Compare the complete engagement cost
Use the employer pricing form for an estimate. The signed engagement determines the actual obligations, including billable work that may remain payable without a completed hire.
- Ask which milestones trigger invoices and when payment is due.
- Confirm the fee basis and what work is included.
- Read replacement conditions, exclusions and any additional terms.
Prepare the role brief
Write down the information a candidate needs to evaluate the position before the search begins.
- Separate clinical sessions from protected leadership time.
- Define authority over standards, mentoring and clinical decisions.
- Explain reporting lines, budget input and measures of success.
Plan the work location in San Jose.
Santa Clara County has 15 incorporated cities, and San Jose is only one of them. Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, Los Gatos and the others are cities in their own right, so keep each opening tied to its municipality. Fremont and Newark are in Alameda County, and East Palo Alto and Menlo Park are in San Mateo County, so they are outside this site’s coverage. Identify any rotation between San Jose, the northern cities, the West Valley or South County, and let candidates judge their own travel against actual shift times.
Describe the clinical service, support team, work address and schedule together. For a specialist, separate established facilities from planned investment; for a medical director, explain the clinical and management split and who hires associates. A role that moves between San Jose and another city needs an explicit site list and schedule. This site describes employer hiring coverage without claiming a San Jose recruiting office.
Review San Jose-area recruiting coverage →Local context for this role
In San Jose, the California Veterinary Medical Board’s Licensee Manager Responsibilities document defines the Licensee Manager as the California licensed veterinarian named on a facility’s premises permit, responsible for compliance with minimum standards of practice, for ensuring no unlicensed activity occurs and for keeping a reasonable physical presence at the facility, so a San Jose medical director search should state whether the hire will hold that designation at each hospital. MedVet Silicon Valley’s own San Jose page describes a hospital open 24 hours with emergency, critical care, surgery and several specialty services, and it lists a medical director and a separate hospital director among its hospital leaders, which is one published example of dividing clinical and operational authority. A medical director’s own license carries the same continuing education rule as any veterinarian’s, 36 approved hours per two-year renewal period under Board regulations, and Article 9 counts at most 24 hours of business practice management courses, so management training does not replace clinical hours. O*NET OnLine, reporting Bureau of Labor Statistics 2025 wage data, lists the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro median for veterinarians about 17 percent above the California median, which a San Jose employer can check against its medical director pay structure before final interviews.
Plan California credential checks before the start date.
The Board’s license page describes the search, and each record shows whether a license is current, expired or subject to disciplinary action. Assign a person to verify status, record the date and resolve questions with the Board. Check any additional specialty credentials required by the employer with the issuing organization.
DCA License Search for the California Veterinary Medical Board · California Veterinary Medical Board’s veterinarian applicant information
Confirm the service and terms with BEGHR.
Recruit a veterinary medical director with a clear balance of clinical care, team development and hospital leadership responsibilities.
Read the service scope · Review the recruiting process · BEGHR veterinary placement