Director of Ambulatory Operations 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.
Hire a multi-site operations leader who can turn schedule gaps and uneven clinic routines into clear daily action.
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.
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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.
- VP Ambulatory Services
- Director of Clinic Operations
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 Director of Ambulatory Operations oversees how clinics open, schedule, staff, communicate, and close across a network. You need more than a strong single-site manager. The person must spot where one location creates avoidable delays, decide what should be standardized, and leave specialty-specific work intact.
A call abandoned in central scheduling can become an empty provider slot. A late registration can push rooming, handoffs, and checkout behind. Ask candidates what they review first when one clinic runs behind while another has unused appointments.
This role also needs judgment with local leaders. A director cannot simply issue one procedure for every site. We look for leaders who visit operations, compare facts with staff feedback, assign owners, and follow up on the change. Your team should assess their leadership style and clinical implications during its own interviews.
What do we check before you see anyone?
Multi-clinic operations. We ask how many sites the candidate directed, which functions reported to them, and how they handled different specialties. We also ask for an example of a site that resisted a common process and what changed after review.
- Access and scheduling. We examine experience with scheduling platforms, referral work queues, call center handoffs, cancellation lists, and template rules. Ask what they would inspect when new-patient appointments are available on paper but callers cannot obtain them.
- Ambulatory growth. We ask about clinic openings and acquired-site integration. A credible answer covers space readiness, equipment purchasing, staff hiring, scheduling build, local training, and the first weeks of operational review.
- Staffing models. We screen for work with nursing, front-office, and support staffing plans across locations. Candidates should explain how they respond when staff coverage and patient volume do not match, without treating every site as identical.
- Performance reporting. We ask which dashboard measures they used, who received it, and what action followed. Useful measures may include appointment availability, no-shows, registration delays, room turnover, referral aging, and call abandonment.
- Change follow-through. We ask candidates to describe a change that did not work at first. The answer should identify the original assumption, feedback from site leaders, the revised process, and how they checked whether the change held.
Where do we find them, and why would they move?
We recruit clinic directors and practice administrators from multi-site ambulatory groups, physician practices, hospital-affiliated outpatient networks, and surgery center operations. They may currently lead front-office teams, centralized scheduling, clinic managers, or regional operations. People consider a move for different reasons.
Some want broader authority across several clinics. Others want a clearer growth plan, greater responsibility for openings or integrations, or a role where operational decisions reach senior leadership.
Which mistakes stall the search?
A common mistake is hiring a successful single-clinic manager without testing whether they have led managers across separate locations, schedules, and local practices. Another is accepting claims of better access without asking what changed in templates, call routing, referral work, or cancellation recovery.
Treating an acquisition as a staffing exercise and failing to test the candidate’s plan for systems, equipment, local workflows, and leadership alignment.
How would we run the search for this opening?
Tell us which sites, access issues, growth plans, and reporting gaps need attention. We review work history, credentials, scope, and examples of multi-clinic decisions. You meet candidates whose background fits the role. The best candidates treat clinic flow as connected work.
Define the operating problem
We build questions around the work your new director will face.
Screen operating evidence
We ask what the candidate changed, what they measured, and who owned the next step.
Compare finalists carefully
We help structure interview questions, while you complete credentialing, reference review, and your own leadership and clinical assessment.
Where this search connects
Practice, Ambulatory & Surgery Center Operations
SpecialtyPhysician Groups & Specialty Practices
SettingAmbulatory Surgery Centers & Surgical Hospitals
SettingFQHCs & Community Health Centers
SettingUrgent Care & Occupational Health
SettingPractice Administrator
Related roleMedical Group Administrator
Related roleASC Administrator
Related roleDirector of Medical Staff Services
Related roleNational median annual wage. SOC 11-9111, Medical and Health Services Managers.
BLS reports Medical and Health Services Managers as one occupation. It does not publish a separate estimate for Director of Ambulatory Operations, its setting or its engagement terms.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, 2025-05, released 2026-05-15. View source. See the full guide.
Open roles
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What evidence shows a candidate can improve patient access?
Ask for the starting problem, the scheduling or call process reviewed, and the resulting operational change. A useful answer distinguishes between adding appointments, changing templates, improving call handling, and recovering cancellations. Your leaders can judge whether that approach fits your patient population and provider model.
Should we hire a Director of Ambulatory Operations or a Director of Clinic Operations?
The title matters less than the scope. A clinic operations director may fit a smaller group or a defined service line. An ambulatory operations director usually needs broader responsibility for several sites, shared access work, and growth planning.
Can this person lead a new clinic opening or acquisition integration?
Yes, if their background includes that work. We test whether they can describe the sequence from planning through opening or conversion, including staffing, equipment, scheduling build, and early issue review. Do not assume integration experience from a general growth claim.
Are there upfront costs for a permanent search?
No upfront fee applies to our permanent contingency placement work. 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.
Can you help if we need interim coverage before making a permanent hire?
We arrange locum tenens, travel and contract coverage on request. Credentialing, licensing and malpractice coverage are confirmed per engagement before anyone starts. Per diem placement means adding someone to your own pool rather than covering individual shifts.
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 where clinic operations break down across your sites. We can begin a focused search for the leader who can address that work.
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 other positions in this family should you consider?
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.