Industries / Healthcare and Life Sciences

Healthcare and Life Sciences Executive Search

Thin margins, Medicaid cuts, workforce shortages and AI are all landing on healthcare leaders at once. Here's what makes each leadership search hard right now, what to look for, and what to watch out for.

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Across our careers, we've recruited for roles like these.

A scientist working with a sample in a laboratory — EXECUTIVE · CLINICAL · REVENUE CYCLE · REGULATORY · IT

Our placements include organizations like

The White House · NASA · Google · Boeing · Lockheed Martin · Big 4 firms · Fortune 100 companies · DoD programs · Oil and gas · Startups

The market right now

Thin margins, workforce shortages and AI, all at once.

2.5%

The median hospital operating margin index was 2.5% year to date as of April 2026, while labor expense per adjusted discharge rose 4%.

Kaufman Hall, June 2026

$911 billion

The Congressional Budget Office estimates the 2025 reconciliation law cuts federal Medicaid spending by $911 billion over 10 years.

KFF, July 2025

32%

Hospital CEO exits rose 7% in 2025 to 111, and first-quarter 2026 exits were up 32% from a year earlier.

Becker's Hospital Review citing Challenger, Gray & Christmas, February and May 2026

78 days

Hospital RN turnover is 17.6%, and an experienced RN takes 78 days to hire.

NSI Nursing Solutions, March 2026

24%

BLS projects 24% growth for medical and health services managers from 2025 to 2035.

BLS, August 2026

HIRING IN HEALTHCARE?

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Leadership roles we recruit

The leaders health systems and life sciences companies need most.

Every role links to our guide: why it's hard to hire right now, what to look for and what to watch out for.

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CEO and Administrator
Chief Medical Officer
Chief Nursing Officer and Director of Nursing
VP of Clinical Operations
Director of Revenue Cycle
Director of Practice Operations and Practice Manager
VP and Director of Regulatory Affairs
Director of Quality and Compliance
CIO and Head of Health IT

In demand now

Chief AI Officer
Chief Digital and Information Officer
Chief Nurse Executive and Chief Advanced Practice Officer
Director of Value-Based Care
Director of Payer Contracting
CISO
CMIO and Director of Clinical Informatics
Chief Pharmacy Officer

How every search starts

We define what great looks like before we contact anyone.

Every search starts with an intake that goes deeper than the job description. Here's how a search brief reads for a Hospital CEO in healthcare and life sciences, built from our role guide below.

Start a Search See a candidate website

Search brief · private

Search brief

Hospital CEO

Healthcare and Life Sciences

Must-haves

A turnaround or margin record with real P&L ownership.
Experience with payer-mix shifts.
Affiliation and joint venture deals.
Physician alignment.

Screen out

System-office strategists who never owned a P&L.
Candidates who can't quote margin, days cash on hand or labor cost per adjusted discharge.
Serial short tenures without clear reasons.

Where we'll look

Health systems like yoursPhysician and medical groupsPayers and value-based care organizationsLife sciences and medtechHealth IT companiesLeaders who aren't looking

Sample search brief, for illustration

Role guides

What to look for in every healthcare leadership hire.

CEO and Administrator

Why it's hard right now

Exits are rising, and one-third of new hospital CEOs in the first half of 2025 were interim, against 9% in prior years. (PSQH citing Challenger, Gray & Christmas, August 2025)

What to look for

A turnaround or margin record with real P&L ownership.
Experience with payer-mix shifts.
Affiliation and joint venture deals.
Physician alignment.
FACHE and an MHA or MBA are typical.

Watch out for

System-office strategists who never owned a P&L.
Candidates who can't quote margin, days cash on hand or labor cost per adjusted discharge.
Serial short tenures without clear reasons.

