Remember why you became a physical therapist?
We’re hiring a full-time lead physical therapist for our Kearny Mesa clinic in San Diego. Real time with every client, a team to mentor, and a clear path to grow.
Join our team at Sports PerformanceThis role is for an experienced clinician ready to lead. We’re a cash-based practice, so there’s no insurance paperwork eating your day. Anticipated start Dec. 1 – Feb 1, 2027. You train during our quieter winter months, so you’re ready before the busy season begins.
Clients we’ve worked with and been featured on
- Serving San Diego since
- 2014
- Five-star Google and Yelp reviews
- 500+
Before you apply, ask yourself honestly:
- Are you tired of seeing 12 to 20+ people a day and still going home behind on notes?
- Do you wish you had the time your clients actually need, instead of fighting for authorizations and paperwork?
- Are you burnt out already, after working so hard for your degree?
- Are you a motivated clinician stuck somewhere that doesn’t push you to grow?
- Are you the senior clinician, asked to mentor everyone with no time, no framework, and no title to match?
- Are you tired of watching people get released while they’re still in pain, just because the visits ran out?
- Are you curious about regenerative therapy, but no one has ever shown you how it fits with physical therapy?
- Do you want a path to lead a clinic without taking on the risk of opening your own?
If you said yes to even one, keep reading. This job was built for you.
Why this matters to me
I grew up in a very underprivileged environment. But there was one thing I always knew about myself, even as a kid: I love people.
My grandmother raised me. She taught me so many things, starting with how to walk.
When I was 13, she needed a hip replacement, and physical therapy wasn’t covered. So I took the bus to a physical therapy clinic, learned a home program, and went back every month for the next one. I helped my grandmother walk again, the woman who taught me how to walk. It came full circle. At 13, I knew. This was my career.
It took time. It took resources. It took years working with professional athletes and building Sports Performance Physical Therapy, Inc. And it’s how I give back to the community that made me.
So here’s who I’m looking for: a physical therapist with the same passion for helping people that I’d want for my own grandmother and my own family. Someone who treats every client the way they’d treat someone they love. I’d do the same for you.
We’re a family-owned and operated business, deeply invested in our team and our community, with a big mission. We’re looking for people to help us fulfill it.
What your day looks like here
people a day in a high-volume clinic
clients a day here
- A full hour one-on-one with each client, uninterrupted.
- An hour of protected admin time each week to prepare, with mentoring built into your days and over lunch.
- Time between sessions to research a case or answer a client’s question directly.
- We’re a cash-based practice and don’t contract with insurance companies, so there are no authorizations, no visit caps, and no denied claims.
- A front desk and admin team that keeps the schedule and the details moving so you can focus on the person in front of you.
- You go home energized, not drained.
What a lead physical therapist does here
You’re a treating clinician first. You also help set the clinical tone for Kearny Mesa. This role is based at our Kearny Mesa clinic, and you report to Dr. Garcia and our operations manager.
- Treat your own caseload, about 6 to 8 clients a day
- Mentor our staff physical therapists, including newer grads, through weekly case reviews
- Teach and reinforce our framework so every clinician approaches a case the same way
- Help onboard new hires using our 90-day plan
- Review team outcomes with Dr. Garcia and our operations team, and help us improve
- One hour of protected admin time each week to prepare, with mentoring built into your days and over lunch
You don’t have to manage people to do this well. You have to care about helping them get better.
Why strong clinicians choose us
We may not be the biggest offer on the table. We’re the one built around the way you want to practice.
A proven system since 2014
Sports Performance opened in 2014 as a family-owned, cash-based practice. More than a decade of refining how we evaluate, treat, and mentor. You’re joining something that works, not something still being figured out.
Advanced tools you’ll use from your first month
Hands-on manual therapy, VALD force plates, focused and radial shockwave, EMTT, and virtual care. You’ll work with everyday athletes and competitive and professional athletes, and you’ll become the PT who can do all of it.
A full hour with every client
Enough time to find the real cause, treat it well, and explain the plan. That’s the work you trained for.
Leadership support and a path to grow, with real pay upside
A weekly leadership meeting with Dr. Garcia, plus a written path from lead PT to program leader, clinic manager, or clinic director. Your total pay grows as your scope does: base, bonus, and leadership pay.
