[Hiring] Principal, Safety and Risk Management @Headway

Role Description

We're seeking a Principal, Safety and Risk Management to join Headway's Clinical Strategy team and own safety and clinical risk management for our nationwide behavioral health provider network. This role is the senior owner who turns infrastructure into a functioning safety and risk program.

• Own the operating system for reported safety events end to end, including intake and triage through investigation, systematic event analysis, corrective action, and case closure.
• Be the first to respond when a high-risk clinical event needs immediate attention, providing timely, compassionate, evidence-informed support.
• Set the standards for the program, including harm severity and care attribution coding, investigation processes, and escalation paths.
• Define what Headway measures, own the clinical event risk dashboard, and produce metrics, trend analysis, and case narrative for quarterly reporting.
• Partner with the clinical product pod and work cross-functionally with clinical operations, legal, compliance, and data teams.
• Shape staffing and work division as the function grows.

Qualifications

• Active clinical license as a master’s level therapist (LCSW, LPC, LMFT), doctorate clinical psychologist (PhD/PsyD), or psychiatric clinician (PMHNP-BC, MD/DO).
• 7+ years of experience in healthcare patient safety or clinical risk management.
• Experience in building or substantially scaling a safety event or clinical risk program.
• Ability to triage and escalate soundly, distinguishing clinical questions from operational or legal ones.
• Fluency with data, including defining metrics and interpreting trends.
• Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to document clearly and present findings to senior leaders.
• Deep commitment to ethical, patient-centered care and continuous quality improvement.
• Comfortable being the first person in a growing role and adaptable with new technology.
• Certification in Quality and Patient Safety, Healthcare Quality and Management, Healthcare Risk Management, or an equivalent credential is strongly preferred.

Requirements

• Build the reporting culture that surfaces events.
• Lead the investigation process in the review of serious events.
• Convert findings into corrective and preventive actions with named owners and due dates.
• Draft and maintain patient safety and event management protocols and policy.
• Define metrics and analyze trends in reported events and contributing factors.
• Produce metrics, trend analysis, and case narrative for the quarterly Quality and Patient Safety Report.
• Build and execute detailed project plans on new patient safety programs.

Benefits

• Equity Compensation
• Medical, Dental, and Vision coverage
• HSA / FSA
• 401K
• Work-from-Home Stipend
• Therapy Reimbursement
• 16-week parental leave for eligible employees
• Carrot Fertility annual reimbursement and membership
• 13 paid holidays each year and a Holiday Break between December 25th and December 31st
• Flexible PTO
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Training and professional development