C-Suite & Executive Recruiters
Healthcare Headhunters recruits healthcare professionals for employers. No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
This is what we do all day: recruit healthcare professionals.
Recruit an executive who can answer board questions, direct leaders, and make difficult financial choices.
No postings. No stacks of resumes. No chasing. You interview a short list.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
Need someone now? Call 305-306-4829.
What happens next
- We review your role, responsibilities and location.
- Ivan or a senior team member will reach out soon.
- You meet a focused shortlist when qualified candidates fit the agreed search.
- Fees.
- No upfront fee. Pay only if you hire, under the signed agreement.
- Exclusivity.
- Set out in the signed client agreement.
- Confidentiality.
- We agree the brief before outreach. This is not a promise of absolute anonymity.
- No hire.
- No hire means no fee on standard searches.
What does an open seat cost you every week?
An open role costs you more than the recruiting fee. Someone covers the work, waits for care, or stops a service. We ask what is falling behind and who is carrying it. Use your own figures to compare the cost of waiting with the cost of hiring.
The seat is costing you every week.
Overtime, diverted patients, a stretched team and a schedule held together by favors.
The posting brought the wrong people.
Applicants arrive, but the person who has done this exact work is employed and not looking.
You are the one chasing.
Screening calls, no-shows and follow-ups land on the desk of someone with a facility to run.
What does this hire really come down to?
A CEO, COO, CFO, president, or vice president affects decisions across your facility. We define the seat before searching: reporting lines, board expectations, service lines, financial authority, and the first problem the incoming leader must own. Ask how a CEO or president handled a margin shortfall across finance, trustees, medical staff, and department leaders.
What facts changed their view, which spending did they delay, and how did they describe operational effects?
Ask a COO what failed between departments and how they fixed it.
We arrange locum tenens, travel and contract coverage on request. Credentialing, licensing and malpractice coverage are confirmed per engagement before anyone starts.
What do we check before you see anyone?
Credentials and licenses: We review degrees, work history, claimed executive credentials, and active professional licenses when the role calls for one. FACHE board certification may be a useful preference, not a universal condition. We ask how the executive maintained it and applied its standards to a leadership decision.
- Board communication: We ask about a governing-board presentation involving a difficult question. What did a trustee challenge? Which figures or operating facts supported the response? What decision followed? This shows whether the executive can turn financial and clinical information into a useful board discussion.
- Scope of authority: A title does not describe the work. We confirm departments, service lines, direct reports, budget responsibility, reporting structure, and decision rights. A vice president advising several hospitals may have less direct accountability than a facility COO.
- Medical and nursing partnership: We ask about a disagreement with a medical director, chief nursing officer, or department chair. The executive should describe the issue, facts reviewed, decision owner, and follow-up. General claims about teamwork do not show how someone handles conflict.
- Financial pressure: We examine periods when revenue fell, expenses rose, or one capital request competed with another. We ask which options were considered, what limits applied, and how the executive reported results while protecting patient-care commitments.
- Change record: If you need a turnaround, service-line growth plan, merger integration, or leadership reset, we test comparable work closely. We ask what existed before, what the executive changed personally, who objected, and what evidence showed progress.
Where do we find them, and why would they move?
Source pools include leaders from independent hospitals, regional health systems, multi-hospital organizations, and specialized service lines. Roles may include CEOs, COOs, CFOs, hospital presidents, vice presidents, finance, operations, physician enterprise leaders, and division administrators. An executive may consider a move because their current remit is narrow, a succession path changed, or corporate decisions limit local authority.
Others may seek responsibility for one facility rather than reporting across several. We discuss board expectations, compensation structure, family factors, and relocation interest directly.
Which mistakes stall the search?
A common mistake is treating a similar bed count or revenue figure as proof of fit. Confirm service mix, board exposure, decision rights, and whether the person owned results or supplied analysis to another leader. Ask a CFO about a budget decision they challenged, including whether it needed board approval.
Selecting the strongest cost-cutter without examining the next budget cycle. Ask how the executive handled delayed spending, clinician concerns, capital requests, and a longer operating plan.
Assuming a large-system leader wants a hands-on local role. Ask about limited corporate support, community scrutiny, and a board that expects accessible answers.
How would we run the search for this opening?
We start with reporting lines, board relationship, near-term decisions, service-line scope, and financial accountability. We review credentials, career history, scope, and reasons for considering a move. We present people who match the agreed profile and coordinate interviews around your decision process.
