About the Role

Substance use disorders (SUD) are a leading driver of suffering and early mortality among adolescents and young adults. Despite the urgency, most SUD treatment programs are fragmented, outdated, and fail to address the complexity of co-occurring mental health needs.

The SUD Medical Director will serve as the founding clinician and operational architect of this work, ensuring that every patient engaged in SUD care receives transformational treatment, every therapist is properly supported, and the program meaningfully contributes to Charlie Health’s overall impact.

We’re a team of passionate, forward-thinking professionals eager to take on the challenge of the mental health crisis and play a formative role in providing life-saving solutions. If you’re inspired by our mission and energized by the opportunity to increase access to mental healthcare and impact millions of lives in a profound way, apply today.

Responsibilities

• Clinical Strategy & Decision Architecture
• Design, audit, and continuously optimize the clinical decision trees that govern patient intake, acuity leveling, and transitions of care.
• Set the rigorous medical and psychiatric criteria for SUD program admissions, ensuring all virtual participants meet a high standard of safety and appropriateness.
• Integrate emerging evidence-based protocols (e.g., new MAT standards, digital biomarkers) into the care pathway to maintain our position as a market leader.
• Medical Monitoring & Clinical Oversight
• Oversee the daily operations of the medical monitoring teams, ensuring real-time response to "red-flag" clinical data or physiological alerts.
• Act as the final escalation point for complex "clinical clearance" cases, balancing patient access with medical risk mitigation.
• Use real-time analytics and chart reviews to audit treatment fidelity, medication adherence (MAT), and overall program efficacy.
• Define and oversee emergency protocols, including virtual crisis intervention and warm handoffs to higher levels of care when necessary.
• Operational Leadership & Integration
• Collaborate with Data Science and Product teams to automate clinical workflows and improve the predictive accuracy of our monitoring tools.
• Serve as the medical face of the program for payer audits and regulatory bodies, demonstrating our commitment to quality-driven, measurable outcomes.
• Supervise and mentor a multidisciplinary medical staff (NPs, RNs) fostering a culture of high-accountability and clinical specialization in SUD.

Requirements

• MD or DO from an accredited medical school.
• Active, unrestricted medical license and a current DEA registration with the ability to obtain licensure in multiple states as needed.
• 7+ years of direct clinical experience treating complex substance use disorders, with a deep mastery of dual-diagnosis cases.
• 5+ years in a medical leadership role specifically designing clinical protocols, decision trees, or medical clearance workflows.
• Expert-level knowledge of MAT (Medication-Assisted Treatment) protocols, withdrawal management, and the integration of behavioral therapies (CBT, MI, etc.) within a medical framework.
• Strong familiarity with telehealth regulations and the unique challenges of conducting remote clinical clearance and virtual medical monitoring.
• Proven ability to use EMR data and real-time analytics to drive clinical quality improvements and manage population health.
• Proficiency in cloud-based tools (Google Suite, Slack, Zoom) and a high level of comfort navigating complex EMR systems and data dashboards.
• Authorized to work in the United States with native or bilingual English proficiency.

Benefits

Please note, pay will be determined on an individualized basis and will be impacted by location, experience, expertise, internal pay equity, and other relevant business considerations. Further, cash compensation is only part of the total compensation package, which, depending on the position, may include stock options and other Charlie Health-sponsored benefits.