Manager of Surgical Services

 

CAREER OPPORTUNITY

Manager of Surgical Services

Leading Not-for-Profit Community Health System  |  Perioperative Services

(Central Coast)  |  Full-Time  |  On-Site  |  Day Shift with On-Call Rotation

Plus comprehensive medical, retirement, paid time off, and professional development benefits

You didn’t step into perioperative leadership to be buried under documentation, second-guessed by executives who have never scrubbed in, or left to hold a fractured OR together with travelers and sheer goodwill. If you are the surgical services leader who quietly keeps the department running — and rarely feels seen for it — you already know how quickly that wears down even the deepest passion for this work.

This is the role where your leadership is trusted, your voice actually reaches the people who make decisions, and your surgical services team becomes something you build — not something you are constantly rescuing.

Our client — a not-for-profit community health system recognized among the nation’s top critical access hospitals and honored with a national award for top-quartile quality, outcomes, and patient experience — is seeking an experienced Manager of Surgical Services to lead all nursing care and perioperative activity across its Operating Room and Perioperative Services department. You will direct clinical practice, supervise and develop staff, and own responsibility for the environment, materials, and equipment that keep surgical care safe and efficient, while championing continuing education and the orientation of new team members. Partnering directly with surgeons, anesthesia, and a multidisciplinary care team, you will function as a valued, visible member of a close-knit leadership group — not as an isolated administrator buried under paperwork.

•     Real Autonomy & a Seat at the Table — You will have direct access to decision-makers and a leadership culture that is far less bureaucratic than big-city institutions. Here your clinical judgment carries weight, and you help set direction instead of waiting on it.

•     Meaningful Work, Not Volume for Its Own Sake — As the only hospital within a 50-mile radius, this organization keeps surgical care close to home for a community of nearly 80,000 people. Your work is visibly essential — patients and colleagues feel its impact every day.

•     A Genuinely Multidisciplinary Team — You will collaborate side by side with surgeons, anesthesia, and nursing in a team-based model. Leadership is respectful, supportive, and accountable — the antidote to the isolation and lack of support that drives so many OR leaders out.

•     Flexibility & a Culture of Trust — This is a workplace built on trust and accountability, with rapid, deliberate responses to employee concerns and genuine anticipation of your changing work-life needs — not rigid, top-down control.

•     Schedule & Work-Life Balance — Expect more predictable scheduling, a slower pace, and none of the urban commuting grind — in a Central Coast setting that enjoys roughly 300 sunny days a year. Your life outside the OR gets to exist.

•     An Employer That Invests in You — From subsidizing 95% of medical plan premiums to clear succession-planning pathways and eligibility for federal loan-forgiveness programs, this is an organization that puts real resources behind the people who lead its care.

•     Lead and be accountable for all nursing care and paramedical activity delivered across the Perioperative Services department, ensuring the highest standard of patient safety and surgical quality.

•     Supervise, coach, and develop perioperative nursing staff — building a stable, engaged team and reducing reliance on travelers.

•     Direct the day-to-day operations of the OR environment, including materials, equipment, and supply readiness, so cases run safely and on time.

•     Analyze and evaluate nursing care against policy, regulatory, and quality standards, driving measurable improvement in outcomes.

•     Own continuing education for the department and design a strong orientation experience that sets new team members up to succeed.

•     Partner with surgeons, anesthesia, and senior leadership to align staffing, scheduling, and resources with patient and community needs.

Required

•     Graduate of an accredited school of nursing.

•     Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent).

•     Current, active California RN license.

•     Current AHA BLS, ACLS, and PALS certifications.

•     Demonstrated perioperative/OR nursing experience with the leadership presence to direct a department.

Preferred

•     CNOR certification.

•     Prior charge, supervisory, or management experience in surgical services.

•     Track record of building multidisciplinary collaboration and mentoring staff.

•     Familiarity with perioperative documentation systems and quality/regulatory reporting.

•     Compensation: Transparent annual range of $132,100 – $174,699, with sign-on bonus and relocation assistance available for eligible candidates.