Start a search for this role Or talk it through first with TAP

Chief Medical Officer

Why it's hard right now

41.9% of physicians reported burnout in 2025 (American Medical Association via Fierce Healthcare, April 2026), fewer physicians are choosing leadership paths, and AAMC projects a shortage of up to 86,000 physicians by 2036. (AAMC, March 2024)

What to look for

Board certification and recent clinical credibility.
CPE, MMM or MBA.
Quality outcomes they personally moved.
Peer review and credentialing.
Utilization management.
Value-based care.
AI governance.

Watch out for

A "physician champion" title with no budget or direct reports.
Open conflict with the medical staff.

Start a search for this role Or talk it through first with TAP

Chief Nursing Officer and Director of Nursing

Why it's hard right now

23% of nurse leaders intend to leave their roles and another 23% might, and finance and budgeting ranks as their top struggle. (AONL, 2025)

What to look for

RN with a BSN, usually an MSN or DNP.
NE-BC or NEA-BC.
Magnet experience.
Staffing-model redesign such as virtual nursing and float pools.
Documented cuts in agency spend and first-year RN turnover.
CMS survey experience for Director of Nursing roles.

Watch out for

Can't quote hours per patient day or agency spend.
High turnover on their past teams.
Unresolved survey deficiencies.

Start a search for this role Or talk it through first with TAP

VP of Clinical Operations

Why it's hard right now

Drug and labor costs are driving expense growth (Kaufman Hall, June 2026), and CMS's mandatory TEAM bundled-payment model began January 1, 2026 at 716 hospitals. (CMS, September 2026)

What to look for

Multi-site P&L ownership.
Throughput results such as length of stay, operating room use and emergency department boarding.
Lean or Six Sigma.
In life sciences, the title means clinical trial execution: CRO oversight and good clinical practice.

Watch out for

Operators who have only consulted.
Project managers with no people leadership.

Start a search for this role Or talk it through first with TAP

Director of Revenue Cycle

Why it's hard right now

41% of providers report denial rates above 10%, and 43% say they're understaffed (Experian via Fierce Healthcare, September 2025). Denials remain the top revenue cycle concern. (HFMA, July 2026)

What to look for

CRCR, CRCE or CPC.
Before-and-after numbers on denial rate, net collection rate, days in accounts receivable and cost to collect.
Experience managing outsourcing and automation vendors.

Watch out for

Front-end-only or back-end-only experience.
Gains that came from one-time cleanups.

Start a search for this role Or talk it through first with TAP

Director of Practice Operations and Practice Manager

Why it's hard right now

84% of medical practices report higher costs in 2026, about 11% on average, and 80% say Medicare pays below their cost. (MGMA, June 2026)

What to look for

CMPE or FACMPE. wRVU and scheduling-template management.
Medical assistant staffing.
Rollout of ambient AI scribes.

Watch out for

Never owned a budget.
Multi-site claims with no KPIs.

Pay dataThe BLS median for medical and health services managers is $123,860 (May 2025).

Start a search for this role Or talk it through first with TAP

VP and Director of Regulatory Affairs

Why it's hard right now

FDA cut about 3,500 staff, roughly 20% of its workforce (PharmaVoice, April 2025), making agency interactions less predictable.

What to look for

RAC.
Approvals they led for your product type, such as NDA, BLA, 510(k), PMA or De Novo.
Leading FDA meetings.
A parallel EU strategy.

Watch out for

Submissions or publishing operations experience only.
Never the lead contact with the agency.

Pay dataUS regulatory professionals at director to VP level averaged $293,251 in total compensation, and RAC holders earned 12% more. (RAPS, July 2024)

Start a search for this role Or talk it through first with TAP

Director of Quality and Compliance

Why it's hard right now

The Department of Justice recovered $5.7 billion from healthcare under the False Claims Act in FY2025, with a record 1,297 whistleblower cases filed. (Healthcare Dive, January 2026)

What to look for

CHC or CHPC for compliance.
CPHQ for quality.
Board reporting.
Billing, coding and Medicare Advantage risk-adjustment audits.

Watch out for

No independent access to the board.
Policies written but no investigations run.
Quality measures reported but never moved.

