Executive Director, Treatment Center 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 treatment center Executive Director who connects admissions, payer review, survey work, and site finances.
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.
Get a free talent snapshot · Get a free job description review
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.
- Facility Director
- CEO (Behavioral Health)
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?
Your Executive Director makes daily calls across referrals, census, staffing spend, authorization delays, documentation gaps, and owner reporting. Healthcare Headhunters recruits permanent Executive Directors, Facility Directors, and behavioral health CEOs who can describe the decisions they made and the authority they held.
When admissions slow, ask where referrals stopped, whether intake returned calls, whether program fit was clear, and whether staffing supported admissions. Ask when clinical issues require an appropriate licensed leader's decision rather than an administrative decision.
Ask about budget authority and what happened when labor spending rose as admissions fell. How did they handle disagreement among clinical leaders, admissions, billing, and support teams when decisions affected revenue, staff workload, or operations?
What do we check before you see anyone?
CARF or Joint Commission history. We ask whether the candidate led preparation for CARF or Joint Commission surveys, which standards drew attention, and who owned corrective work. Attending a survey differs from leading the response after findings. Census and admissions.
- We ask how they tracked referrals from first contact through admission, reviewed open beds, and examined lost referrals. Strong answers identify a handoff, intake response, staffing, scheduling, or program-fit issue and the action taken.
- Payer mix and authorization review. We ask which payer patterns they monitored and how they worked with authorization review, billing, and clinical documentation staff. Candidates should explain their response to denials or delayed approvals without directing clinical decisions for financial reasons.
- P&L scope. We confirm whether the candidate owned a facility budget, approved spending, reviewed variances, and reported results to an owner, board, or regional leader. We ask what they could change when census and labor spending moved in opposite directions.
- State oversight and licensure. We ask which state agencies oversaw prior centers, how inspections were prepared for, and how corrective actions were tracked. If your state or role calls for an administrator credential or professional license, you confirm that standard during credentialing.
- Team decisions. We ask how the candidate set expectations with medical providers, therapists, nursing leaders, admissions staff, and support teams. When conflict affected operations, we ask what facts they reviewed, who made the final decision, and how it was communicated.
Where do we find them, and why would they move?
We speak with executive and program directors at peer operators. Moves can follow ownership changes, narrower decision rights, new reporting structures, or limited advancement. Before presentation, we discuss program model, reporting line, authority, and location. We also approach Facility Directors and behavioral health CEOs from smaller programs or regional portfolios.
Which mistakes stall the search?
A common mistake is hiring a clinically experienced leader without confirming budget authority, payer exposure, and accountability for admissions results. Another is treating CARF or Joint Commission survey attendance as proof that the candidate led corrective work after findings. A leader may seek closer involvement with admissions, survey preparation, staff accountability, and owner reporting.
Leaving decision rights unclear, then holding the Executive Director responsible for census or labor results they cannot influence.
How would we run the search for this opening?
We discuss your program type, reporting line, budget authority, census pattern, payer mix, accreditation status, and state oversight. We review work history, stated credentials, leadership scope, and reasons for a move. We help you test the questions affecting your site.
Set the operating brief
We identify which decisions belong to the Executive Director and which remain with ownership, a board, clinical leadership, or a regional office.
Screen operating evidence
We ask about survey work, admissions oversight, P&L responsibility, payer discussions, team conflict, and state exposure.
Run focused interviews
If a candidate describes a denial trend or survey finding, ask what data they reviewed, who acted, what changed, and what authority they would need at your center.
Where this search connects
Behavioral Health Leadership & Licensed Clinicians
SpecialtyBehavioral Health & Addiction Treatment
SettingPE-Backed Healthcare Platforms
SettingBehavioral Health Medical Director
Related roleClinical Director (Behavioral Health / Addiction)
Related roleProgram Director (Residential, PHP, IOP)
Related roleLicensed Clinical Psychologist
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 Executive Director, Treatment Center, 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
Not ready to start a search?
Get a free talent snapshot
We tell you where qualified Executive Director, Treatment Center are working in your area and what it takes to move them. No fee. No obligation.
Get a free job description review
Paste or upload the JD. We flag unclear scope, requirements and terms that may put strong candidates off. No fee. No obligation.
Should we hire an Executive Director with a clinical license?
That depends on state rules, program type, and your leadership structure. Some centers need a stated license or administrator credential, while others place clinical licensure with a separate leader. We screen stated credentials, and you confirm the role standard. Others may want broader site authority than their present role permits.
How should we assess CARF or Joint Commission experience?
Ask for the candidate’s exact role before, during, and after a survey. They should identify documents, departments, findings, corrective actions, and reporting duties.
What should we ask about census management?
Ask how they followed referrals from the first call through admission and where prospects were lost. Ask how they balanced admissions goals with staffing, program fit, timely intake decisions, and planned discharges.
Can you recruit outside our local market?
Yes: a broader search may help when local leadership pools are limited or your center needs particular accreditation or payer experience. If relocation support is possible, state it early so candidates can assess the move realistically.
How do fees work for a permanent search?
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 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 Healthcare Headhunters what the Executive Director owns on day one and where your center needs stronger decisions. We will build a permanent search around that brief. We arrange locum tenens, travel and contract coverage on request. Credentialing, licensing and malpractice coverage are confirmed per engagement before anyone starts.
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?
Chief Clinical Officer (Behavioral Health) · Clinical Director (Behavioral Health / Addiction)
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.