Define the seat
You identify the first issue the incoming executive will own and the authority attached to the role. If a capital decision is pending, we define who prepares options and who makes the final call.
Screen the evidence
We ask role-specific questions about board presentations, budget choices, capital requests, staff disputes, and reported results. Your team completes its own credentialing and leadership assessment.
Present and hire
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire. We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
What if we need a leader for a financial turnaround?
We identify the issue first, such as expense growth, weak revenue-cycle performance, debt pressure, or a contested capital plan. We then ask what the executive owned, what alternatives they rejected, how operating leaders were involved, and how results were reported to the board.
How do you distinguish a CEO, COO, CFO, and hospital president search?
We start with the work assigned to the seat, not the title. A CFO search centers on financial stewardship and board reporting. A COO search tests department execution and relationships with physician and nursing leaders.
How do you assess whether an executive can work with our board?
We ask for detailed examples of board meetings, committee work, difficult questions, and follow-through after a vote. We also clarify your board's role in capital decisions, strategy, physician matters, and executive authority before presenting people.
Can you help when relocation is part of the search?
Yes: we discuss location interest, family timing, and the practical reason someone would consider your community early. Interest alone is not enough. We look for a credible connection between the role's scope and the executive's next career decision.
Do you offer interim or contract executive coverage?
We arrange locum tenens, travel and contract coverage on request. Credentialing, licensing and malpractice coverage are confirmed per engagement before anyone starts.
What should you send us about this role?
Send us the role, where the person will work and what needs to change with this hire. We will ask about the work, not just the title. Share any license or schedule limits that could rule someone out before we begin the search.
Tell us what the board needs solved, what the executive will own, and where past leaders struggled.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire. We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
What happens next
- We review your role, responsibilities and location.
- Ivan or a senior team member will reach out soon.
- You meet a focused shortlist when qualified candidates fit the agreed search.
- Fees.
- No upfront fee. Pay only if you hire, under the signed agreement.
- Exclusivity.
- Set out in the signed client agreement.
- Confidentiality.
- We agree the brief before outreach. This is not a promise of absolute anonymity.
- No hire.
- No hire means no fee on standard searches.
Which related pages help you prepare?
- How to hire a Executive Leadership: C-Suite & VP team
- How to hire a Physician Executives & Medical Directors team
- Executive Leadership: C-Suite & VP: positions we recruit
- Physician Executives & Medical Directors: positions we recruit
- Anesthesia Technician Recruiters
- Audiologist (AuD) Recruiters
- Our Healthcare Headhunting Process
- Healthcare Recruiter Fees: No Upfront Fee
- Salary Guide Methodology (BLS BLS OEWS May 2025)
What do you get at each step of the search?
Our process for every search: calibrate the seat with you, map the market, research the real people, reach out to each one personally, qualify them in live conversation, then hand you a short list with a written brief on each person and support through the offer.
Search Calibration
You get an agreed brief: the work, reporting line, credentials, schedule, and offer you can make.
Market Mapping
You get a search aimed at relevant backgrounds, including people working now who have not applied.
Professional Contact Intelligence
We check appropriate ways to reach the people identified for your search. You do not have to chase them yourself.
Persistent Personalized Outreach
We explain your actual job and follow up with people who may consider a conversation.
Live Candidate Qualification
You see people we have spoken with about the work, interest, and practical fit, not an unread resume pile.
Candidate Intelligence and Process Support
You get a written brief and support through interviews and offer discussions. You make the hiring decision.
How long will it take to see a short list?
That depends on the job, schedule, available people, and what your employer can offer. We discuss those constraints before outreach and update you as candidates respond. We do not promise a fixed shortlist date. We check the job brief before arranging interviews. Tell us which parts of the role you can change.
What if a candidate receives a counteroffer?
We ask why the person wants to move and discuss competing decisions before an offer. A counteroffer can still change their choice. Keep the duties and offer clear rather than assuming more money settles every concern. Tell us early if parts of your offer cannot change, so the candidate hears it from us first.
What are the replacement terms?
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement. Ask us to walk through those terms before you sign, so you know how a replacement would work for your opening and who would start it.
What do we not do in a standard permanent search?
We do not bill standard contingency search by the hour or simply repost your job. Temporary coverage is a separate arrangement. Any retainer or different engagement must be agreed, not assumed. Tell us early if you need coverage while the permanent search runs.