Director of Care Search · Engaged Search

Director of Care Search.

Site- or program-level care leadership for home health, hospice, senior care, and behavioral health operators. The seat that owns clinical-program quality, staffing, and family-side relationships at the site.

Start a Director of Care search →How engaged search works

The thesis

What this search actually requires.

Director of Care is the role that owns clinical quality, care-team supervision, family-side communication, and regulatory compliance at the site or program level. The role is common in home health, hospice, assisted living, memory care, and behavioral health operators. Strong candidates typically come from an RN or senior clinical-program background with 5–10 years in site or program leadership.

Most Director of Care searches are engaged or contingent depending on operator type and urgency. The candidate pool is mostly passive senior clinicians; the search has to find candidates with the right clinical credential, the right operator-type experience, and the right geographic fit. The recruiter on your search has placed across home health, hospice, behavioral health, and senior-care operators.

Compensation

Director of Care comp ranges in 2026.

Typical 2026 ranges for the Director of Care role. Specific comp is benchmarked per engagement against peer companies and the candidate's track record.

✓Single-site Director of Care (smaller-volume operator): $90,000–$130,000 base
✓Single-site Director of Care (larger-volume operator): $110,000–$160,000 base, plus bonus
✓Multi-program / regional Director of Care: $130,000–$190,000 base, plus bonus
✓Behavioral health / SUD Director of Care with state-licensure responsibilities: $120,000–$180,000 base

How the search runs

Five steps, end-to-end.

From kickoff to closed offer, run by the senior headhunter you meet on the first call.

Scoping with the Executive Director, Regional VP, or Administrator; alignment on clinical credential requirements and state-specific licensure
Market mapping across senior clinicians in peer operators; outreach to the passive RN-leader pool with geographic match
Calibrated shortlist (3–5 candidates) with credentialing verification and operator-type fit assessment
Working sessions with the site leadership team, plus a site walk-through where appropriate
Reference checks across operator networks, offer construction, and close with attention to state-licensure transfer where applicable

Industries we run this in

Where the Director of Care search lives.

The industries where this role profile shows up most often on our desk.

Industry

FAQ

Director of Care search,
specifically.

The questions hiring leaders ask in the first scoping call.

How long does a Director of Care search take?

Engaged searches typically run 60–90 days from engagement to closed offer. Specific-geography searches and roles requiring particular state licensure (e.g., LCSW for behavioral health) run longer.

What clinical credentials are required?

RN is the most common credential (often BSN preferred, sometimes MSN required for larger operators). For behavioral health, LCSW, LPC, or LMHC are common. For hospice, hospice-and-palliative-care certification is preferred. State-specific licensure transfer can be a timing factor.

Do you place Directors of Care across state lines?

Yes, but state-licensure transfer must be planned. We surface candidates with active or transferable licensure for the target state; we also work with operators on timeline expectations when a candidate's licensure is in process.

What is the difference between Director of Care, Director of Nursing, and Executive Director?

Director of Care typically owns clinical quality and care-team supervision; Director of Nursing typically owns nursing-specific operations; Executive Director owns the full site P&L including non-clinical functions. The titles overlap and operator-specific naming varies; we calibrate at scoping.