Decisions made by the people in the clinic
The people who decide how we treat, schedule, and grow are the ones who work here every day.
From pain to longevity
Most clinics stop when the pain stops. We follow the whole spectrum, so you get to use every skill you’ve learned, and then some.
Pain
Find out what’s really wrong.
- Our evaluation framework
- Hands-on manual therapy
- VALD force plate and movement testing
Pain relief
Calm it down and get moving.
- Focused and radial shockwave
- EMTT
- Virtual care check-ins
Back to what they love
Rebuild, step by step.
- Progressive strength work
- Testing that shows they’re ready
- Coaching through real-life activity
Beyond
Stay strong for life.
- Strength and conditioning
- Longevity and healthy aging
- Hyperbaric oxygen and recovery
You follow the same person the whole way, from a first conversation to a long-term client.
Clients come to us from around the world
People have come to see us in person, live, and virtually from all over. You’d work in a practice with a reach most clinics never get, and you’d learn how to support people at every distance.
- States and countries
- 50+
The freedom of a cash-based practice, with a salary behind it
You’ve probably heard the pitch: higher pay per visit, your own schedule, your own clients. Then you find out you’re also the marketer, the salesperson, and the one paying for your own benefits.
What the pitch often turns into
- Pay that swings from month to month
- No health coverage or paid time off
- Hours spent finding clients instead of treating them
- Little mentorship while you’re still building your skills
What you get here
- A salary with benefits and paid time off
- Clients who come to you, brought in by our marketing
- A weekly leadership meeting with Dr. Garcia
- A clear path to grow
You’ll still talk with clients about the plan that fits them and help with the occasional educational video. You just won’t have to find your own clients.
What actually grows your pay here
Many clinicians assume pay follows clinical skill, so the answer to every problem is another course. Courses do make you sharper. But in a cash-based practice, what grows your income is different.
Relationships that last
Understanding what a client really wants, helping them commit to the care that gets them there, and staying with them so their results hold and they stay out of pain.
Understanding your market
Who you help, why they come, and how they find you.
Helping people decide
Explaining the plan in a way that helps, without feeling like a sales pitch.
We teach all of it, every week, on real cases, because nobody teaches it in school. As lead physical therapist, you’d help teach it.
What we offer
A large health system can offer higher starting pay, and we won’t match that. What we offer instead:
- Clients who are active, motivated, and committed to doing their part
- A weekly leadership meeting, and a team that collaborates on tough cases
- A framework that makes every case clearer
- The chance to help people at a deeper level: not just until the pain stops, but for the long run
If you’d rather focus only on treating, that’s okay. It just may not be the right place for you.
What you’ll get to practice
Physical therapy for active adults
Our clients are mostly 40 and older, and they want to keep golfing, lifting, running, traveling, and keeping up with their kids and grandkids. No surgery, no pills, and no one telling them it’s just age.
Regenerative therapy, with three tools
Focused shockwave, radial shockwave, and EMTT. Most clinics have one machine. You’ll learn when each one fits and how to combine them with hands-on PT. Dr. Garcia has worked in regenerative therapy since 2008.
Hyperbaric oxygen and recovery
You’ll see how hyperbaric oxygen therapy and our recovery programs fit into a client’s plan, from post-surgery to getting moving again.
Stem cell recovery
Our Stem Cell Recovery Experts program supports people after a stem cell injection, including clients who reach us from all over the world. You’ll help them build strength and get the most from the months that follow.
A voice and a camera
Video is how we teach our clients and how they find us. You don’t need to be a performer, just comfortable being yourself on camera.
Where this job can take you
You’d join as our lead physical therapist. From here, you choose a direction based on what you love, and you move up when your responsibility grows, not when a calendar says so.
If you have a specific passion
- Program leader
- Program developer
If you love growth and community
- Clinic manager
- Clinic director
Program leader or developer
Passionate about one thing, like women’s health, overhead athletes, baseball, or soccer? Build and lead a program around it.
Clinic manager or clinic director
Love growth, marketing, and making a bigger impact in the community? Lead a clinic’s people, results, and day-to-day, with real pay upside.
A framework for every case, and a team you help lead
Most new grads finish seven years of training and still treat each case region by region, because nobody gave them an outline for thinking through the whole person. That’s not a knowledge gap. It’s a framework gap. As lead physical therapist, you’d help close it for the rest of the team.
