Cardiac surgery and ECMO programs
Perfusionist Recruiting for Cardiac Surgery Programs
Perfusionist recruiting is the search for a certified clinical perfusionist (CCP) to staff a hospital cardiac surgery or ECMO program. The American Board of Cardiovascular Perfusion describes that primary role as operating the heart-lung machine during cardiac surgery and other procedures that require extracorporeal circulation. The board’s 2025 annual report lists 5,169 certified perfusionists and 305 newly certified in 2025. A 2019 survey published in the Journal of ExtraCorporeal Technology in 2020 found 12.3% vacancy and 14.7% turnover in the groups that responded. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish a perfusionist wage.
For service-line directors, executive directors, and HR. Engaged Headhunters was founded in 2022. The search is run with 17 years of recruiting experience.
What numbers can a director actually use?
Four figures, each with a source and a year. The vacancy and turnover rates are from a 2019 survey published in 2020. They are not a 2026 census of your program.
- Certified perfusionists
- 5,169
- ABCP grand total, Dec. 31, 2025
- Newly certified in 2025
- 305
- 76 spring and 229 fall
- Vacancy in the survey
- 12.3%
- JECT 2020, data from 2019
- Turnover in the survey
- 14.7%
- Same study, 484 eligible responses
Sources: American Board of Cardiovascular Perfusion, 2025 Annual Report (opens in a new tab). Results of the 2019 Survey on Perceptions of Vacancy and Turnover Among Perfusionists in the United States. Journal of ExtraCorporeal Technology. 2020;52(1):27–42. (opens in a new tab)
Why is a certified perfusionist hard to hire?
A cardiac program does not hire this seat from a general nursing pool. The person who runs the heart-lung machine holds a CCP credential from the American Board of Cardiovascular Perfusion. In the board’s booklet of information, a primary cardiopulmonary-bypass case is one in which the CCP is the primary operator of that machine during cardiac surgery, or during another operation that needs extracorporeal circulation, managing the patient’s physiological status. The same booklet requires a minimum of 75 cardiopulmonary bypass cases during the education program before the exams, and it requires a CCP to document at least 40 clinical activities a year, of which at least 25 are primary. That is a narrow door. It is also why a strong ICU nurse is not a substitute you can post into the vacancy.
Read the headcount the way a service-line director should. The 2025 annual report states a grand total of 5,169 certified clinical perfusionists as of December 31, 2025. The chart in that report lists 4,988 at the end of 2024. The geographic table is by home address and includes the United States, Canada, and other locations: Canada accounts for 219 of the 5,169, and other locations account for 25. Inside the same total, 140 CCPs were on conditional certification and 9 were on extended leave. Seventy-four perfusionists lost certification on December 31, 2025. None of those lines is a roster of people who can take your call next month.
New supply is on the same page, and it is small next to the total. In 2025, 76 candidates finished certification in the spring and 229 finished in the fall: 305 newly certified perfusionists. Sixteen of those 305 have a home address in Canada, and 16 have a home address in other locations. The incoming class is the board’s class for the year, not your city’s class. A program that loses one CCP cannot treat 305 new names as a local backfill for the call schedule.
Vacancy and turnover were last published from a survey, and the date belongs in the sentence. During January and February 2019, researchers asked perfusionists in the United States about the prior year. The Journal of ExtraCorporeal Technology published the paper in 2020. The study collected 502 responses, and 484 met the inclusion criteria. For the perfusion groups in that survey, the vacancy rate was 12.3% and the turnover rate was 14.7%. The paper’s title calls these perceptions of vacancy and turnover. Use them as the last multi-group benchmark we are willing to cite. Do not read them as your hospital’s current vacancy, and do not read them as a 2026 national census.
Two consequences follow from those sources, and only from those sources. A posted job is competing for a thin credential, not for “cardiac experience” in the abstract. And a compensation committee that asks for the BLS number will not get one. In a Career Outlook profile, the Bureau of Labor Statistics states that it does not collect data on perfusionists’ employment numbers or earnings. The Occupational Outlook Handbook still publishes no perfusionist wage line. The handbook’s profile of cardiovascular technologists and technicians is a different occupation, built around diagnostic tests and procedure support. We do not use that wage as a stand-in.
