How to hire a clinical laboratory medical director

How to hire a clinical laboratory medical director, step by step

Here's a step-by-step clinical laboratory medical director hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a clinical laboratory medical director job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new clinical laboratory medical director
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a clinical laboratory medical director, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect clinical laboratory medical director also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   This list presents clinical laboratory medical director salaries for various positions.

   Type of Clinical Laboratory Medical Director	Description	Hourly rate
   Clinical Laboratory Medical Director	Medical and health services managers, also called healthcare executives or healthcare administrators, plan, direct, and coordinate medical and health services. They might manage an entire facility, a specific clinical area or department, or a medical practice for a group of physicians... Show more	$47-114
   Nurse Manager	The primary role of nurse managers is to supervise the nursing staff in a clinical or hospital setting. They are the ones who are in charge of patient care, setting work schedules, and making budgetary and management decisions... Show more	$28-55
   Pharmacist Manager	A pharmacist manager is responsible for monitoring the daily operations of a pharmacy, ensuring that all pharmacy personnel provides the right medication to the customers based on the prescription. Pharmacist managers assist in advising the customers for the instructions of their medications, including its dosage and instructions of intake... Show more	$27-73

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Clinical Laboratory
   • Clinical Trials
   • Data Analysis
   • Regulatory Agencies
   • Clinical Operations
   • Product Development
   • Performance Improvement
   • Medicaid
   • Patient Safety
   • Surgery
   • Medical Input
   • Business Plan
   • Service Line
   • Primary Care

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Set up forensic DNA laboratory, train laboratory technicians in advance molecular techniques, and manage day-to-day activities of forensic DNA laboratory
   • Implement rapid result microbiology testing in collaboration with infection control practitioners to identify hospital acquire infections and reduce length of stay.
   • Process and review medical records authorization for completeness as well as request new authorizations from participants that are HIPAA compliant.

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your clinical laboratory medical director job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A clinical laboratory medical director salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, clinical laboratory medical directors' average salary in indiana is 27% less than in new hampshire.
   • Seniority. Entry-level clinical laboratory medical directors earn 59% less than senior-level clinical laboratory medical directors.
   • Certifications. A clinical laboratory medical director with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a clinical laboratory medical director's salary.

   Average clinical laboratory medical director salary

   $153,253yearly

   $73.68 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level clinical laboratory medical director salary

   $98,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 20, 2025

4. Writing a clinical laboratory medical director job description

   A good clinical laboratory medical director job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a clinical laboratory medical director job description:

   Clinical laboratory medical director job description example

   Directs a full service clinical/diagnostic cytogenetics laboratory for all Northern California providers and other facilities (inter-regional and non-Kaiser providers). Directs a laboratory performing over 6000 test per year. Ensures compliance with federal, state, and local regulations, quality of tests, and competency of staff. Ensures high quality, accessible, cost effective and patient focused services to members across the continuum. Develops and maintains laboratory practice standards, budgets, and staff development.
   
   Essential Functions:- Ensures compliance with all federal, state, and local regulations and laws governing clinical cytogenetic testing.- Ensures appropriate testing and proper reporting of all laboratory specimens.- Directs, hires, and trains the laboratory staff, monitors their competency and develops inservices for their professional growth and certification.- Develops, implements, maintains, and evaluates technical laboratory policies and procedures, quality control, and quality assurance programs.- Performs case management and provides professional consultation.- Assigns all cases, with instructions regarding testing process, reviews all test results, and interprets/reports results to inter- and intra-regional providers.- Develops, justifies, and assures efficient utilization of the laboratory budget.- Identifies and implements measures to maintain the state of the art in cytogenetic testing in a cost effective manner, to increase accessibility, and to improve client and staff satisfaction, while improving quality of testing procedures and results.- Researches, develops, and implements new laboratory procedures, techniques, and diagnostic tests.- Evaluates and recommends if new test/technique should become a standard for the laboratory.- Tracks the trends, and analyzes test results. Maintains up-to-date knowledge in the field of genetics and provides expertise regarding changes in the area of cytogenetics.- Consults with providers regarding test results.- Provides education to providers, staff, residents, and other students.- Represents the organization in the national and international scientific community.
   
   Basic Qualifications:Experience- Minimum two (2) years of postdoctoral laboratory experience in genetics or related field.- Minimum four (4) years of laboratory experience in cytogenetics.- Minimum two (2) years of experience directing a clinical genetics laboratory.Education- Ph.D. and/or M.D. in Genetics or related field.License, Certification, Registration- Board eligibility or certification by the American Board of Medical Genetics in Clinical Cytogenetics.- Must meet all State of California requirements for Director and Technical Supervisor of a licensed diagnostic cytogenetics laboratory. Additional Requirements:- Knowledge of federal, state, and local regulations required.- Must be able to work in a Labor/Management Partnership environment.
   
   Preferred Qualifications:- Minimum of four (4) peer reviewed publications in genetics or a related field preferred.
   COMPANY: KAISER
   
   TITLE: Director Clinical Diagnostic Cytogenetic Laboratory
   
   LOCATION: San Jose, California
   
   REQNUMBER: 1090390
   
   External hires must pass a background check/drug screen. Qualified applicants with arrest and/or conviction records will be considered for employment in a manner consistent with Federal, state and local laws, including but not limited to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, protected veteran, or disability status.

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5. Post your job

   To find clinical laboratory medical directors for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any clinical laboratory medical directors they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level clinical laboratory medical directors with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your clinical laboratory medical director job on Zippia to find and recruit clinical laboratory medical director candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting clinical laboratory medical directors requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new clinical laboratory medical director

   Once you have selected a candidate for the clinical laboratory medical director position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new clinical laboratory medical director. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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