Director of Laboratory Services 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 laboratory services director who can lead inspection work, staffing decisions, and testing operations without losing sight of cost.
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.
- Laboratory Director (administrative)
- Laboratory Manager
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?
When results are delayed, an instrument is down, or an inspection is approaching, your director must decide what receives attention first. We recruit leaders who can explain their actions across chemistry, hematology, microbiology, molecular testing, pathology, or the service lines in their scope.
A strong technical supervisor is not automatically ready for department leadership. The director may review staffing plans, approve reagent purchases, answer questions from nursing or medical staff, prepare inspection evidence, and explain variance spending to finance leaders. We ask which decisions the candidate personally owned and what changed afterward.
Internal promotion can work when a current leader already manages budgets, inspection preparation, and cross-department issues. An outside hire can add useful experience when your service mix is changing or leadership depth is limited.
What do we check before you see anyone?
MLS(ASCP) credential: We verify the credential listed by the candidate and ask how their clinical background informs director-level decisions. Your team completes its own credentialing review and determines whether this credential fits the position. CLIA and CAP inspection history: We ask the candidate to describe the inspection cycle, assigned document owners, cited findings, corrective actions, and follow-up.
- A general statement that they “passed inspections” does not show their role.
- State laboratory personnel licensure: Where your state requires laboratory personnel licensure, such as California or New York, we screen for the applicable license status. We ask about renewal timing, prior state practice, and any needed review before relocation.
- Laboratory information systems and automation: We ask what happened when an interface failed, a result queue backed up, or an analyzer change affected workflows. The useful answer identifies who was contacted, how work was tracked, and how errors were reviewed.
- Budget and reagent control: We ask for a specific purchase or contract decision. Candidates should explain how they compared reagent pricing, analyzer commitments, service coverage, inventory levels, and the risk of disrupting testing.
- Staffing and accountability: We ask how the candidate handled a recurring competency gap, uneven shift coverage, or conflict between sections. Their answer should show clear expectations, follow-through, and when they involved human resources or medical leadership.
Where do we find them, and why would they move?
We approach laboratory managers and section supervisors from hospital laboratories, referral testing settings, and other diagnostic service organizations. These leaders may be ready for broader departmental authority after managing a section, several shifts, or inspection preparation. We also speak with leaders from multisite outpatient laboratory groups.
Some may consider a hospital or integrated setting for broader service-line oversight, while others seek fewer sites, a different commute, or a clearer path to a director title. We test the reason for a move rather than assume it.
Which mistakes stall the search?
A common mistake is promoting the strongest bench or section leader without testing budget ownership, inspection responsibility, and authority to address performance issues. Another is comparing only test volume. A smaller laboratory leader may have broader authority, while a larger-site manager may have little control over contracts, staffing, or equipment.
Waiting until the final interview to discuss licensure, relocation, reporting structure, or who owns pathology, molecular, and outreach decisions.
How would we run the search for this opening?
Tell us which sections, sites, medical directors, and support functions report to this person. We present candidates whose history matches your scope. After interviews, your team completes reference, credentialing, and clinical assessment steps. We compare the candidate’s prior scope with your actual reporting lines, test menu, sites, and authority over hiring, equipment, and spending.
Set the leadership scope
Clarify whether pathology, molecular testing, outreach, or specimen collection belongs in the role.
Build the interview around decisions
You can ask about an inspection finding, analyzer replacement, reagent shortage, staffing gap, or disagreement over turnaround expectations.
Complete your review
We help keep feedback specific so compensation, notice timing, licensure, and start conditions are addressed before an offer.
Where this search connects
Imaging, Lab, Rehab & Diagnostic Services Leadership
SpecialtyHospitals & Health Systems
SettingAcademic Medical Centers
SettingChildren's Hospitals
SettingAmbulatory Surgery Centers & Surgical Hospitals
SettingDirector of Imaging (Radiology Director)
Related roleMedical Physicist
Related roleMedical Dosimetrist
Related rolePathologists' Assistant
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 Laboratory Services, 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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Should we recruit a laboratory manager or a director?
Choose a director when the person will own department strategy, budget discussions, inspection leadership, and several sections or sites. A manager may fit when the role reports to an established director and focuses on daily operations within a defined area.
Do we need an MLS(ASCP) credential for every director candidate?
The credential is an important screening point in this search, but your organization sets the position criteria. We verify the candidate’s stated MLS(ASCP) status and discuss how their education and laboratory leadership background match your role.
How should we assess CLIA and CAP inspection experience?
Ask for the candidate’s direct role, not just the laboratory’s inspection outcome. Useful follow-up questions cover document control, staff preparation, cited findings, corrective action, and communication with laboratory and medical leaders.
What if the candidate is licensed in another state?
State laboratory personnel licensure can affect timing where required, including California and New York. We identify current status early, while your organization confirms its own licensure and credentialing process.
What do we pay if we pause the search?
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire through Healthcare Headhunters, with the fee and standard search replacement terms set in a written agreement.
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 the laboratory scope, state, reporting structure, and immediate leadership problem. We will begin a permanent contingency search with no upfront fee. We arrange locum tenens, travel and contract coverage on request.
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?
Director of Radiation Oncology Services · Laboratory Manager
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.