The same operating room often needs an anesthesia conversation at the same time. CRNA recruiting is a separate credential and a separate search.
Sources: American Board of Cardiovascular Perfusion, 2025 Annual Report (opens in a new tab). American Board of Cardiovascular Perfusion, Booklet of Information (2025) (opens in a new tab). Results of the 2019 Survey on Perceptions of Vacancy and Turnover Among Perfusionists in the United States. Journal of ExtraCorporeal Technology. 2020;52(1):27–42. (opens in a new tab). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Career Outlook (Winter 2002–03), “You’re a What? Perfusionist.” (opens in a new tab). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Healthcare occupations (opens in a new tab). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Cardiovascular Technologists and Technicians (opens in a new tab)
How does a perfusionist search work?
This is how Engaged Headhunters runs perfusionist recruiting. It is a process, not a set of performance statistics. The firm was founded in 2022. The work is backed by 17 years of recruiting experience. We do not publish a fill rate, a time-to-fill, or a retention percentage for this role, because we will not put a number on this page that we cannot source.
Step 1
Scope the seat with the people who own it
We sit with the cardiac surgery or cardiovascular service-line director and with HR. We write down whether the practice is adult or pediatric, the case mix you are willing to describe, how many CCPs share call today, who covers ECMO on a weeknight, and why the role is open. Outreach does not start from a job title.
Step 2
Put the offer terms in writing first
Base salary, how call is paid, and the ECMO model go on paper before any name is shared. A CCP who already has a known call rotation will not leave it for a vague one. We would rather pause a search than send someone into a conversation the program has not defined.
Step 3
Screen for the credential
We look for a Certified Clinical Perfusionist. The American Board of Cardiovascular Perfusion certifies that credential and points the public to its listing of current CCPs. Conditional certification and extended leave are real statuses in the 2025 annual report. We treat them as questions to resolve, not as the same thing as an unrestricted CCP who can take a full share of call.
Step 4
Go to people who are not applying
We contact certified perfusionists directly and privately, including people who have not applied to a posted job. A current employer is not used as a back channel. A candidate’s name is not shared with your hospital until that person agrees.
Step 5
Keep the comparison on paper
Call rotation, ECMO coverage, and pay structure travel with the introduction. Either side can decline early, for a reason you can see, instead of discovering the schedule on a site visit.
Step 6
Close, then stay through the start
The professional fee for a perfusionist search is 15 to 30% of first-year salary depending on scarcity, difficulty and level. The standard replacement guarantee is 60 days, conditioned on the invoice being settled within 14 days.
What does a competitive perfusionist offer include?
Start with the wage question, because a finance partner will ask it. There is no Bureau of Labor Statistics perfusionist wage to paste into a requisition. BLS has said it does not collect perfusionist earnings, and the Occupational Outlook Handbook does not publish a perfusionist wage line. Using the cardiovascular-technologist wage would describe a different job. We leave the dollar figure off this page on purpose.
A competitive offer, in this search, means an offer a working CCP can compare with the job they already have. The lines below are what we ask you to complete. They are not national averages, and they are not a claim about what “most programs” pay.
- Base salary you will pay, not a placeholder range you hope to revisit later.
- Call pay, and the rotation: how many perfusionists share call, and how often the new person is first call.
- Callback: when it is paid, and what a callback actually looks like in your program.
- ECMO: who manages it day to day, when perfusion is called in, and how those hours are paid.
- Staff or travel. If the role is travel, list what you include. If it is staff, list the benefits that will be in the letter.
- The path, if one exists, to lead or chief perfusionist, and who holds that role today.
Programs that publish a title and hold the call schedule until the site visit spend their credibility first. The 2019 survey’s 14.7% turnover rate is a reason to write the schedule down. It is not a reason to invent a bonus. If you use a sign-on, state the amount you are actually offering and when it is paid. We will not hand you a number to use.
What the search itself costs
A perfusionist search is priced at 15 to 30% of first-year salary depending on scarcity, difficulty and level. The standard replacement guarantee is 60 days, conditioned on the invoice being settled within 14 days.
