NOW HIRING: Performance Physical Therapist
Are you a physical therapist who loves working with active people, thinking critically, and helping patients get back to doing more than simply being “pain-free”?
Empowered Athletics Physical Therapy is growing!
We’re looking for an exceptional physical therapist to grow with us.
This position is for a clinician who wants the time and freedom to do excellent work: one patient at a time, for a full hour, in a fitness-forward environment where rehabilitation doesn’t end when someone can walk, squat, or lift without pain.
We want to help people get all the way back to the lives, sports, and activities that matter to them.
If you’re curious, driven, personable, and genuinely invested in becoming an excellent clinician, you may be exactly who we’re looking for.
About Empowered Athletics PT
Empowered Athletics Physical Therapy is an out-of-network physical therapy and performance practice located inside Left Coast CrossFit in Laguna Niguel, California.
We work primarily with active adults, recreational and competitive athletes, lifters, CrossFitters, youth athletes, and people who want to continue doing hard things with their bodies.
Our model is intentionally different from traditional high-volume outpatient PT.
Every session is 60 minutes, one-on-one with a Doctor of Physical Therapy. No aides. No double booking. No bouncing between three patients while trying to document at the same time.
That gives us the space to listen, think, assess, treat, coach, load, reassess, and adapt based on the person in front of us.
We believe great physical therapy requires both excellent clinical reasoning and excellent human connection. Patients should understand what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, and where we’re going together.
And because we aren't constrained by insurance-driven treatment models, we have the freedom (and responsibility) to deliver an experience worth choosing.
The Role
As a Performance Physical Therapist at Empowered Athletics, you’ll manage your own caseload of active adults and athletes from initial evaluation through return to performance.
You'll perform comprehensive evaluations, develop individualized plans of care, and provide one-on-one treatment that may include manual therapy, movement and biomechanical assessment, strength and conditioning, exercise prescription, and progressive return to sport or activity.
But we’re not looking for someone to simply execute a treatment system.
We want a clinician who thinks.
Someone who asks good questions. Who can form a hypothesis, test it, reassess, and change direction when needed. Someone who is comfortable saying “I don’t know yet” and curious enough to keep digging.
You’ll also be responsible for creating an excellent experience outside the treatment itself: communicating clearly, following up with patients, building trust, helping people understand the value of their care, and guiding the right patients into an appropriate plan of care.
You do not need to arrive as an expert in sales. You do need to be willing to learn how to confidently communicate value and convert evaluations into plans of care without pressure, gimmicks, or scripts that don't feel human.
Who We’re Looking For
Our ideal clinician is someone who is:
Clinically curious.You care about understanding why, not just collecting techniques. You seek out education, ask questions, and want your clinical reasoning to continue evolving.
Comfortable with athletes and strength training. You don't need to be a competitive athlete yourself, but barbells, running, jumping, change of direction, and progressive loading shouldn't intimidate you.
A strong communicator. You can explain complex ideas simply, listen well, build rapport, and make patients feel understood rather than lectured.
Driven without needing to be micromanaged. You take ownership of your patients, your schedule, your development, and the experience you provide.
Coach-able and collaborative. Confidence and humility can coexist. You can defend your reasoning while remaining open to another perspective.
Invested in the whole patient experience. You understand that being an excellent clinician isn't only what happens during treatment. Follow-up, communication, reliability, retention, and helping patients make confident decisions about their care all matter.
Excited by growth. We're still building. Systems will evolve. Your role can evolve. We want someone who finds that energizing rather than frustrating.
What Working Here Looks Like
We’re building the kind of practice we’d want to be treated in and the kind of place we want to work.
60-minute, one-on-one sessions. Your attention belongs to the person in front of you.
A reasonable caseload. We care about quality and sustainability, not seeing as many patients as humanly possible.
An active patient population. You'll work with people who want to lift, run, compete, train, play sports, keep up with their kids, and get back to meaningful activity.
Rehab through performance. Our goal isn't simply symptom reduction. You'll have the opportunity to progress patients from injury and pain through strength, capacity, and return to high-level activity.
Clinical autonomy. You won't be handed a protocol and told exactly how to treat. We expect you to think critically and develop your own clinical reasoning.