•     Health & Wellness: The organization subsidizes 95% of medical plan premiums, plus dental and vision coverage and an inclusive, supportive work environment designed around employee wellbeing.

•     Financial Security: 403(b) retirement plan with discretionary employer matching, and eligibility for federal loan-forgiveness and repayment programs (PSLF, Nurse Corps, and HRSA/NHSC options) as a not-for-profit, rural provider.

•     Growth & Development: Continuing education support (up to $3,000 CME where applicable), CEUs for registered nurses, mentoring, and clear succession-planning pathways into higher leadership.

•     Work-Life Balance: A rich paid-time-off program, predictable scheduling, a lower cost of living, and a family-like culture that responds quickly to your changing work-life needs.

Our client is a not-for-profit healthcare system and the primary provider of care for a rural region of California’s Central Coast — the only hospital within a 50-mile radius, serving a community of nearly 80,000 residents across more than 55 miles. With acute-care and skilled-nursing services and a network of community clinics, and a team of more than 1,200 people, the organization keeps essential surgical and medical care close to home for patients who would otherwise have to travel hours to receive it.

Its mission is straightforward and deeply felt: culturally sensitive, patient-centered care delivered with the highest quality of service, working alongside patients to help a rural community thrive. That commitment has earned national recognition — including repeated selection among the country’s top critical access hospitals and a national award for top-quartile performance in quality, outcomes, and patient experience.

Culturally, this is a place that describes itself as family-like, inclusive, and built on trust and accountability — less bureaucratic than large urban systems, with direct access to leadership and a shared sense of ownership over the community’s health. It is an environment where a surgical services leader can genuinely shape the department, not just maintain it.

This opportunity is set in the heartland of California’s Central Coast, surrounded by rolling hills, 4,000-foot peaks, coastal beaches, lakes, and wine country — with roughly 300 sunny days a year. Within an easy drive you’ll find Pinnacles National Park, Big Sur, the Monterey Bay Aquarium and 17-Mile Drive, Paso Robles wine country, and the beaches of Pismo, Avila, and Cambria. It offers a lower cost of living, less traffic, and abundant outdoor recreation — the kind of place where a demanding career and a genuinely good life can coexist.

This is a confidential search. To learn more and take the next step, contact your recruiting representative directly for a private, no-pressure conversation.

The client’s identity and full application details will be shared with qualified, vetted candidates.

Our client is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

 

  INTERNAL RESEARCH & STRATEGY APPENDIX — RECRUITING FIRM ONLY

Confidential — remove this appendix (pages 3–4) before any external distribution. Client-identifying information appears ONLY in this section.

•     Client / Health System: Mee Memorial Healthcare System (MMHS), a not-for-profit (501(c)(3)) critical access hospital system.

•     Hiring Entity & Location: Mee Memorial Hospital, 300 Canal St., King City, CA 93930 (Southern Monterey County / Central Coast).

•     Role: Manager of Surgical Services (Perioperative Services Department), Full-Time.

•     Posted Pay Range: $132,100 – $174,699 annually.

•     Application Portal: UKG/Kronos careers site (prd01-hcm01.prd.mykronos.com/ta/6036332.careers) — Employer ID 6036332. HR: (831) 385-7182 / meememorial.com.

•     Leadership: CEO Rena Salamacha. ~1,200+ employees; 25 acute-care beds; 48 skilled-nursing beds; only hospital within 50 miles; serves ~80,000 residents (Soledad to Bradley) with clinics in King City and Greenfield.

•     Pay transparency drives application volume and quality. NBER research on pay transparency in job postings finds that disclosing salary information meaningfully shifts applicant behavior and market outcomes — and California law already mandates it. Decision: the $132,100–$174,699 range is displayed prominently in the header band, not buried.

•     Very wide ranges can suppress some applicants. HBR (2026) reports overly wide salary bands can deter women from applying. Decision: we anchored the exact posted range and surrounded it with concrete total-rewards context (95% premium coverage, 403(b) match) to keep it credible rather than vague.

