Build the schedule around dependencies
A hiring plan is more useful when each stage has an owner and a dependency. Identify delays the employer can resolve without promising an outcome outside its control.
- Reserve interview availability before candidate introductions.
- Assign credential and reference-check responsibilities.
- Allow for candidate notice periods, relocation and start-date agreement.
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 Seattle.
Name the neighborhood or city and the street address. Seattle’s planning office notes that its Community Reporting Areas follow census tracts and may not match local ideas of neighborhood boundaries, and Bothell lies in both King and Snohomish counties. Coverage on this site is limited to Washington State; a hospital in Oregon or Idaho falls under a different state licensing authority.
Give the hiring team one brief for each facility, with clinical work, support staffing, weekend duties and location commitments stated together. For a role that covers several hospitals, list the sites, the days at each and how schedule changes are communicated. Under RCW 49.58.110, Washington requires an employer with 15 or more employees to disclose the wage scale or salary range and a general description of benefits in each job posting, including recruitment done through a third party, so agree those details before outreach. This site describes employer hiring coverage without claiming a Seattle recruiting office.
Review Seattle-area recruiting coverage →Local context for this role
WAC 246-935-040 makes the supervising veterinarian responsible for delegating only to staff who are qualified, competent, educated, trained and able, gives that veterinarian legal responsibility for the animals those staff serve and reserves all decisions on diagnosis, treatment, management and future disposition to the veterinarian, so a Seattle medical director's authority over delegation and protocols should be written down. The director's own license carries 30 hours of continuing education every two years, and the Veterinary Board of Governors may audit up to 25 percent of veterinarians after renewal under WAC 246-933-420, so a Seattle role that adds management duties should protect time for education and record keeping. A director who covers hospitals in Seattle, Lynnwood and Tacoma works in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties, according to the Office of Financial Management, so the brief should list each hospital, its days and its emergency coverage plan under WAC 246-933-070. Under RCW 49.62.020 as amended in 2026, all noncompetition covenants become void and unenforceable on June 30, 2027, and until then a covenant must be disclosed in writing by the time the candidate accepts the offer, so a Seattle director offer should have counsel review any restrictive clause.
Plan Washington credential checks before the start date.
Washington licenses veterinarians through the Department of Health, with rules set by the Veterinary Board of Governors. Assign a person to verify license status and any disciplinary action, record the date and resolve questions with the Department. Check specialty credentials the employer requires, such as board certification, with the issuing organization. The Department also licenses veterinary technicians and registers veterinary medication clerks, so confirm those credentials for the team the new doctor will supervise.
Washington State Department of Health Provider Credential Search · Department of Health veterinarian license application page
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