Pay dataThe median total compensation for healthcare chief compliance officers is $155,000, and CHC holders average $202,910. (HCCA, August 2024)

Start a search for this role Or talk it through first with TAP

CIO and Head of Health IT

Why it's hard right now

710 large healthcare data breaches affecting 61.6 million people were reported in 2025. (HIPAA Journal, February 2026)

What to look for

CHCIO.
EHR consolidation or migration.
Cyber incident response leadership.
AI governance.
Vendor contract management.

Watch out for

An infrastructure-only background.
Never handled an incident.
EHR projects that went over budget.

Start a search for this role Or talk it through first with TAP

How TAP runs this search

Where we find healthcare leaders.

We start with an intake that goes deeper than the job description, then map who is doing this job today at companies like yours, with licensure and certification checked as part of our interviews. Every candidate is interviewed in depth before you meet them, and you get a private website on each finalist: interview video, a rating on each of your requirements, compensation, timing and why we recommend them. Our goal is your hire from the first two candidates we present.

See how every search runs What's on a candidate website

Health systemsPhysician groupsPayersValue-based careLife sciences and medtechHealth IT

Health systems
Physician groups
Payers
Value-based care
Life sciences and medtech
Health IT

Leaders who aren't looking

01
Intake
Deeper than the job description.
02
Map
Who is doing this job today at companies like yours.
03
Interview
Every candidate, in depth, before you meet them.
04
Candidate website
Video, ratings on your requirements, pay and timing.
05
Hire
Our goal: your hire from the first two candidates we present.

Talk with TAP

Hiring for one of these roles, or want a second opinion on how to recruit for it?

Across our careers, we've recruited for roles like these. Tell us what you're hiring for and we'll share what we'd look out for, whether or not you start a search with us.

Start a Search Talk With TAP

Jonathan Tureau

Founder & Principal Recruiter

Founder-led, on every search. 17 years in recruiting, and a third-generation recruiter.

FAQ

Questions about healthcare leadership searches.

Still have a question? Talk With TAP

Do you recruit clinical executives like chief medical officers and chief nursing officers?

Yes. We verify licensure and board certification as part of our interviews, and each candidate website covers credentials, start timing and readiness for your credentialing process.

How long does a healthcare leadership search take?

Most of our searches take 4 to 10 weeks, depending on the role and the market. Clinical roles can take longer when credentialing is involved.

What does TAP charge for a healthcare leadership search?

25% of the new leader's first-year compensation. On most packages, an engagement fee paid at the start is credited toward it, and the placement fee is invoiced on your new leader's start date. See the full fee guide.

Industries

Other industries we recruit for.

All Industries and Roles

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Technology and AI

CTOs, AI leaders, product, security and revenue executives.

Energy, Oil and Gas

Operations, engineering, HSE, projects, commercial and power leaders.

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Manufacturing and Industrial

Plant managers, operations, quality, supply chain and EHS leaders.

Aerospace, Defense and Government

Program, engineering, contracts, capture and cleared leaders.

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Hospitality, Travel and Luxury

General managers, guest experience, revenue, brand and luxury retail leaders.

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Construction, Infrastructure and Real Estate

Construction directors, superintendents, heavy civil and highway operators, development and estimating leaders.

Sources 19 citedLast reviewed September 2026

Healthcare and Life Sciences Executive Search

Thin margins, workforce shortages and AI, all at once.

Get a second opinion on your search before you start.

The leaders health systems and life sciences companies need most.

We define what great looks like before we contact anyone.

Hospital CEO

What to look for in every healthcare leadership hire.

Where we find healthcare leaders.

Intake

Map

Interview

Candidate website

Hire

Hiring for one of these roles, or want a second opinion on how to recruit for it?

Questions about healthcare leadership searches.

Other industries we recruit for.

Technology and AI

Energy, Oil and Gas

Manufacturing and Industrial

Aerospace, Defense and Government

Hospitality, Travel and Luxury

Construction, Infrastructure and Real Estate