Managed Care Contracting Director 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 Managed Care Contracting Director who can turn payer terms into defensible financial decisions.
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.
- Managed Care Director
- Payer Contracting Director
- Vice President of Managed Care
- Director of Payer Relations
- Director of Value-Based Contracting
- Senior Manager of Payer Contracting
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?
You need more than someone who routes contracts for signature. This leader reviews fee schedules, models proposed terms, prepares negotiation positions, and explains what a payer offer means for service lines, physician groups, and revenue cycle teams. The strongest candidates separate rate increases from usable reimbursement.
They compare proposed rates with authorization rules, timely filing language, denial patterns, network access, quality measures, and the staff work needed to collect payment. Ask what data changed their position during a negotiation.
Look for a director who can explain tradeoffs to finance, legal counsel, operations, and clinical leaders. A favorable rate may not offset restrictive medical policy language, new reporting obligations, or delayed implementation. The director should bring options forward, while your executive team retains final approval.
What do we check before you see anyone?
Ask the candidate to walk through a recent payer proposal. Have them identify the rate terms, reimbursement methodology, carve-outs, escalation language, and provisions needing legal review before a response goes out. Test financial modeling judgment. Ask how they would compare a proposed fee schedule with current allowed amounts, expected volume, contract term, and denial experience.
- Listen for assumptions they would validate rather than simply accepting projected growth.
- Confirm experience with fee-for-service and value-based arrangements. Ask how they assessed quality measures, attribution methods, downside exposure, data availability, and payment timing before recommending participation.
- Review their work with denial and underpayment data. A director need not run daily follow-up, but should know how recurring edits, authorization denials, credentialing delays, and coding disputes affect contract strategy.
- Ask about CMS reimbursement guidance and state-specific changes that affect payer filings or contract terms. The candidate should explain when they involved compliance, legal, coding, or reimbursement specialists instead of giving unsupported interpretations.
- Clarify negotiation authority. Ask which terms the candidate negotiated directly, which analyses they prepared, who approved exceptions, and how they documented agreed language for billing, managed care, and revenue cycle teams.
Where do we find them, and why would they move?
Candidates may come from integrated delivery systems, regional hospitals, multi-site physician groups, academic medical centers, or health plans. They may manage commercial portfolios, government program agreements, delegated arrangements, or payer relations across inpatient and outpatient services. Some leaders consider a move when their present role limits contract ownership, strategy input, or advancement.
Others want broader responsibility across service lines or a setting with a different payer mix. We test the reason for change rather than assuming it.
Which mistakes stall the search?
A common mistake is hiring for payer contacts without testing the candidate’s ability to model terms, challenge assumptions, and document negotiation positions. Another is treating denial management experience as proof that a candidate can lead contract strategy and present financial choices to executives.
Failing to define who approves rates, legal language, network participation, and value-based risk before interviews begin.
How would we run the search for this opening?
Tell us whether you need help with rate resets, expiring agreements, payer disputes, value-based contracting, network strategy, or recurring underpayments. Use an anonymized payer proposal or a hypothetical case. Discuss how the director would work with finance, legal, credentialing, coding, revenue cycle, physician leadership, and operations.
Define the decision in front of you
We will screen for work that matches that decision, not just a familiar job title.
Test the contract review process
Ask what information the candidate would request, what terms they would model first, and what they would take to legal counsel or executive leadership.
Confirm working relationships
Ask for a specific example of resolving disagreement over a contract position or implementation plan.
Where this search connects
Revenue Cycle, Reimbursement & HIM
SpecialtyHospitals & Health Systems
SettingPhysician Groups & Specialty Practices
SettingAmbulatory Surgery Centers & Surgical Hospitals
SettingHome Health & Hospice
SettingVP of Revenue Cycle
Related roleDirector of Revenue Cycle
Related roleDirector of Patient Financial Services (PFS / CBO)
Related roleDirector of Patient Access
Related roleAsk us for a current range
No direct SOC occupation matches this role.
No reasonable single SOC match for this brief. Ask us for a current range.
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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How do you screen candidates who receive counteroffers?
We ask why they are considering a move, what authority they have now, and what would make the new role worthwhile. If a counteroffer appears possible, we revisit those answers before you invest time in final interviews or an offer.
How soon can a new director affect reimbursement?
The first work is usually a contract inventory, financial review, and identification of renewal dates or disputed terms. Financial impact depends on payer timelines, negotiations, approvals, and whether billing systems must be updated after an agreement is signed.
Should we require prior experience with our exact payer mix?
Relevant regional experience can shorten orientation, especially when local plans have unusual terms or market influence. We also assess whether a candidate can learn your payer mix through contract data, reimbursement reports, and internal subject matter experts.
What are the placement terms?
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.
Which contract terms should executive leaders approve?
Your executive and legal leadership should approve the final business and legal position. The director supplies analysis, negotiation work, and a recommendation that identifies financial upside, operational burden, and unresolved risk.
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.
If you need a director who can review payer terms with financial discipline, Healthcare Headhunters can start with your current contracting question and the authority this hire will hold.
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 Reimbursement · Credentialing & Provider Enrollment 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 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.