Director of Compliance

What We Do

Our Mission : to build self-reliance among youth, adults, and families through high-quality, community-based services.

Our Vision : to foster both long-lasting personal growth and systemic change to improve the adverse social conditions impacting youth, adults, and families.

Lifeline seeks to build resiliency within those we serve, thereby empowering them to reach their highest potential.

Our Core Values :

• Prevention : to provide the earliest intervention to reduce system involvement.
• Quality : to pursue excellence in client intervention and clinical oversight.
• Collaboration : to build mutually beneficial partnerships to increase impact.

For 50 years, Lifeline Community Services (Lifeline) has been helping low-income youth and families achieve self-reliance.

With more than 165 full-time staff members and 215 dedicated volunteers, we offer over 25 unique programs across our five focus areas : youth development, child abuse and domestic violence, housing and self-sufficiency, behavioral health, and anti-human trafficking.

With a current annual operating budget of $16.5M, we are continuing to grow as an organization and expand our services region-wide.

From our original base in Vista, we now operate nine sites across the county including Oceanside, San Marcos, Vista, Escondido, and San Diego.

Last year we served 4,304 clients through intensive case management, coaching, and clinical interventions, and 27,259 with educational outreach services and referrals.

Our programs serve individuals are predominately low to extremely low-income from communities across San Diego County. The vast majority of our programs are clinically based, with a focus on integrating services across the organization to break down programmatic silos and apply a true wrap-around approach for the individuals and families we serve.

LEADERSHIP & CULTURE

Lifeline is a highly trusted partner, recognized as a backbone organization of the community. We are a key service provider, convener, and collaborator.

Our work is guided by an engaged and committed board of 18 community leaders from across the region. We are extremely proud of our reputation for fostering a supportive team culture and being an outstanding place to work and grow.

Staff members shared some thoughts on the organization’s leadership and culture at a recent focus group :

• Everyone jumps in to help each other out.
• Our leadership is highly visible and accessible.
• Staff are empowered and trusted to use their autonomy as professionals.
• Communication is great at all levels. Team members actively collaborate within and across programs.

We feel this inclusive and supportive culture is the foundation of our success, with some of our team members celebrating 10, 15, and even 25 years of service at Lifeline.

This is an exciting time in our organization’s history as we recently celebrated our 50th anniversary and welcomed our new CEO, Lisette Islas.

An extremely experienced and accomplished nonprofit leader, Lisette succeeds Don Stump, who recently retired after 15 years of CEO service at Lifeline.

Prior to joining Lifeline, Lisette served as Executive Vice President for another powerhouse human services agency, MAAC.

During her time at MAAC, Lisette helped grow the organization from $36M to $70M in operating revenue, and invested heavily in people and culture, ultimately expanding the team from 325 to 590 members across 40 sites.

Since joining Lifeline, Lisette has initiated major investments in the organization’s capacity and capabilities, creating several new leadership positions, including the new Director of Compliance role.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

• Salary $110,000 - $125,000
• Medical, dental, vision, chiropractic, acupuncture, and life insurance
• Matched 403b retirement plan
• PTO : 0-2 years : 120 hours (15) paid days off, 48 hours (6) paid days off, 14 paid holidays
• Employee assistance program
• Employee incentives and award programs
• Training and education assistance
• Flexible spending account
• Menu of optional benefits, including short-term disability, critical illness, accident, hospitalization, and cancer policy

POSITION SUMMARY

The Director of Compliance has the primary responsibility for the development and implementation of Lifeline’s compliance program, establishing a culture of compliance designed to support our comprehensive range of programs and services.

Reporting to the CEO and supervising and growing the compliance team; this is a highly collaborative and influential role, working across all aspects of the organization to ensure operations are being conducted according to established policies and procedures, and in compliance with federal, state, and regulatory policies, including requirements as directed by Lifeline’s various funding sources.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced and dynamic compliance professional with strong interpersonal skills to influence how we continuously improve our work.

As a key member of the executive team, the Director of Compliance will advocate for and implement strategies that embody our core values of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Lifeline has built a solid reputation with our key partners, funders, local government agencies, and clients. We are excited to welcome our new Director of Compliance to help us build upon our incredible 50-year legacy of service!

Strategic priorities for this position include :

Relationships : become deeply familiar with our programs and get to know our staff as individuals; support the professional development and confidence of all team members related to compliance;

build out the Compliance Department.

• Systems : analyze Lifeline’s current compliance systems and structures at both the organizational and programmatic levels, including technology, policies, and procedures;
• recommend opportunities for streamlining and modernization to ensure Lifeline is meeting all requirements, contractual or otherwise;

support systems implementation, ensuring the integration of National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) best practices.

• Board Relations : support the Audit & Compliance Committee; develop an internal Compliance Committee with staff.
• Personnel : support change management across the organization; facilitate compliance trainings; lead all internal desk reviews.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develop, implement, and maintain policies and procedures to ensure the organization operates in compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and internal guidelines.
• Conduct regular risk assessments, identify areas of potential compliance vulnerability, and develop corrective action plans for resolution of problematic issues.
• Design and deliver comprehensive applicable compliance training programs to ensure all employees are knowledgeable of, and in compliance with, pertinent federal and state standards.
• Lead investigations into compliance matters and ensure proper reporting of violations or potential violations to duly authorized enforcement agencies as appropriate and / or required.
• Work closely with various department leaders and external partners to ensure that compliance tools and strategies are understood, implemented, and maintained across the organization.
• Develop and oversee systems for handling compliance reviews, audits, and examinations.
• Lead, supervise and develop a growing team in the Compliance Department, setting objectives, strategies, and goals, fostering an environment of professional growth and accountability.

BACKGROUND PROFILE

• Passion for and commitment to Lifeline’s mission to build self-reliance among youth, adults, and families through high-quality, community-based services.
• Ethical, transparent, and committed to Lifeline’s values; a proactive and thoughtful leader who is adaptable, culturally sensitive, and inclusive.
• Demonstrated compliance experience within a non-profit, healthcare organization, or similarly regulated environment, with a successful track record of developing effective compliance programs and leading and mentoring a team.
• Strong understanding of statutory and regulatory requirements applicable to non-profit operations.
• Excels in a collaborative environment, engaging with other senior leaders to foster a cohesive strategy across all areas of the organization.
• Committed to leading through diversity, actively promoting and integrating principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion within all compliance practices and team interactions.
• Superb people skills, with exceptionally well-developed listening and communication skills, and the ability to connect with and inspire confidence among a wide range of stakeholders.
• Highly empathetic, exhibiting sound judgment, tact, integrity, and diplomacy when dealing with internal and external stakeholders.
• Demonstrated success in helping to drive organizational growth, leveraging data to help inform both strategic and tactical decision-making.

Requirements

• Pursuant to Lifeline’s COVID-19 mitigation protocols, individuals must be fully vaccinated, subject to legally required exemptions.
• Background check and compliance with pre-employment screening, including drug screening.
• Flexibility to occasionally work outside of traditional business hours as needed to meet organizational priorities.
27 days ago