President & Chief Executive Officer

Position Overview: Reporting to the Board of Directors, the President and Chief Executive Officer will provide strategic, organizational, and cultural leadership for CHD, with overall responsibility for advancing its mission and ensuring the organization’s continued strength, impact, and sustainability. The CEO will lead a complex and highly diversified human services organization through a capable executive team, bringing together the breadth of CHD's programs, people, and expertise around shared priorities while preserving the responsiveness and program-centered orientation that have long distinguished its work. Central and administrative functions will strengthen and enable CHD's people and programs, while leadership and decision-making are appropriately distributed across the organization. This is a leadership role that requires range. The CEO must be able to move between long-term strategy and emerging opportunity; understand the financial, policy, regulatory, and workforce forces shaping CHD's future; remain meaningfully connected to employees and programs; and represent CHD with credibility and influence externally. The next leader will pair institutional knowledge and professional judgment with data and analysis, bringing both entrepreneurial instinct and organizational discipline to decisions about CHD's future. The CEO will help CHD build upon its considerable strengths while positioning the organization for continued evolution. Working with the Board and senior leaders, the CEO will create the conditions for CHD to operate as a connected, resilient, and forward-looking enterprise without losing the deeply human character, flexibility, and closeness to programs that have defined its success. They will partner closely with the senior leadership team comprising Chief Operating Officer (overseeing behavioral health & medical services, grants, healthcare integration, information technology, mental health & substance abuse, and quality & compliance), Chief Program Officer (overseeing children & families, developmental disability & elder services, diversion, shelter & housing, and services within the State of Connecticut) and Chief Financial Officer (overseeing fiscal services), as well as Vice Presidents of Human Resources and Community Engagement.

Responsibilities: Leadership & Vision Partner with the Board, senior leadership team, and other key stakeholders to advance CHD’s strategic plan and shape a compelling vision for its future, translating that vision into clear organizational priorities and actionable strategies. Maintain a forward-looking view of the healthcare and human services landscape, anticipating changes in community needs, funding and reimbursement, public policy, regulation, workforce availability and expectations, and models of care and positioning CHD to respond with agility and purpose. Further CHD’s vision for a more integrated continuum of care, identifying opportunities to connect behavioral health, primary care, social services, and other programs more intentionally and to develop partnerships that further this work. Lead CHD as a connected enterprise, fostering collaboration and shared accountability across programs, functions, and geographies while respecting the distinct expertise, operating realities, funding structures, and regulatory requirements of its diverse programs. Evaluate opportunities for growth, innovation, strategic partnerships, affiliations, acquisitions, and new models of service through the lenses of mission impact, financial sustainability, organizational capacity, quality, and risk. Preserve CHD’s entrepreneurial and responsive approach, bringing creativity, informed risk-taking, perseverance, and thoughtful discipline to decisions about where and how the organization invests for the future. Organizational Effectiveness Ensure that central and administrative functions operate in service to CHD’s programs, providing the expertise, tools, resources, and support that enable program leaders and frontline teams to deliver exceptional care and services. Model effective management, decision-making, and coaching, creating clarity around roles and accountability while empowering leaders and staff to exercise appropriate authority and judgment in support of CHD’s strategies and priorities. Strengthen communication, coordination, and knowledge-sharing across CHD, encouraging leaders to understand the organization as a whole and identify opportunities for greater connection across programs and services. Ensure that CHD’s organizational structure and leadership capacity evolve in support of its mission, scale, complexity, and strategic direction. Financial & Operational Stewardship Provide strong stewardship of CHD’s financial and organizational resources, ensuring the long-term strength and sustainability necessary to advance its mission and support its programs. Bring a sophisticated financial and business perspective to organizational decision-making, including budgeting and forecasting, contracts and reimbursement, program economics, capital and infrastructure investment, real estate and physical asset strategy, and resource allocation. Complement professional judgment, experience, and institutional knowledge with meaningful data and analysis, strengthening CHD’s ability to understand performance, anticipate needs, evaluate opportunities, and make well-informed decisions. Ensure that the Board and organizational leaders have access to timely, relevant financial, operational, programmatic, workforce, and outcomes information to support planning, oversight, and decision-making. Champion thoughtful investment and continued evolution of the organizational infrastructure that supports CHD's work—including human resources, finance, information technology, marketing, compliance, quality, data and analytics, and other enterprise functions—ensuring that systems, tools, and capabilities keep pace with the needs of the organization and make it easier for programs and employees to do their work effectively. Encourage innovation, learning, and continuous improvement, creating space to test promising ideas, assess results, and apply learning while preserving CHD’s flexibility