100%
of retained searches filled — every one since 2015
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HealthTech executive search · New York CityTechnology leadership search for New York's HealthTech scaleups.
Retained CTO, VP Engineering and Chief AI Officer search for VC and PE-backed HealthTech companies in New York, where domain fluency is not optional and the wrong hire costs quarters, not weeks. One market, one discipline, and a record we'll show you before you commit to anything.
96%
of 50+ placements since 2015 still in role at 12 months
30 days
typical time to a secured hire from engagement
12 months
replacement guarantee as standard, whatever the reason
Measured across 50+ retained searches Edison Hill has run since 2015.
The HealthTech brief
Where domain fluency is not optional.
In HealthTech, domain fluency is not optional, and the wrong hire costs quarters, not weeks. The leader you appoint has to understand the product, the people it serves and the environment it operates in, as well as the engineering.
The question boards are now asking is where AI sits. In Warren's October 2026 market update, 88% of CIOs surveyed by Thoughtworks said AI adoption is moving faster than their organisation's governance can adapt, and 70% had already appointed a Chief AI Officer. Someone still has to decide what should be built, why it matters, what risks it introduces and whether the investment delivers the expected return. That is a leadership responsibility.
So the search starts with the business challenge, not the job title. A successful appointment is not the best CTO in the market; it is the best CTO for the business at its particular stage of development.
The roles
- Chief Technology Officer: first-time and successor appointments
- VP Engineering: scaling delivery under investor timelines
- Chief AI Officer: a new seat at the table for most boards
- Director of Engineering and the leadership layer beneath the CTO
Case-style example
Representative case — Series C HealthTech, NYC
A Series C healthtech platform was heading into a growth round with a technical leader who was excellent operationally but had never fielded direct board questions on AI strategy — a gap the CEO flagged as a fundraising risk before the raise began.
The search specifically weighted board-facing experience and a defensible AI point of view over pure technical depth, since the incoming leader needed to be credible in the room on day one of diligence, not after a ramp-up period.
The placed candidate had led technical diligence conversations through two prior raises at a similar-stage company, and had a documented AI governance framework ready to bring in — shortening the credibility gap the CEO was trying to close.
Company details anonymized. Available with named references on request.
From the Ridge phase brief of the CTO Phase Assessment. The named case studies are on the case studies page.
How the search runs
Four steps, run the same way every time.
The consistency is what produces the number. Skip a step and the 96% is just a claim.
01
Behavioural job survey
We get every hiring stakeholder aligned on what “right” actually means — before a single candidate is approached.
02
Deep market mapping
The whole addressable market, mapped and screened — not a shortlist drawn from whoever happens to be looking.
03
Competency-based screening
Structured, video-based assessment against the agreed brief, so every candidate is measured the same way.
04
Onboarding & retention
The search doesn’t end at the offer. It ends when the hire is embedded — which is why they’re still there at 12 months.
Straight answers
Hiring a HealthTech technology leader in New York.
Do you only place CTOs in HealthTech?
No. CTO, VP Engineering and Chief AI Officer, plus the senior technology leadership around them: Director of Engineering and the layer beneath the CTO. We deliberately do not cover every technology role; the concentration is the point.
How long does a HealthTech CTO search take?
Typically your new hire is secured within 30 days of engaging us. The variable is rarely the market; it is how quickly the hiring group can agree what they are actually looking for, which is why we front-load that work with a behavioural job survey across every stakeholder.
What happens if the hire doesn’t work out?
Every placement carries a 12-month replacement guarantee as standard — if they leave, for any reason, we run it again. In practice it’s rarely called on: 96% of the people we place are still in role 12 months later.
Hiring a technology leader for a HealthTech business?
Fifteen confidential minutes on the role and the market. No pitch deck.