Dr. Chris Garcia built a framework working in pro sports and brought it to our community. Every clinician here uses it to approach any case with confidence. Every week, on company time, you practice it on real cases, and you meet with Dr. Garcia in our weekly leadership meeting.
Dr. Garcia is a board-certified sports clinical specialist and adjunct faculty in the DPT program at San Diego State. He also teaches clinicians around the world through Chris Garcia Academy, including the Sports PT Kickstarter.
“It was equally intimidating to face the camera and give my insight as an emerging clinician as it was exciting to hear what other practicing clinicians have to say. I feel so much more knowledgeable already and prepared to tackle any patient.”
Victoria C., first-year physical therapist, Chris Garcia Academy Sports PT Kickstarter
Your first 90 days
You won’t be thrown in. We have a clear onboarding plan, built around the way you lead.
Learn the system
Days 1 to 30
- Meet the team and tour Kearny Mesa
- Learn our framework and systems
- Start a caseload with review
- Sit in on weekly case reviews
Day 30: comfortable with our evaluation flow and our team
Start leading
Days 31 to 60
- Grow toward your full caseload
- Co-lead weekly case reviews
- Begin mentoring a staff physical therapist
- Train on the regenerative tools and VALD force plates
Day 60: leading a weekly case review
Lead the clinical side
Days 61 to 90
- Run a full caseload
- Lead case reviews and support new-hire onboarding
- Review team outcomes with Dr. Garcia and our operations team
- Set your leadership focus
Day 90: your leadership plan
What you can expect
- Pay: $90,000 to $105,000, based on experience, skill set, and leadership scope
- Bonus opportunities available
- Medical, dental, and vision, plus a retirement plan
- Paid time off
- Mentorship and training on company time
- Full-time, Kearny Mesa
- Schedule: Monday to Thursday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Everyone works the same hours and shares the same lunch hour.
- A weekly leadership meeting with Dr. Garcia
- Manual therapy and movement-based care
- A team of clinicians who collaborate on tough cases
- Fitness casual dress code
- Employee discount on services
- A fun team that works hard and enjoys it
Is this the right fit?
Think back to why you became a physical therapist. Maybe it was your own injury, or a parent’s. Maybe a car accident or a surgery. That story is still in you, and it’s bigger than a protocol or a clever exercise. It’s the chance to change how someone lives. That takes time, and it takes confidence. This is where you build both.
You’ll love it here if you
- Want professional growth, not just more clinical skills, and an impact that goes beyond relieving one person’s back or shoulder pain.
- Want to be a world-class clinician and keep learning.
- Connect with people personally, not just clinically.
- Explain the plan so clients know what you’re doing and why.
- Are coachable, positive, and open to feedback.
- Hold, or can obtain, a California physical therapy license.
- Are an experienced clinician ready to lead: you’ve treated enough to trust your hands, and you want to help others do the same.
This may not be the place if you
- Want a short-term job with higher pay, where you check in and check out.
- Want to lead without treating, or treat without teaching.
- Prefer a high-volume schedule.
- Would rather stay behind the scenes than on camera.
- Don’t want to talk with clients about the care plan that fits their goals.
- Aren’t interested in tracking a few simple weekly numbers so you know how you’re doing.
Earlier in your career? Apply anyway and tell us. We may have a staff physical therapist opening at Kearny Mesa too.
What the hiring process looks like
Virtual interview
20 to 30 minutes with one of our team members to get to know you.
In-person visit
Come into the clinic, meet the team, and see if it feels right.
Practical skills session
A hands-on session so we both know you’ll thrive here.
Offer
Our favorite part. Welcome to the team.
Join our team at Sports Performance
Start with a short first step. This is a multi-step application, and we’ll schedule your interview once every step is complete.
If you’re looking for a short-term job with high pay and more clinical skills, but little fulfillment, there are good places for that, and this isn’t one of them. But if this resonates with you, give us a chance. We’d love to meet you.
Next, we’ll email you the rest of your application. Check your junk, spam, or promotions folder if you don’t see it in a few minutes.
P.S. 1/3 of your life will be spent at work. Don’t you think it’s worth choosing a leadership role that is meaningful, where you get to change lives, and where you get to learn and grow both personally and professionally while doing it?
Meet the team and see the clinic
Hear from past team members
Two physical therapists who used to work here talk about what it was like.