Nursing Home Administrator (NHA) 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 licensed Nursing Home Administrator who can make sound census, survey, staffing, and leadership decisions each day.
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.
- Licensed Nursing Home Administrator
- Administrator (SNF)
- Executive Director (SNF)
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?
An NHA may review a Medicare A referral, meet with the Director of Nursing, answer an ownership question, and check survey follow-up before lunch. You need a leader who can explain the facts behind each decision and assign follow-up clearly.
We recruit permanent contingency candidates for this role.
The NHA and Director of Nursing need a workable daily partnership. Ask what happens when the DON reports staffing gaps, admissions wants to accept a referral, and a documentation concern needs review. A strong answer identifies who joins the discussion, what facts matter, and when the candidate would decline or delay an admission.
Survey experience is more than naming citations. Ask about a finding, the plan of correction, department ownership, staff education, auditing, and revisit preparation. The administrator may direct resources and accountability, while nursing leaders direct clinical practice.
What do we check before you see anyone?
State NHA license and NAB exam. We screen for the applicable state Nursing Home Administrator license and ask about NAB exam history. We also ask where the candidate has practiced and whether a move needs additional state licensure before a start date.
- Survey history. We ask candidates to describe state surveys, complaint surveys, findings, plans of correction, and revisit work. They should explain how they met with department heads, tracked actions, and responded when an audit showed the correction was not holding.
- Census and Medicare A or managed care mix. We ask how the administrator reviews referrals, bed availability, staffing implications, anticipated length of stay, and payer mix. The candidate should distinguish a desirable referral from one the building cannot support operationally.
- Partnership with nursing leadership. We ask how the candidate works through disagreement with the DON about documentation, staffing patterns, or admissions. Useful answers show regular communication, respect for clinical judgment, and willingness to make an operational decision when facts support it.
- Staff retention and labor decisions. We ask what the candidate did when turnover affected schedules, agency use, orientation, or supervisor workload. We want the sequence: how they gathered facts, who they consulted, what changed, and how they judged whether the change helped.
- Financial and reimbursement awareness. We ask how census reports, Medicare A data, managed care terms, and PDPM-related documentation discussions appear in leadership meetings. This tests operating judgment without asking an administrator to make clinical coding decisions.
Where do we find them, and why would they move?
We recruit from administrators at peer skilled nursing facilities, Administrators-in-Training, and licensed senior living executive directors. Each source pool needs a different review. An AIT may need closer review of independent responsibility. A senior living leader may need direct SNF survey and reimbursement depth.
People move for practical reasons. They may seek greater authority, a clearer relationship with ownership, a shorter commute, or a payer mix that better fits their background. We ask what changed, what they completed, and why this role is a logical next move.
Which mistakes stall the search?
A common mistake is treating a polished interview as proof that the candidate can explain a survey finding, corrective action, and later audit result. Another is hiring a large-facility administrator without asking what decisions they personally made about admissions, department accountability, and daily building operations.
Focusing on census growth while skipping Medicare A, managed care, staffing limits, and PDPM-related documentation discussions.
How would we run the search for this opening?
Tell us whether survey follow-up, census performance, payer mix, leadership turnover, or ownership communication needs attention first. We screen license status, work history, survey examples, census and payer-mix experience, and reasons for each move. Include ownership, the DON, and leaders who work with the NHA.
Set the operating brief
We use that brief in outreach and screening.
Review role evidence
You review candidates whose background matches your building's decisions.
Interview the leadership fit
Ask finalists to discuss an admission, staffing, or survey-response sequence before you choose.
Where this search connects
Post-Acute, Senior Living & Home-Based Care Leadership
SpecialtySkilled Nursing & Post-Acute Care
SettingSenior Living (Assisted Living, Memory Care, CCRC)
SettingHome Health & Hospice
SettingPE-Backed Healthcare Platforms
SettingAssistant Director of Nursing (ADON)
Related roleMDS Coordinator
Related roleRegional Nurse Consultant
Related roleRegional Director of Operations (Post-Acute & Senior Living)
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 Nursing Home Administrator (NHA), 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 are the fee terms?
No upfront fee. 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. We arrange locum tenens, travel and contract coverage on request. Credentialing, licensing and malpractice coverage are confirmed per engagement before anyone starts.
Do candidates need a state NHA license?
Yes: this role calls for the applicable state Nursing Home Administrator license. We screen licensure and work history, while you complete your own credentialing review before hire.
How should we evaluate survey experience?
Ask for a detailed example, not a survey score alone. The candidate should explain the finding, involved departments, correction plan, monitoring work, and what they would change next time.
Can a senior living executive director move into a SNF administrator role?
Sometimes, but the gap needs direct review. Examine state licensure, SNF exposure, survey history, Medicare A and managed care knowledge, and experience working with a DON.
What should the DON ask during interviews?
Ask how the candidate handles disagreement, recurring documentation concerns, and staffing issues that affect admissions or survey follow-up. Look for clear ownership, regular communication, and a reasoned decision sequence.
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 is driving the hire and which decisions the next NHA will own. We will screen for licensed leaders who can discuss that work in practical detail.
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?
Regional MDS Coordinator · Director of Nursing (DON), Skilled Nursing
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.