Wage sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Career Outlook (Winter 2002–03), “You’re a What? Perfusionist.” (opens in a new tab). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Healthcare occupations (opens in a new tab). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Cardiovascular Technologists and Technicians (opens in a new tab)
What do hiring leaders ask about perfusionist recruiting?
What is perfusionist recruiting?
Perfusionist recruiting is the search for a certified clinical perfusionist (CCP) to staff a hospital cardiac surgery or ECMO program. The American Board of Cardiovascular Perfusion describes the primary cardiopulmonary-bypass role as operating the heart-lung machine during cardiac surgery and other procedures that need extracorporeal circulation. Engaged Headhunters runs that search for service-line leaders and HR, and also holds a confidential career call with perfusionists who are considering a move.
How many certified perfusionists are there?
The American Board of Cardiovascular Perfusion 2025 Annual Report states a grand total of 5,169 certified clinical perfusionists as of December 31, 2025. The same report lists 305 perfusionists newly certified in 2025 (76 in the spring and 229 in the fall). The geographic table counts home addresses in the United States, Canada (219), and other locations (25), and the total includes 140 people on conditional certification and 9 on extended leave. It is a credential count, not a list of people available to start next month.
Why is a perfusionist role hard to fill?
The credentialed pool is small, and the last published multi-group study found double-digit vacancy and turnover. ABCP reported 5,169 certified perfusionists at the end of 2025, up from 4,988 at the end of 2024 in the same table, with 305 newly certified in 2025. A survey fielded in January and February 2019, published in the Journal of ExtraCorporeal Technology in 2020, found a 12.3% vacancy rate and a 14.7% turnover rate among perfusion groups in the study (484 eligible responses out of 502). That survey is not a 2026 census.
Does the Bureau of Labor Statistics publish a perfusionist wage?
No. In its Career Outlook profile of the occupation, the Bureau of Labor Statistics states that it does not collect data on perfusionists’ employment numbers or earnings. The Occupational Outlook Handbook still has no perfusionist wage line. The handbook wage for cardiovascular technologists and technicians is a different occupation and is not a perfusionist salary.
What does a perfusionist search cost?
A perfusionist search is priced at 15 to 30% of first-year salary depending on scarcity, difficulty and level. The standard replacement guarantee is 60 days, conditioned on the invoice being settled within 14 days.
What should a competitive perfusionist offer include?
We do not publish a national salary, because the Bureau of Labor Statistics has no perfusionist wage line. A competitive offer is one a working CCP can compare in writing with the job they already have: the base salary you will pay, how call is paid, the call rotation, how ECMO coverage works and how those hours are paid, and whether the role is staff or travel. If you use a sign-on, state the amount you are actually offering and when it is paid.
How can a perfusionist talk about jobs confidentially?
Request a confidential career call. A first conversation does not require a finished résumé. Your current employer is not contacted, and nothing is shared with a hospital without your permission. This page does not list live openings.
Open roles / work with us
This block is for certified clinical perfusionists looking at perfusionist jobs. It is not a job board. We do not post live openings on this page. Roles we are searching are discussed on a confidential career call.
You do not need a finished résumé for the first conversation. Your current employer is not contacted, and nothing is shared with a hospital without your permission. Bring the questions that decide a perfusion job: who shares call, who covers ECMO, and whether you want a staff role or a travel role.
Where else should a program look?
Adjacent searches and a short look at how we write for clinical practices. Medical dosimetrist recruiting is a different specialty, for radiation oncology rather than the cardiac operating room.
- CRNA recruitingAnesthesia on the same cardiac and operating-room teams.
- Medical dosimetrist recruitingA separate specialist search for certified medical dosimetrists.
- Engaged HeadhuntersThe firm, founded in 2022, with 17 years of recruiting experience.
- What a physical therapist recruiter does for practicesHow we talk with practice leaders about a different clinical hire.
Ready for a confidential career call?
Hiring leaders: bring the call rotation, the ECMO model, and the reason the seat is open. Perfusionists: bring the questions you want answered before you consider a move. The first conversation is private.