Chief Operating Officer | Massachusetts & Illinois

Forrest Behavioral Health is a growing behavioral health treatment organization serving individuals with substance use disorders, mental health conditions, and co-occurring diagnoses. The organization operates with a strong focus on delivering high-quality treatment while building environments where both patients and employees feel supported.

As the organization continues to grow across multiple states and locations, leadership is focused on strengthening an operating model that is already working well, identifying opportunities for improvement, and ensuring consistent execution across facilities.

We are seeking a hands-on Chief Operating Officer to help lead the operational performance and continued growth of Forrest Behavioral Health across Massachusetts and Illinois, with potential involvement in Rhode Island.

This is not a role focused on rebuilding an underperforming organization. The facilities are established and generally operate near target capacity. The opportunity is to understand an existing operating model, identify weaknesses and inefficiencies, strengthen execution, and help leadership scale that model successfully as the organization grows.

The COO will partner closely with ownership and facility Directors while maintaining the independence and accountability necessary to move initiatives forward. Approximately one week of travel per month is expected, depending on operational needs.

The strongest fit is a behavioral health operator who is ambitious, adaptable, accountable, and comfortable getting directly involved when necessary.

You may currently be a COO, VP of Operations, Regional Director, Executive Director, or similar leader who has spent several meaningful years within substance use disorder or mental health treatment and is ready to take on broader responsibility.

This role does not require decades of executive experience. It does require someone who understands how behavioral health facilities actually operate and can move comfortably between strategic leadership and practical problem-solving.

You should be able to walk into a facility, recognize where something is not working, collaborate with the appropriate leaders to develop a solution, and stay involved long enough to ensure that solution is executed.

• Oversee operations and performance across multiple behavioral health treatment locations
• Partner with facility Directors to identify operational shortcomings, inefficiencies, and opportunities for improvement
• Hold facility leadership accountable to organizational expectations, deliverables, performance standards, and deadlines
• Support state licensing, accreditation, regulatory compliance, and facility readiness initiatives
• Help implement new programs, operational systems, processes, and locations
• Support recruiting and hiring for key leadership positions and frontline roles when necessary
• Monitor operational performance and help leadership strengthen facility-level execution
• Serve as an operational resource to ownership while independently carrying initiatives through completion
• Work across admissions, clinical operations, staffing, utilization review, census, retention, and other functions that influence facility performance
• Travel between Massachusetts and Illinois facilities as operational needs require, with potential involvement in Rhode Island
• Help establish measurable performance goals and a bonus structure tied to facility and organizational success

Forrest Behavioral Health is a growing behavioral health treatment organization serving individuals with substance use disorders, mental health conditions, and co-occurring diagnoses. The organization operates with a strong focus on delivering high-quality treatment while building environments where both patients and employees feel supported.

As the organization continues to grow across multiple states and locations, leadership is focused on strengthening an operating model that is already working well, identifying opportunities for improvement, and ensuring consistent execution across facilities.

We are seeking a hands-on Chief Operating Officer to help lead the operational performance and continued growth of Forrest Behavioral Health across Massachusetts and Illinois, with potential involvement in Rhode Island.

This is not a role focused on rebuilding an underperforming organization. The facilities are…