Peer Recovery Specialist (Peer Support Specialist) 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.
Hiring a peer recovery specialist means finding someone who can turn lived experience into practical support without crossing clinical or personal boundaries.
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.
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?
Healthcare Headhunters recruits peer recovery specialists, also called peer support specialists, for employer teams. Your hire may support recovery conversations, group participation, appointment follow-through, and connections to community resources. We ask how candidates perform those tasks, document their work, and seek help when a person's needs exceed the peer role.
Start by defining what peer support means in your program. A residential service may need someone who helps residents rejoin daily activities after a difficult conversation. An outpatient program may need outreach and resource connections between visits. State whether the role serves substance use recovery, mental health recovery, or both.
Peer staff bring a perspective different from therapists, case managers, and prescribers. Their work should not quietly become diagnosis, treatment planning, or independent crisis management.
We arrange locum tenens, travel and contract coverage on request. Credentialing, licensing and malpractice coverage are confirmed per engagement before anyone starts.
What do we check before you see anyone?
Boundaries: Ask, “What would you do if someone requested your personal number or asked to borrow money?” A useful answer describes program-approved contact channels, a respectful refusal, and consultation when boundaries become difficult. Use of lived experience: Ask, “How do you decide whether sharing part of your recovery story helps someone?”
- Look for a clear purpose, limited disclosure, and attention to the person's response rather than a long personal narrative.
- Safety escalation: Ask, “What would you do if a participant disclosed an immediate safety concern during a group?” Look for prompt use of your escalation process, clear communication, and recognition that peer support does not replace clinical assessment.
- Documentation: Ask, “How would you record a resource referral and a participant's decision not to pursue it?” Useful answers describe factual notes, the support offered, the person's stated choice, and any agreed follow-up without diagnostic speculation.
- Credentials and supervision: Ask, “Which peer credential do you hold, and what supervision supported your previous work?” We screen the stated credential and work history against your position. You verify any applicable license, certification, or program-specific credential and complete your own clinical assessment.
Where do we find them, and why would they move?
Relevant backgrounds can include community behavioral health programs, substance use treatment services, recovery community organizations, residential programs, and hospital-based peer initiatives. We distinguish paid peer work from volunteer experience. Each can offer useful evidence, but candidates should explain their actual duties, supervision, documentation, and contact with participants.
Someone may consider a move for clearer role boundaries, a different service population, more predictable hours, or stronger supervisory access. We ask which participant contacts and supervisory arrangements the candidate wants in the next position. Experience in a drop-in recovery center does not automatically translate to a hospital team, where handoffs, access rules, and documentation may differ.
Which mistakes stall the search?
A common mistake is hiring from a compelling personal story alone. Ask for examples of listening, respecting declined help, recording contacts, and maintaining boundaries during repeated interactions. Another is treating every peer certificate as interchangeable. Check the credential accepted for your location, service, and funding arrangement before making it a posting condition.
Leaving the reporting line unclear. Name who handles routine supervision, who receives urgent concerns, and what the peer specialist should do when that person is unavailable.
How would we run the search for this opening?
Tell us who the specialist will support, where contacts occur, and which duties belong to other team members. We screen credentials, work history, and fit through examples of peer conversations, referrals, boundaries, and escalation. Compare shortlisted candidates using the same peer-support scenario: a participant declines a resource referral and requests contact outside program channels.
Define the peer assignment
Specify group work, outreach, transportation expectations, documentation access, and evening or weekend schedules.
Compare relevant evidence
You assess the candidate's approach against your program and complete credential verification and any clinical assessment.
Assess the peer shortlist
Assess whether each candidate respects that choice, maintains contact boundaries, records the interaction, and knows when to consult a supervisor. 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. Confirm the reporting line and onboarding plan before the hire begins.
Where this search connects
Behavioral Health & ABA Clinicians
SpecialtyLicensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW, Therapist)
Related roleLicensed Professional Counselor (LPC, LMHC, LPCC, Mental Health Counselor)
Related roleLicensed Marriage & Family Therapist (LMFT)
Related roleLicensed Addiction Counselor (LADC, LCADC, CADC, Substance Use Counselor)
Related roleNational median annual wage. SOC 21-1094, Community Health Workers.
BLS reports Community Health Workers as one occupation. It does not publish a separate estimate for Peer Recovery Specialist (Peer Support Specialist), 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 Peer Recovery Specialist (Peer Support Specialist) 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.
How should we assess lived experience without asking for an exhaustive personal history?
Ask how candidates use lived experience to support another person's recovery choices. Keep discussion focused on role-related examples and applicable credential criteria rather than requesting sensitive details that do not help evaluate the work. We ask candidates how they share personal experience selectively, respect another person's choices, and bring concerns to the designated clinical or supervisory contact.
Should our peer specialist also run therapy groups?
Do not treat peer-led support and clinical therapy as the same assignment. Describe the group purpose, expected activities, and supervision, then confirm whether separate clinical credentials are needed for any added duties.
What should we test for outreach-heavy peer positions?
Ask how candidates handle unanswered contacts, declined support, and referrals that cannot be completed. Strong answers explain permitted outreach methods, factual documentation, and when to discuss barriers with a supervisor.
Can a peer specialist help with discharge connections?
Yes, if that task fits your program's peer role. Ask how the candidate explains available recovery resources, respects the person's choice, and reports unfinished connections to the discharge team.
What supervision details should appear in our posting?
Identify the supervisor, access to help during scheduled hours, and the route for urgent concerns. Candidates should know whether they work alone in the community or alongside other staff.
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.
Share your peer support duties and setting with us. We can help you compare candidates whose experience matches the work you need done.
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?
Licensed Addiction Counselor (LADC, LCADC, CADC, Substance Use Counselor) · Mobile Crisis Clinician (Crisis Counselor)
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.