Director, Texas Child Mental Health Programs Full-time

Director, Texas Child Mental Health Programs

The University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School is advancing a bold vision for improving the mental health and well-being of children, adolescents, and families across Texas. Through innovative partnerships spanning academic medicine, healthcare systems, schools, state agencies, and communities, Dell Med is helping transform how behavioral health services are accessed, delivered, and strengthened across the state.

At the center of this work is a portfolio of major statewide initiatives supported by the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium (TCMHCC), created by the Texas Legislature to leverage the expertise and capacity of Texas health-related institutions to address critical mental health needs. Dell Medical School serves as one of the Consortium's designated health-related institutions.

Dell Medical School is seeking a Director, Texas Child Mental Health Programs to provide strategic, operational, and programmatic leadership for this growing portfolio of child and adolescent behavioral health initiatives.

Reporting to the Senior Director of Operations and Strategy, the Director will oversee complex clinical, educational, research, and workforce development programs; lead a multidisciplinary team; manage significant financial and operational resources; and build partnerships that expand access to high-quality behavioral health services throughout Texas.

This is an opportunity for an experienced leader to help shape programs that directly affect children, families, clinicians, educators, healthcare organizations, and communities across the state.

At Dell Medical School, our work extends beyond traditional academic medicine. We are committed to redesigning healthcare around better outcomes, greater access, stronger communities, and new models for addressing some of the most pressing health challenges facing Texas.

The Texas Child Mental Health Programs represent that mission in action.

The portfolio includes:

• Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine (TCHATT), providing school-based behavioral telehealth services to children and adolescents.
• The Child Psychiatry Access Network (CPAN), providing telehealth-based consultation and training to primary care providers.
• Community Psychiatry Workforce Expansion (CPWE), strengthening the behavioral health workforce through academic psychiatric leadership and resident rotations in community mental health settings.
• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship initiatives designed to expand fellowship positions and training programs.
• Statewide research networks focused on improving the delivery of child and adolescent mental health services.

As Director, you will have the opportunity to lead across this interconnected portfolio while helping Dell Med expand innovative models of care, strengthen the behavioral health workforce, advance research and evaluation, and improve access for underserved populations across Texas.

What You'll Do

• Provide strategic and operational leadership for a portfolio of complex child and adolescent behavioral health programs, guiding initiatives from planning and development through implementation, evaluation, expansion, and continuous improvement.
• Establish program priorities aligned with Dell Medical School's mission, institutional requirements, funding commitments, and statewide behavioral health objectives.
• Lead the continued development and expansion of major statewide initiatives, including TCHATT, CPAN, CPWE, fellowship programs, research networks, and related behavioral health efforts.
• Oversee clinical, educational, research, and workforce development portfolios while ensuring programs have the human, technical, financial, and operational capacity required to achieve their objectives.
• Lead and develop a multidisciplinary team of operational, administrative, program, and data professionals, creating an environment of accountability, collaboration, professional growth, and continuous improvement.
• Partner with clinical and academic leaders on workforce planning, recruitment, selection, and onboarding to ensure programs have the expertise and resources necessary to meet statewide needs.
• Build and sustain relationships with healthcare systems, educational institutions, government agencies, community organizations, and other partners critical to successful statewide program implementation.
• Represent Dell Medical School and its child mental health programs in cross-institutional, cross-agency, and community forums.
• Provide financial stewardship for a significant program portfolio, including budget planning, resource allocation, contracts, provider effort, purchasing, and compliance with institutional and funding requirements. The role typically oversees an annual operating budget of approximately $5 million to $15 million.
• Oversee communications and stakeholder engagement strategies that strengthen awareness, participation, and visibility across programs.
• Support research, evaluation, and knowledge dissemination by overseeing data collection and analysis and translating findings into reports, presentations, publications, and recommendations for continuous improvement.
• Ensure timely and accurate reporting to funding agencies, institutional leadership, government partners, and other stakeholders.
• Coordinate site visits, audits, and responses to legislative or regulatory inquiries while maintaining compliance with state, federal, consortium, and institutional requirements.

Who You Are

The ideal candidate is a strategic and operational leader who understands that large-scale behavioral health transformation requires more than strong program management. It requires the ability to bring people, resources, institutions, and priorities together around a shared mission.

You are comfortable navigating complexity and leading multiple high-profile initiatives simultaneously. You can move between strategy and execution, understand the importance of financial and regulatory stewardship, and build trusted relationships with stakeholders who may have very different perspectives and priorities.

You are equally invested in people and performance. You know how to build strong teams, develop talent, establish accountability, and create the organizational capacity necessary for programs to grow successfully.

Most importantly, you are motivated by the opportunity to improve access to behavioral healthcare for children, adolescents, and families and understand the potential for academic medicine to create meaningful change at a statewide level.

You bring:

• Strategic agility and the ability to anticipate future needs, assess implications, and position programs for sustainable growth.
• Demonstrated success leading complex programs or initiatives across multiple organizations, disciplines, or stakeholder groups.
• Strong people leadership and experience developing high-performing multidisciplinary teams.
• Exceptional planning and execution skills with the ability to translate broad objectives into actionable plans.
• Strong financial acumen and experience managing significant budgets and allocating resources strategically.
• The ability to build productive relationships across academic, clinical, governmental, educational, and community environments.
• Sound judgment and the ability to balance competing priorities while maintaining focus on organizational and statewide objectives.
• Strong written, verbal, and executive communication skills.

Required Qualifications

• Master's degree in Education, Health Science, or a related discipline.
• At least six years of high-level leadership experience, including direct supervision of staff and demonstrated success managing within complex organizations.
• Relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.

Preferred Qualifications

• Six or more years of professional leadership experience supporting regional or statewide initiatives.
• Experience administering mental health, behavioral health, healthcare, or education initiatives.
• Experience working with complex state, federal, consortium, or grant-funded programs.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary teams and managing large-scale program operations.
• Experience building partnerships across healthcare, academic, governmental, educational, and community organizations.
• Experience supporting or co-authoring grant applications, research initiatives, or scholarly publications.
• Familiarity with The University of Texas at Austin policies, procedures, and systems.

Additional Information

This position is supported by the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium and currently has an end date of August 31, 2027, with the potential for renewal based on funding availability, performance, and progress toward program goals. Funding is expected to continue. A flexible work arrangement may be available based on program needs and supervisor approval, with occasional on-site or field-based work required.

SUPERVISION Title this job reports to and job titles supervised:

• Direct reports: Assistant Director of Operations, Project Managers, Executive Assistants, Designated Healthcare Interpreters, Administrative Associate
• Indirect reports: Program Manager, Data Analysts, Data Management Technician Outreach Administrator, Communication Program Coordinators, Outreach Program Coordinator

BUDGET RESPONSIBILITY

Typical operational budget oversight: $5 million – $15 million annually (excluding overall organizational compensation costs).

Includes:

• Salaries for department team (direct and indirect reports)
• Technology and software costs (telehealth platforms, data systems)
• Training and professional development programs
• Administrative expenses (supplies, travel, communications)
• Program expansion costs (new sites, equipment, outreach)

DECISION-MAKING RESPONSIBILITY

Autonomous Decisions:

• Hiring and performance evaluations for direct reports
• Allocation of resources within approved budget
• Setting program priorities and timelines

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