Head of Research

At LifeStance Health, we strive to help individuals, families, and communities with their mental health needs. Everywhere. Every day. It’s a lofty goal; we know. But we make it happen with the best team in mental healthcare.
Thank you for taking the time to explore a career with us. As the fastest growing mental health practice group in the country, now is the perfect time to join our team!
LifeStance Health Values
Belonging: We cultivate a space where everyone can show up as their authentic self.
Empathy: We seek out diverse perspectives and listen to learn without judgment.
Courage: We are all accountable for doing the right thing - even when it's hard - because we know it's worth it.
One Team: We realize our full potential when we work together towards our shared purpose.
Benefits
As a full-time employee of LifeStance Health, the following benefits are offered: medical, dental, vision, AD&D, short and long-term disability, and life insurance. Additional benefits include a 401k retirement savings with employer match, paid parental leave, paid time off, holiday pay and an Employee Assistance Program.
Role Overview
The Head of Research is responsible for advancing LifeStance’s enterprise research, outcomes, and external publication strategy by building scalable research infrastructure, translating real-world clinical data into evidence, and partnering across Clinical, Quality, Data Analytics, Operations, and external collaborators. Success looks like a clinically governed, methodologically rigorous research portfolio that differentiates LifeStance through measurable outcomes, high-quality publications, strategic partnerships, and actionable insights that improve care for patients and support clinicians.
Consistent with LifeStance’s values, every member of the LifeStance team is expected to support each other and the mission, which may mean participating in projects and initiatives and performing functions and responsibilities not specifically outlined in this job description. Leaders at LifeStance are expected to foster a commitment to the organization values.
KEY RESPONSIBILITES
The intent of this job description is to provide a representative summary of the major duties and responsibilities performed by employees in this job. Employees may be requested to perform job-related tasks other than those specifically presented in this description.
Research Strategy & Governance: Develop and lead the enterprise research strategy, including annual research priorities, publication roadmap, governance processes, and standards for ethical, compliant research execution.
Outcomes Research & Evidence Generation: Oversee analyses of LifeStance clinical, operational, and measurement-based care data ensuring priorities and strategies are guided by Clinical Excellence to produce actionable insights regarding access, engagement, quality, safety, clinical effectiveness, and patient outcomes.
Publications & Thought Leadership: Establish publication standards and oversee development of manuscripts, white papers, conference abstracts, annual outcomes reporting, and external-facing research narratives that strengthen LifeStance’s thought leadership.
Research Infrastructure & Operations: Build scalable research operations, including project intake, prioritization, study design support, documentation, data request workflows, IRB and regulatory coordination, and reporting cadence.
Cross-Functional Partnership: Partner with Clinical Excellence, Quality, Legal/Compliance, Privacy, Data Insights, Informatics, Practice Operations, Strategy, and Finance to ensure research initiatives are strategically aligned, operationally feasible, and clinically meaningful.
External Collaboration: Develop and manage research collaborations with academic institutions, health systems, professional organizations, vendors, and external experts to advance evidence generation and dissemination.
Measurement-Based Care & Quality Improvement: Collaborate with Clinical Excellence to translate research insights into clinical quality improvement priorities, measurement frameworks, and evidence-based recommendations that support clinicians and improve patient care.
Team Leadership: Lead and develop research staff, consultants, and matrixed contributors by setting priorities, establishing clear expectations, providing coaching, and maintaining accountability for high-quality deliverables.
Compliance, Ethics & Data Integrity: Ensure research activities align with applicable laws, regulations, privacy requirements, ethical standards, IRB expectations, and LifeStance policies governing data use, patient confidentiality, and external dissemination.
Executive Communication: Prepare executive-ready updates, dashboards, recommendations, and presentations for senior leadership, governance committees, and other internal stakeholders.
Additional Job-related Information
Supervision
This role is expected to supervise research staff and/or contractors as the research function scales. It may also provide functional leadership to matrixed contributors in Analytics, Clinical Excellence, Quality, and Operations who support research and outcomes projects.
Project Management
This role owns cross-functional and enterprise-level research initiatives, including publication timelines, outcomes reporting, external collaborations, research governance, and implementation of scalable research processes.
Decision Making
This role has significant autonomy in setting research priorities, determining study design recommendations, shaping publication strategy, and translating data into research deliverables. Input or approval is required when decisions involve legal, regulatory, privacy, patient safety, reputational, vendor, or material enterprise resource implications.
Legal Risk
Research decisions may affect privacy, data use, external reporting, regulatory readiness, scientific integrity, and organizational reputation. This role partners with Legal, Compliance, Privacy, Quality, and the CMO to mitigate risk before research activities, analyses, or publications are implemented or released.
Financial Impact
This role does not typically carry direct revenue accountability but indirectly supports growth, payer and partnership credibility, clinician engagement, and brand differentiation through rigorous evidence generation, outcomes reporting, and thought leadership. The role may influence expenses through vendor, consulting, analytics, publication, and research infrastructure recommendations.
Requirements
Minimum Required Education and Experience
Doctoral degree such as PhD, PsyD, MD, DrPH, ScD, or equivalent terminal degree in psychology, psychiatry, behavioral health, public health, health services research, statistics, data science, epidemiology, or a related field. Master’s degree with significant equivalent research leadership experience may be considered.
10+ years of progressive experience in clinical research, behavioral health research, health services research, outcomes research, quality improvement, data analytics, or a related healthcare research function.
5+ years of leadership experience managing research teams, cross-functional research programs, external collaborators, or complex multi-stakeholder research initiatives.
Demonstrated experience designing, analyzing, interpreting, and disseminating clinical or healthcare outcomes research using real-world data, EHR-derived data, claims data, survey data, or measurement-based care data.
Experience developing manuscripts, conference submissions, white papers, executive research summaries, or external publications.
Required Licenses Or Certifications
No specific license is required unless the candidate’s professional discipline requires active licensure for the work performed.
Human subjects research training, IRB familiarity, or equivalent research compliance training required or completed upon hire.
Essential Competencies
Research strategy, study design, outcomes methodology, data interpretation, and evidence generation expertise.
Strong understanding of behavioral health care delivery, measurement-based care, quality improvement, and clinical governance.
Ability to translate complex data and research findings into clear, actionable recommendations for clinical, operational, and executive audiences.
Executive communication, publication development, stakeholder influence, and cross-functional leadership skills.
High standards for research ethics, data integrity, privacy, equity, and compliance.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience in a large, multi-site, multi-state behavioral health, outpatient mental health, or healthcare delivery organization.
Peer-reviewed publication record, grant experience, academic partnership experience, or national conference presentation experience.
Experience with measurement-based care, patient-reported outcomes, real-world evidence, health equity research, value-based care, or predictive analytics.
Experience managing external research partnerships, vendors, consultants, or data collabo

Work arrangement
Yes