Director of Community Engagement

Director of Community Engagement

Department: Business Development / Marketing
Reports To: Chief Executive Officer

Position Summary

The Director of Community Engagement provides strategic leadership for the hospital’s external growth and partnership initiatives, driving referral development, brand visibility, and community engagement to support sustainable census growth in an inpatient psychiatric hospital setting.

This executive-facing role integrates business development, marketing strategy, and digital engagement to strengthen referral pipelines, expand community partnerships, and position the hospital as a trusted behavioral health resource. The Director ensures outreach and marketing activities align with clinical programming, operational capacity, and regulatory requirements while promoting services ethically and responsibly.

Serving as the primary ambassador to the community, the Director builds high-impact relationships with healthcare partners and community stakeholders to enhance access to psychiatric care and continuity of services.

Key Responsibilities:

Community & Referral Development

• Develop, expand, and sustain referral partnerships with hospitals, emergency departments, behavioral health providers, physicians, crisis services, social service agencies, payers, schools, and community organizations.
• Execute structured outreach plans to support admissions growth and strengthen care continuity partnerships.
• Serve as hospital representative at professional associations, healthcare forums, and community events.
• Identify and develop new referral channels and community partnership opportunities.
• Monitor referral patterns and collaborate with leadership to strengthen underutilized service lines.
• Facilitate provider education initiatives to increase awareness of hospital programs and admission processes.

Business Development Strategy

• Develop and execute market growth strategies aligned with hospital census targets and service expansion plans.
• Conduct market and competitor analyses to identify partnership and service opportunities.
• Collaborate with admissions and clinical teams to improve referral conversion and intake processes.
• Support program launches, service-line expansions, and new service market entry strategies.
• Establish and track outreach performance metrics and return-on-investment outcomes.
• Participate in strategic planning initiatives related to hospital growth and market positioning.

Marketing & Brand Development

• Lead marketing initiatives to enhance hospital reputation, service awareness, and community presence.
• Develop campaigns supporting program promotion, community education, and behavioral health awareness.
• Ensure all marketing materials meet regulatory, ethical, and privacy standards.
• Maintain consistent branding across community materials and campaigns.
• Collaborate with corporate or contracted marketing partners to coordinate local and regional campaigns.
• Support crisis communication planning and reputation management initiatives.

Social Media & Digital Engagement

• Develop digital and social media strategies that educate the community and responsibly promote hospital services.
• Manage social media presence, posting schedules, and digital content strategies.
• Ensure compliance with HIPAA and patient privacy regulations across all digital communications.
• Monitor online reviews and reputation channels and coordinate appropriate responses.
• Analyze engagement data and adjust digital strategies to improve reach and effectiveness.
• Coordinate paid digital campaigns when applicable.

Internal Collaboration & Leadership

• Partner with Admissions, Clinical Leadership, and Executive Teams to align outreach with service capacity and clinical priorities.
• Provide ongoing reporting on referral activity, market intelligence, and growth performance.
• Collaborate with discharge planning teams to strengthen community reintegration and referral continuity.
• Lead or supervise outreach or marketing staff, contractors, or agencies as assigned.
• Manage outreach budgets and resource allocation for maximum strategic impact.

Qualifications:

Required -

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, Healthcare Administration, Communications, or related field.
• Minimum five years of experience in healthcare business development, marketing, or community outreach.
• Demonstrated experience developing healthcare referral networks.
• Understanding of behavioral health or psychiatric services.
• Proven success driving referral growth or healthcare outreach initiatives.

Preferred - 

• Master’s degree in Healthcare Administration, Business, or related field.
• Experience in inpatient behavioral health or hospital operations.
• Knowledge of behavioral health regulatory and ethical marketing practices.
• Leadership experience managing outreach or marketing teams.

Key Competencies -

• Strategic relationship development
• Healthcare market and competitor analysis
• Growth strategy execution
• Ethical healthcare marketing practices
• Executive-level communication and presentation skills
• Digital and social media engagement strategy
• Data-driven decision-making and performance measurement
• Cross-functional collaboration with clinical and operational teams
• Budget management and resource prioritization
• Adaptability within complex healthcare environments

Physical & Work Requirements -

• Frequent local travel to referral partners and community events.
• Occasional evening or weekend event participation.
• Combination of office-based and community-based work environments.

Performance Measures - 

• Referral source acquisition and retention
• Contribution to admissions and census growth
• Development and expansion of community partnerships
• Marketing and outreach campaign performance metrics
• Social media engagement and online brand reputation
• Community event engagement and outreach outcomes
• Return on investment for outreach initiatives