Program Director – Recovery Housing Operations
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Lantern Residences
Location: Charleston Tri-County, South Carolina
Job Type: Full-time, Salaried
Salary: $65,000–$75,000 per year, based on experience
Reports To: Executive Director
About Lantern Residences
Lantern Residences provides structured, recovery-focused housing for adult men rebuilding their lives following substance-use treatment, incarceration, homelessness, or other periods of instability.
Our approach is built around stability, structure, dignity, accountability, and long-term progress. We believe that no one heals without a home and that accountability should never require humiliation.
We are seeking an experienced and highly organized Program Director to lead the daily operation of our recovery residences, supervise program staff, maintain compliance, strengthen resident outcomes, and ensure consistent standards across all locations.
Position Summary
The Program Director is responsible for the overall quality, consistency, safety, and operational performance of Lantern Residences.
This is a hands-on leadership position for someone who can supervise multiple staff members and properties while managing resident concerns, documentation, compliance, performance expectations, referral relationships, and operational priorities.
The ideal candidate is comfortable making decisions, holding staff accountable, responding calmly to difficult situations, and creating systems that ensure important responsibilities do not fall through the cracks.
Key Responsibilities Program Leadership and Staff Supervision
- Supervise and support house managers, peer-support staff, case management staff, intake staff, interns, and house leads.
- Lead regular administrative, staff, and house-lead meetings.
- Establish clear performance expectations and ensure employees follow established policies and procedures.
- Review staff performance, communication logs, shift notes, and employee compliance scorecards.
- Provide coaching, corrective action, and performance-improvement support when expectations are not met.
- Ensure appropriate on-call and backup escalation coverage.
- Help maintain a professional culture based on structure, dignity, consistency, and accountability.
Resident Services and Program Oversight
- Monitor resident progress, behavioral concerns, grievances, return-to-use situations, rule violations, and higher-level-care recommendations.
- Ensure resident service plans, phase requirements, meeting participation, and case-management responsibilities are being completed.
- Review overnight incidents, safety concerns, sensitive resident situations, and staff escalations.
- Ensure residents are treated fairly and consistently across all locations.
- Support Housing First conflict-resolution practices while protecting resident, staff, and community safety.
- Review intakes, discharges, discharge outcomes, and resident progression through the program.
- Ensure urgent court, probation, parole, and referral-partner communications are handled accurately and promptly.
Documentation and Quality Assurance
- Review daily staff shift notes and communication logs across all residences.
- Ensure incidents, grievances, return-to-use events, corrective actions, and resident concerns are properly documented.
- Conduct weekly documentation reviews and monthly resident-chart audits.
- Ensure resident files, service plans, releases, assessments, and program records are complete and current.
- Maintain high documentation standards within BehaveHealth or the organization’s designated electronic record system.
- Reinforce the expectation that undocumented work is considered incomplete.
Compliance and Accreditation
- Maintain compliance with Lantern Residences policies, procedures, grants, contracts, and applicable recovery-housing standards.
- Maintain readiness for South Carolina Alliance for Recovery Residences inspections and other external reviews.
- Conduct recurring compliance audits and assign corrective actions when deficiencies are identified.
- Monitor staff certifications and required training, including CPR, Narcan, financial literacy, and program-specific training.
- Review medication-assisted treatment documentation and coordination requirements.
- Support annual policy reviews and continued program improvement.
- Ensure physical locations meet safety expectations, including fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, carbon-monoxide detectors, emergency exits, and general property safety.
Operational and Financial Oversight
- Monitor occupancy, admissions, discharges, resident participation, and program-performance indicators.
- Review the intake and referral pipeline to ensure applications and partner communications continue moving.
- Review resident accounts receivable and program-fee follow-up with case-management staff.
- Monitor key performance indicators and prepare weekly leadership reports.
- Support monthly financial, grant-performance, and quality-assurance reporting.
- Review access-control systems and ensure access codes match the current resident census.
- Coordinate facilities, maintenance, cleanliness, supply, and property-related concerns across all residences.
- Identify recurring operational problems and implement sustainable solutions.
Community and Referral Partnerships
- Maintain professional relationships with treatment providers, hospitals, jails, courts, probation and parole offices, veterans’ organizations, nonprofits, and other referral partners.
- Ensure communication with referral partners is timely, respectful, and properly documented.
- Monitor referral sources, conversion rates, community events, and partnership performance.
- Represent Lantern Residences professionally in meetings, inspections, community events, and partner discussions.
Required Qualifications
- At least three years of experience in recovery housing, behavioral health, substance-use services, residential programming, reentry services, social services, case management, or a related field.
- At least two years of supervisory or program-leadership experience.
- Demonstrated ability to supervise staff, manage conflict, enforce policies, and follow through on corrective actions.
- Strong written communication, documentation, organization, and time-management skills.
- Ability to manage multiple properties, staff members, resident needs, and competing priorities.
- Comfortable working with electronic records, reports, spreadsheets, dashboards, and communication systems.
- Ability to respond calmly and professionally during crises, resident conflicts, return-to-use situations, and other sensitive events.
- Valid driver’s license, reliable transportation, and the ability to travel between program locations.
- Ability to pass all employment-related background and driving requirements applicable to the position.
Preferred Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in social work, human services, psychology, criminal justice, business administration, healthcare administration, or a related field.
- Experience working in certified recovery residences.
- Familiarity with SCARR standards or similar recovery-housing accreditation requirements.
- Certified Peer Support Specialist credential or experience supervising peer-support professionals.
- Experience with electronic health records or residential-program management systems.
- Experience with grants, government contracts, compliance audits, or performance reporting.
- Knowledge of medication-assisted treatment, recovery-oriented systems of care, reentry services, and Housing First principles.
Relevant lived experience with recovery, reentry, or housing instability is valued but is not required and does not replace the professional qualifications for this leadership position.
Schedule and Work Environment
This is a full-time, salaried, multi-site leadership position. The primary schedule is generally Monday through Friday during normal business hours.
The Program Director must also be available for occasional evening or weekend responsibilities, urgent operational situations, inspections, meetings, community events, and escalation support.
The position requires regular travel between Lantern Residences locations and includes work in residential, office, community, and partner-agency settings.
What Success Looks Like
A successful Program Director will:
- Create consistent expectations across every Lantern residence.
- Ensure staff understand their responsibilities and are held accountable.
- Maintain accurate, timely, and professional documentation.
- Identify operational concerns before they become emergencies.
- Improve resident participation, safety, stability, and program outcomes.
- Maintain inspection and compliance readiness throughout the year.
- Strengthen communication with residents, staff, referral partners, and executive leadership.
- Build systems that allow Lantern Residences to grow without sacrificing quality.
Compensation
The salary range for this position is $65,000–$75,000 annually, based on experience, qualifications, credentials, and demonstrated leadership ability.
How to Apply
Please submit your resume and a brief statement describing:
- Your experience supervising staff or residential programs.
- Your experience working with recovery, behavioral health, reentry, or vulnerable populations.
- An example of how you handled a difficult staff, resident, or compliance situation.
- Why you are interested in joining Lantern Residences.
Lantern Residences is committed to providing qualified applicants with fair employment consideration and maintaining a professional workplace that values dignity, accountability, growth, and second chances.
Pay: $60,000.00 - $75,000.00 per year
Work Location: In person