•     Emotional hooks out-convert traditional job descriptions. Current best-practice guidance emphasizes leading with candidate-centered, emotionally resonant openings over feature-first JD boilerplate. Decision: the posting opens with a pain-point hook designed to stop a passive OR leader mid-scroll before any duties are listed.

•     Scannability and keyword structure drive cross-platform performance. Recruiting research stresses short, scannable, header-driven layouts with bold keywords for ATS/Indeed indexing. Decision: bold labels, clear section headers, and keyword-rich bullets (perioperative, CNOR, ACLS/PALS, RN) optimize discoverability.

•     Employer-brand signals increase engagement. Awards, quality recognition, and culture proof-points measurably lift candidate interest. Decision: national top-CAH recognition and the top-quartile quality award are woven in — anonymized — as credibility without naming the client.

•     Mistreatment, disrespect & loss of trust in senior leadership. A qualitative study of perioperative nurse managers (PMC8247268) identified feeling disrespected by superiors and broken trust in leadership as the most significant reasons they leave. Addressed via the "trust and accountability" and "seat at the table" messaging.

•     Lack of organizational and management support. AORN turnover research (Kesten, GWU; ~200 CNOR nurses) names insufficient high-level backing and resource gaps as a core trigger. Addressed via "direct access to decision-makers" and a supportive, family-like culture.

•     Burnout and an unhealthy work environment. The same AORN research cites burnout, poor work-life balance, and inadequate incentives. Addressed via predictable scheduling, PTO, slower pace, and 300 sunny days of lifestyle balance.

•     Excessive work demands and traveler reliance. Staffing shortages and heavy travel-nurse dependence are cited turnover drivers. Addressed by framing the role as building a stable, engaged team rather than perpetually rescuing one.

•     Administrative / documentation burden. AORN Syntegrity highlights perioperative documentation burden pulling nurses away from care. Addressed by the hook’s "not buried under paperwork" framing and the multidisciplinary team model.

•     Isolation and stalled growth. Perioperative leaders report isolation and viewing roles as dead-end stepping stones (PMC8247268). Addressed via succession-planning pathways, visibility, and meaningful community impact.

•     95% medical premium subsidy. MMHS covers 95% of insurance premiums — led with as the strongest Health & Wellness stat.

•     403(b) with discretionary match + loan forgiveness. Nonprofit/rural status opens PSLF, Nurse Corps, and NHSC/HRSA eligibility — featured under Financial Security.

•     National recognition. Becker’s "100 Critical Access Hospitals to Know" (2026; also 2024) and a 2023 Chartis Performance Leadership Award for top-quartile quality — woven in anonymously as "recognized among the nation’s top critical access hospitals."

•     Sole provider / essential mission. Only hospital within 50 miles for ~80,000 residents — powers the "meaningful work" and "about the organization" sections.

•     Less-bureaucratic, family-like culture. Direct access to leadership, trust and accountability, rapid response to employee concerns — mapped to the autonomy and flexibility bullets.

•     Leadership & succession pathways. Smaller structure enables faster advancement and clear succession planning — mapped to Growth & Development.

•     Central Coast lifestyle. ~300 sunny days, lower cost of living, proximity to Monterey, Big Sur, Paso Robles wine country, and Pismo/Avila beaches — the Location Sell.

•     Additional incentives. Sign-on bonus and relocation (when applicable), CME up to $3,000, CEUs, and referral stipends — folded into Total Rewards.

•     Cross-platform optimized: structured headers for ATS indexing, bold keywords for Indeed matching, and a narrative flow tuned for LinkedIn engagement.

•     Confidentiality verified: zero client-identifying information appears anywhere in the candidate-facing section (pages 1–2).

•     The confidential approach itself creates a scarcity signal — "identity shared only with vetted candidates" — that tends to increase passive-candidate engagement and inbound quality.

•     ACTION: Remove this appendix (pages 3–4) before posting or forwarding the document to any candidate or external platform.