Director of Nursing (DON)

Director of Nursing Opportunity

St Simons By-the-Sea is a 101-bed behavioral health hospital specializing in psychiatric care and addiction treatment for both adults and adolescents. Our team is dedicated to delivering high-quality, evidence-based services in a supportive and collaborative environment where every staff member plays a vital role in changing lives.

With a strong commitment to clinical excellence and compassionate care, we provide patients with the tools and support they need to achieve lasting recovery. Our programs are designed to address the unique needs of each individual, creating meaningful opportunities for progress, healing, and long-term success.

Nestled on the picturesque shores of St Simons Island, Georgia, our facility offers a serene coastal setting that promotes privacy, comfort, and focus. This peaceful environment not only enhances the patient experience but also creates a truly rewarding workplace for professionals seeking purpose-driven careers.

Conveniently located within driving distance of Jacksonville, Florida, Savannah, Georgia, and surrounding communities through South Georgia and North Florida, St Simons By-the-Sea combines accessibility with a tranquil atmosphere-making it an ideal place to grow your career while making a lasting impact.

Visit the site virtually: ssbythesea.com

We are seeking an exceptional, battle-tested leader to serve as Director of Nursing. This executive role requires a decisive, forward-thinking leader capable of navigating complexity, driving transformation, and building high-performing teams in a fast-paced behavioral health environment.

The Director of Nursing is a key member of the executive leadership team and is responsible for establishing nursing strategy, ensuring clinical excellence, and aligning operations with the mission, vision, and values of Universal Health Services (UHS). This leader will shape culture, elevate performance, and position the hospital for sustained growth and operational strength.

Key Responsibilities

The Director of Nursing provides strategic and operational oversight for all nursing services within the hospital, including:

• Strategic Leadership - Developing and executing nursing strategies aligned with organizational priorities, quality standards, and long-term growth objectives
• Clinical and Operational Oversight - Ensuring safe staffing, regulatory compliance, accreditation readiness, and adherence to evidence-based practice while maintaining day-to-day operational stability
• Team Development - Recruiting, mentoring, and retaining strong nursing leaders and staff; cultivating a culture of accountability, engagement, and professional excellence
• Performance & Quality Management - Establishing and monitoring key performance indicators related to patient safety, quality outcomes, employee engagement, and operational efficiency; leading performance improvement initiatives with disciplined execution
• Decision-Making & Risk Management - Assessing complex clinical and operational challenges, managing risk appropriately, and making sound decisions in time-sensitive, high-impact situations

What Makes this Role Challenging

This position carries significant organizational influence and requires a leader who can balance strategic vision with operational demands. Success requires:

• Leading in a dynamic behavioral health setting with evolving regulatory expectations
• Driving transformation while maintaining workforce stability and consistent patient care outcomes
• Managing high-visibility initiatives that directly impact clinical quality, financial performance, and organizational culture
• Balancing long-term strategic initiatives with immediate operational and patient care needs

Despite our large company design, each facility is run independently, so our nurse executives have the autonomy to manage their teams with clinical and educational support from Corporate. You are never alone, as you are part of a large network of peer nurse leaders that routinely exchange ideas and review current topics within the industry. We have an active Nursing Council based on shared governance and evidence-based practice, and we offer internal leadership and clinical education, including a generous annual tuition assistance and continuing education allowance designed to keep you at the top of your practice. UHS offers and supports real career advancement opportunity, including our COO-in-Training program and a variety of regional and national corporate roles designed to support the field and share advanced experience. Also, we offer a competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package that reflects the work/life needs of our senior leaders.

Benefit & Rewards Highlights

• Challenging and rewarding work environment
• Competitive compensation & generous Paid Time Off
• Excellent Medical, Dental, Vision and Prescription Drug Plans
• 401(K) with company match and discounted stock plan
• SoFi Student Loan Refinancing Program
• Tuition saving to continue your nursing education with Chamberlain University
• Career development opportunities within UHS and its 300+ Subsidiaries!
• Pet Insurance
• HealthStream online learning catalogue with plenty of free CEU courses
• More information is available on our Benefits Guest Website: uhsguest.com

About Universal Health Services

One of the nation's largest and most respected providers of hospital and healthcare services, Universal Health Services, Inc. (UHS) has built an impressive record of achievement and performance. Growing steadily since its inception into an esteemed Fortune 500 corporation, annual revenues during 2025 were $17.4 billion. In 2026, UHS was again recognized as one of Fortune World's Most Admired Companies and in 2025, was listed in Forbes ranking of America's Largest Public Companies.

Headquartered in King of Prussia, PA, UHS has approximately 101,500 employees and continues to grow through its subsidiaries. Operating acute care hospitals, behavioral health facilities, outpatient facilities and ambulatory care access points, an insurance offering, a physician network, and various related services located in 40 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the United Kingdom. For additional information visit www.uhs.com.

From Fortune, 2025, 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All rights reserved. Used under license.

Requirements

• Current license to practice nursing in the state of Georgia
• Bachelor of Science in Nursing required; Master of Science in Nursing is strongly preferred
• Three or more years of progressive nursing management experience in behavioral health setting
• Proven executive nursing leadership experience with responsibility for large teams or multi-unit clinical operations, including demonstrated success leading growth, turnaround, cultural transformation, or significant operational improvement initiatives.
• Exceptional strategic thinking and operational rigor, with the ability to translate vision into measurable results, manage budgets and labor performance, oversee quality and patient safety metrics, and drive disciplined execution.
• Executive presence with highly developed communication skills, sound judgment under pressure, and the emotional intelligence and integrity necessary to influence across all levels of the organization and lead through change in a high-stakes environment

EEO Statement

All UHS subsidiaries are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and teammates. UHS subsidiaries are equal opportunity employers and as such, openly support and fully commit to recruitment, selection, placement, promotion and compensation of individuals without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), genetic information, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

Avoid and Report Recruitment Scams

We are aware of a scam whereby imposters are posing as Recruiters from UHS, and our subsidiary hospitals and facilities. Beware of anyone requesting financial or personal information.

At UHS and all our subsidiaries, our Human Resources departments and recruiters are here to help prospective candidates by matching skill set and experience with the best possible career path at UHS and our subsidiaries. During the recruitment process, no recruiter or employee will request financial or personal information (e.g., Social Security Number, credit card, or bank information, etc.) from you via email. Our recruiters will not email you from a public webmail client like Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, etc.

If you suspect a fraudulent job posting or job-related email mentioning UHS or its subsidiaries, we encourage you to report such concerns to appropriate law enforcement. We encourage you to refer to legitimate UHS and UHS subsidiary career websites to verify job opportunities and not rely on unsolicited calls from recruiters.