Mentorship and collaboration. Autonomy doesn't mean figuring everything out alone. Clinical development is an important part of our culture, and we want clinicians who enjoy discussing cases, challenging ideas, and learning together.
Minimal administrative nonsense. Our out-of-network model allows documentation to support excellent care rather than dictate it.
A fitness-forward environment. We practice inside a working CrossFit gym with access to the tools and space needed to actually prepare people for the things they want to do.
Room to grow. Empowered Athletics is an independently owned and growing practice. This isn't a position inside a finished corporate structure. The right person will have the opportunity to help shape what we become.
What You Need
Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from an accredited program
Current California Physical Therapist license, or eligibility for California licensure
CPR/BLS certification
Strong interest in orthopedic, sports, and performance physical therapy
Comfort working with active adults and athletes
Strength and conditioning / fitness background strongly preferred
Experience is valuable, but we're more interested in the quality of your thinking, communication, initiative, and willingness to grow than simply the number of years you've been practicing.
What You’ll Get
Competitive compensation with room to grow.
Full-time compensation is expected to range from $80,000-$120,000 per year, depending on experience, schedule, caseload, and performance. Our compensation model will also include opportunities for performance-based bonuses as you build and manage a successful caseload.
A clinical environment designed for good work.
You'll have the time, equipment, and autonomy to actually practice the way you believe physical therapy should be practiced: 60-minute, one-on-one sessions with an active and motivated patient population.
Benefits that support a sustainable career.
For full-time team members, our planned benefits package includes:
Paid time off
Monthly health insurance contribution
Annual continuing education stipend
Performance-based bonus opportunities
Flexible scheduling
Meaningful mentorship and professional development.
We take clinical growth seriously. You'll have dedicated opportunities for case discussion, mentorship, continuing education, and ongoing development rather than being expected to stop learning once onboarding ends.
A sustainable caseload.
We’re intentionally building a practice where excellent clinicians can do excellent work without seeing 15-20 patients a day. Our goal is a reasonable caseload of approximately 6-7 one-on-one patients per day, with the time and mental bandwidth to give each person your best.
A voice in a growing company.
As an early hire, you'll have the opportunity to contribute ideas, improve systems, develop areas of expertise, and take on greater responsibility as Empowered Athletics grows.
Most importantly, you'll have the opportunity to do the kind of physical therapy many of us imagined doing when we decided to become PTs in the first place.
This Probably Isn't the Right Fit If...
We want to be transparent about what this job requires.
This probably isn't the right environment for you if you want someone else to make every clinical decision for you, aren't comfortable working with strength training or athletic populations, dislike communicating with patients outside of their appointment, or believe that “sales” and excellent healthcare can never coexist.
We don't believe in pressuring people into care they don't need.
We do believe that when we genuinely believe we can help someone, part of our responsibility is being able to clearly explain the problem, communicate a path forward, and confidently recommend the level of care we believe will get them there.
That is a skill…and we're willing to teach it.
Why Join Now?
Empowered Athletics is at an exciting stage of growth.
We've established demand for this model of care and are building the systems and team that will allow us to serve more people without sacrificing the quality that got us here.
That means our next physical therapist isn't simply filling an empty slot on an established schedule.
You'll be one of the first clinicians helping build the next chapter of Empowered Athletics.
For the right person, that creates significant opportunity: to build a caseload, deepen your clinical expertise, develop professionally, influence how the practice operates, and grow into a larger role as the company expands.
Ready to Apply?
If this sounds like the kind of practice (and the kind of team) you’d be excited to grow with, we’d love to get to know you.
To apply, please submit your resume along with a short, 4-5 minute video introducing yourself. No need for anything highly produced, we’re much more interested in getting a feel for who you are, what matters to you, and what you’re looking for in your next role.
In your video, tell us:
Why do you feel like you’d be a great fit for Empowered Athletics PT?
Why do you feel like Empowered Athletics PT would be a great fit for you?
Where do you see yourself in five years, both professionally and personally?
We’re looking for more than the right résumé. We want someone whose values, goals, and vision for their career align with what we’re building and who sees the potential to build something meaningful with us.
If that sounds like you, we’d love to hear from you.
Submit to: Kait@empoweredathleticspt.com