and responsiveness. External Relations, Partnerships & Community Leadership Serve as a visible, credible, and engaged ambassador for CHD and the people and communities it serves. Cultivate and deepen relationships across government, healthcare, human services, philanthropy, business, and the broader community, including with funders, payers, trade associations, peer organizations, civic leaders, and other key stakeholders. Identify opportunities to strengthen existing relationships and forge new partnerships that advance shared goals, strengthen the continuum of care, and extend CHD’s reach and impact. Position CHD as a collaborative thought partner and important voice in conversations shaping the future of behavioral health, human services, primary care, and community-based care. Maintain a sophisticated understanding of and active engagement with government, public policy, regulation, and the broader external environment, bringing emerging trends, ideas, opportunities, and potential risks into CHD's strategic thinking and decision-making. Communicate CHD’s mission, impact, expertise, and perspective with authenticity and credibility across a wide range of audiences. People, Culture & Board Partnership Recognize CHD's workforce as essential to its mission and long-term strength, championing strategies that support recruitment, retention, development, engagement, and employee well-being while fostering a people-centered and trauma-informed culture that recognizes the emotional demands of human services work. Foster a culture grounded in CHD’s mission and values and characterized by trust, collaboration, accountability, learning, transparency, and respect. Be a visible and accessible leader who develops authentic relationships with employees across programs, functions, roles, and locations and maintains a meaningful connection to CHD’s work and the people it serves. Communicate organizational direction, priorities, and decisions clearly and consistently, helping employees understand how their work contributes to CHD’s broader mission and goals. Lead organizational evolution thoughtfully, taking time to understand CHD's history, people, programs, and operating realities; listening broadly and drawing upon the expertise within the organization before determining what should be preserved, strengthened, or changed. Develop a strong, transparent, and collaborative partnership with the Board of Directors, ensuring that members have the information, analysis, and context necessary to fulfill their governance and fiduciary responsibilities. Engage the Board as a strategic partner, drawing upon members’ expertise, perspectives, relationships, and commitment in support of CHD’s mission and future.15+ years of progressively responsible leadership experience, including significant executive leadership within a complex organization of meaningful scale; experience in behavioral health, human services, healthcare, social services, or another highly regulated, service-intensive environment is strongly preferred. Strategic and forward-looking leadership, with the ability to anticipate changes in funding, reimbursement, public policy, regulation, workforce, and community need; recognize emerging opportunities and challenges; and adapt course while maintaining clarity around longer‑term direction. An entrepreneurial orientation and thoughtful approach to risk, with the ability to see possibility, pursue promising and sometimes unconventional opportunities, assess risk and organizational readiness, and persevere through uncertainty and challenge. Strong financial and business acumen, including an understanding of program economics, new ventures and investments, capital and asset strategy, financial and operational risk, and the strategic deployment of organizational resources. An analytical and intellectually curious mindset, complementing experience and judgment with data, evidence, financial analysis, and meaningful measures of organizational and programmatic performance. A sophisticated understanding of evolving models of care and service delivery, including the connections among behavioral health, primary care, and social and human services, and an appreciation for the opportunities and complexities of creating a more integrated continuum of care. Demonstrated success building, leading, and empowering high‑performing senior teams within complex, multi‑layered organizations, creating clarity around roles and accountability, developing leadership capacity, and enabling sound decisions to be made at appropriate levels. An enterprise mindset with a program-centered orientation, recognizing that strong administrative functions, systems, and infrastructure exist to enable excellent programs and better outcomes for the people CHD serves. Deep fluency in the public policy, regulatory, reimbursement, and government funding environments that shape healthcare and human services, coupled with the political acumen and relationship‑building ability to engage policymakers, funders, payers, trade associations, and other stakeholders effectively. A collaborative, authentic, curious, and people‑centered leadership style, characterized by exceptional communication and listening skills, emotional intelligence, humility, integrity, and the ability to build trust across diverse constituencies; an appreciation for the demands placed upon a human services workforce and the importance of creating an environment in which people feel supported, valued, developed, and accountable. The leadership range to operate effectively both inside and outside the organization—remaining visible, accessible, and connected to CHD's people and programs while building the external relationships and influence necessary to advance its mission. Resilience, perseverance, and composure, with the capacity to navigate ambiguity, competing demands, public scrutiny, and a continually evolving environment while maintaining a deep respect for CHD's history, people, and mission. Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and relevant executive leadership experience. An advanced degree in business, healthcare administration, public administration, social work, public health, or a related field is required.