Chief Quality Officer

Spurwink’s Chief Quality Officer (CQO) provides executive leadership and strategic oversight for the agency’s quality management, continuous quality improvement (CQI), compliance, accreditation, and outcomes functions.  The CQO ensures the delivery of high-quality, safe, ethical, and effective behavioral health services that are person-centered, recovery-oriented, and grounded in unconditional positive regard for the individuals and communities served, as well as employees of the agency.

The CQO champions a culture of excellence, commitment, and belonging, ensuring that quality systems support not only regulatory compliance and performance outcomes, but also dignity, inclusion, engagement, and meaningful recovery.  As a member of the executive leadership team, the CQO partners across the organization to embed values-driven practices into daily operations, client care, and organizational decision-making.

DUTIES: 

1. Quality, Compliance, and Continuous Improvement Leadership:

• Provide executive leadership and strategic direction for the agency’s continuous quality improvement (CQI), compliance, accreditation, and outcomes management functions, ensuring alignment with organizational mission and values.
• Provide administrative supervision to CQI team members, and foster a work environment characterized by teamwork, customer service and accountability.
• Promote a culture of excellence and commitment by setting clear quality expectations while supporting learning, innovation, and continuous improvement across all programs and services/
• Effectively manage and direct the work of the CQI Department including appropriate staff recruitment and retention.  Maintain the operation of the Department consistent with the annual budget goals.

2. Electronic Health Records and Clinical Oversight: 

• Provide clinical oversight of the electronic health record (EHR) in collaboration with clinical, finance, and information technology teams to ensure systems support person‑centered, recovery‑oriented care, accurate documentation, and meaningful outcomes measurement.
• Ensure that EHR workflows and documentation standards reflect respect for client voice, strengths, goals, and lived experience.

• Balance regulatory, clinical, and operational needs to support quality care delivery without creating unnecessary administrative burden.

3. Regulatory Compliance and Ethical Practice: 

• Ensure agency compliance with MaineCare rules, licensing requirements, privacy laws, and all other applicable local, state, and federal statutes governing behavioral health services.  Maintain all the agency’s licenses in good standing.
• Integrate compliance activities in a manner that reflects unconditional positive regard for clients and staff, emphasizing ethical practice, fairness, and transparency.
• Monitor regulatory changes and lead thoughtful, values‑aligned implementation that supports both compliance and quality care.  Manage the agency’s response to proposed rules.
• Maintain positive working relationships with stakeholders within state government.
• Manage MaineCare audits, licensing actions, and administrative actions and hearings related to clients and services provided by the agency.
• Ensure that client records are of good quality and are maintained and release in compliance with HIPAA and other privacy statutes.

4. Accreditation and Organizational Excellence: 

• Oversee and ensure the maintenance of COA accreditation, embedding accreditation standards into everyday practice as tools for excellence, learning, and accountability rather than episodic compliance tasks.
• Lead organizational readiness for reviews and audits in a way that reinforces staff engagement, shared responsibility, and continuous improvement.
• Oversee corrective action and quality improvement plans that are strengths‑based, solution‑focused, and supportive of recovery‑oriented systems of care.

5. Policies, Procedures, and Standards of Care: 

• Serve as the point person for the drafting, collating, and submission of the agency’s written comments to the State and Federal policy and/or regulatory proposals.
• Provide consultation and executive oversight for the development, review, and implementation of policies and procedures related to client services, ensuring alignment with regulatory requirements, accreditation standards, and evidence‑based practice.
• Ensure policies reflect person‑centered, recovery‑focused, and trauma‑informed principles, promoting safety, dignity, access, and equity.
• Collaborate with clinical and operational leaders to ensure policies are practical, clearly communicated, and consistently applied.

• Ensure that policies and procedures are accessible to the agency’s staff.

QUALIFICATIONS: 

Experience and Education Required: The Chief Quality Officer must have the education, experience and perspective to lead quality and compliance efforts in a large, respectable behavioral health agency.  This may mean licensure as a mental health professional (LCSW, LCPC, Psychologist, etc.) or significant equivalent experience.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Necessary: The Chief Quality Officer must have served as a program or department administrator for a minimum of five years.  The Chief Quality Officer must be knowledgeable about electronic health records, privacy laws, the licensing rules and MaineCare rules related to Spurwink’s services, and quality improvement tools and strategies.  The CQO must have demonstrated capacity to generate, analyze, and report on data.  The CQO must have a demonstrated capacity to work with teams across programs, departments, professions within the agency and with stakeholders outside of the agency.

Required Skills: The Chief Quality Officer must be organized, approachable, detail-oriented, collaborative, able to meet deadlines in a timely manner and must be proficient in the use of the agency’s technology.  The CQO must have demonstrated excellence in verbal and written communication, including the ability to be clear and concise.

Competitive Benefits Package:

• Health/Dental/Vision /Pet Insurance
• Employer Paid Life Insurance and Short/Long Term Disability
• Retirement Account with Matching Contribution (after one year of service)
• Scholarships to ME Community Colleges
• Tuition Reimbursement 
• 25% Tuition Reimbursement for UNE Master of Social Work Program
• Eligible employer for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program
• Quality Supervision and Paid Training Opportunities
• Career Advancement Opportunities
• Flexibility of Schedules
• Generous Paid Time Off
• Opportunity for Same Day Pay
• Health Plan Enrollees – Access to Several Discounts (Hotels, Electronics, Auto, Groceries, Event Tickets, and More)

Spurwink is an Equal Opportunity Employer.