social work, or counseling.
• LCSW or LCPC license preferred. 
• Clinical experience in social services or a child welfare agency.
• Extensive experience in providing therapeutic care to adolescents and young adults in culturally diverse residential, hospital-based or other treatment programs, supporting their emotional and behavioral well-being. 
• Ability to manage and coordinate staff in addressing complex clinical issues, assessment, treatment, and crisis management.
• Work history of increasingly more managerial experience culminating in at least 5 years of senior level leadership and administrative experience.
• Ability to manage and supervise people, inspire teamwork and productivity.
• Experience leading a management team, supervising and developing direct reports, inspiring collaboration and focusing on results.
• Experience representing an agency to external constituents including Child Welfare and Human Services organizations, funders and governmental bodies.
• Proven decision making and problem-solving skills.
• Proven ability with strategic planning and execution.
• Ability to develop and manage a multi-level budget.
• Ability to work both independently and as an active team leader.
• Be open and respectful of cultural and socioeconomic characteristics of clients and coworkers and is willing and competent to work with a diverse client population.
• Ability to maintain professional demeanor while exercising judgment and discretion in work.
• Excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills with the ability to read and interpret documents such as professional journals and reports.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, as well as the ability to become proficient in other software programs.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality.
• Possess a valid Illinois driver’s license and a clear driving record in order to obtain and retain driving approval through the Department of Children and Family Services.
• Ability to drive a van.
• Regular and predictable attendance with the ability to be flexible in schedule as needed. Ability to work on campus 5 days a week. Ideally able to work 1-2 evenings until at least 7pm.
• Availability to be on-call 24 hours a day/7 days a week.
• Commitment to the mission, values, goals and treatment philosophy of the Agency.

In this Role, you will:

• Provide overall leadership, administration, and management of Admissions and Residential Programs.
• Supervise the Residential Programs Senior Leadership team in their respective duties to ensure quality in the process and delivery of program services.
• Enhance the skills and competence of Residential Program coworkers by fostering collaboration, providing support, and coaching them in team development.
• Lead others with optimism, care, calmness, and a sense of humor, while maintaining a consistent approach. This applies to direct reports as well as various departmental programs that require collaboration, such as Human Resources, Finance, IT, etc.
• Ensure the provision of quality service to youth and families through clear and decisive communication and by providing tools, internal and external resources, for high-quality treatment.
• Learn, align with, and execute the Mercy Model of Care and all treatment philosophies, modalities and practices of the Agency.
• Support and implement the policy and philosophy of the treatment programing.
• Utilize data to make informed decisions and evaluate program effectiveness.
• Develop and monitor expenditures for Admissions and Residential Program budgets.
• Oversee and manage the implementation of policies and procedures within the programs and across department.
• Monitor and ensure compliance with regulatory bodies ie: Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and the Council on Accreditation, with a particular focus on program content.
• Maintain and communicate the vision of Agency-provided services so that all facets of the Residential Programs Department work towards the same goals and objectives.
• Establish strategic objectives for Admissions and Residential Programs to promote growth and efficient programming.
• Represent Mercy Home to external constituents including Child Welfare and Human Services organizations, funders, governmental bodies and boards.
• Timely completion of all departmental paperwork, data, and record keeping.
• Ensure that the performance management process is embraced and implemented and that policies and procedures are followed, in collaboration with Human Resources.
• Employ all aspects of de-escalation and behavior management techniques as outlined in CPI protocol.

More Information / Schedule Details/ Compensation & Benefits

This job is a full-time position working fully on-site. The ideal candidate will be able to work until 7pm up to twice per week. Must have flexibility in schedule and the ability to be on call (via phone/ text) 24/7.

The pay range is between $160,000-$180,000 annually.

Office location: West Loop campus- 1140 W. Jackson Blvd Chicago, IL 60607.

For information on benefits please follow this link- https://www.mercyhome.org/working-mercy-home-2/benefits/

Why You Will Love Working Here:

At Mercy Home, our commitment to providing the best care for the Youth we serve extends to ensuring our team receives top-of-the-line training and professional development.

We are a Top Workplace as awarded by the Chicago Tribune.

Mercy Home for Boys & Girls is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to Inclusion and Diversity

Visit us at www.mercyhome.org/jobs