sea-change

What sea-change does

sea-change, inc. is a privately held, founder-led specialty recruiting firm focused exclusively on the U.S. ophthalmic market. Operating from West Palm Beach, Florida under President Diane McCabe — who brings 25+ years of ophthalmic recruiting experience — the firm serves ophthalmic practice owners, practice managers, experienced ophthalmologists, and new medical-school graduates seeking their first position. The company runs a relationship-driven, sales-led GTM in which McCabe personally conducts complimentary initial consultations, supplemented by attendance at ASCRS and AAO conferences and a content-marketing presence (website blog, LinkedIn, Facebook).

The firm's core offering is structured around four engagement tiers: Retained Search (fee distributed over the project), Contingent Search with Expenses, Contingent Search (highest fee, paid at hire), and Coaching (scope-based fees). All engagements are powered by the proprietary S.E.A.S. candidate-assessment model — a framework evaluating Skills, Environment, Attitudes, and Style — supplemented by a Four Candidate Types taxonomy (Gentle Captain, Master Perfectionist, Focused Specialist, Practice Promoter) and a Recruiting Quadrant Effectiveness/Efficiency matrix. A private candidate extranet at extranet.sea-change.com supports confidential listings and targeted database-mining campaigns. Customer testimonials cite outcomes including a candidate placed in under 90 days, 15+ physicians placed at a single client, and a claim that 95% of clients dominate their respective markets by a 2:1 margin.

The business model is fee-for-service professional services revenue across the four engagement tiers, with no disclosed funding, no parent company, no subsidiaries, and no disclosed headcount beyond the President. The company is bootstrapped, founder-owned, and operates as an independent recruiting firm. There are no disclosed financial metrics, no patent or regulatory filings, and no M&A, partnership, or leadership-change history in the source data. Pricing is not publicly disclosed.

Name

sea-change

Legal name

sea-change, inc.

Website

https://sea-change.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Short description

sea-change is a founder-led, West Palm Beach-based recruiting firm that places ophthalmologists and administrators with U.S. ophthalmic practices and surgery centers, using its proprietary S.E.A.S. candidate-assessment model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Ophthalmic Physician Recruitment

NAICS

Executive Search Services (561312), Employment Placement Agencies and Executive Search Services (56131)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Ambulatory Surgery Centers (Ophthalmic/Outpatient Eye Surgery) (HLAKAKAO)

Keywords

• Ophthalmic physician recruiting
• Retained search services
• Contingent recruitment services
• Healthcare staffing consulting
• Recruiting process coaching

Headquarters

HQ city

West Palm Beach

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Retained Search: Client outsources entire recruiting effort to sea-change for a fee, typically paid over the course of the project.
2. Contingent Search with Expenses: Client pays a slightly higher fee when they hire someone, plus pays marketing and other expenses up front.
3. Contingent Search: Client pays the fee and reimburses sea-change's expenses at the time of hire. This has the highest fee because sea-change incurs all expenses up front.
4. Coaching Services: sea-change coaches client staff on recruiting steps they don't have time or tools to execute. Fees based on scope of work.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

sea-change places ophthalmologists, surgeons, and administrators with ophthalmic practices and surgery centers through retained search, contingent search, and contingent search with client-paid expenses. It also provides scope-based coaching for practice teams that need support with recruiting steps they cannot execute internally.

Product overview

sea-change, inc. is a specialized recruiting firm serving the ophthalmic market, offering four service tiers: Retained Search, Contingent Search with Expenses, Contingent Search, and Coaching. The firm operates on a proprietary S.E.A.S. Model methodology for candidate-practice matching and a five-step hiring process. Their services are supported by a private candidate database accessible through their extranet portal.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Retained Search A full-service recruiting engagement in which sea-change manages the client's search effort and charges a fee typically paid over the course of the project.
• Contingent Search with Expenses A contingent recruiting engagement in which the client pays a slightly higher fee when a candidate is hired and covers marketing and other expenses up front.
• Contingent Search A contingent recruiting engagement in which the client pays sea-change's fee and reimburses its expenses when a candidate is hired; sea-change incurs all expenses up front.
• Coaching Services Scope-based coaching for client staff on recruiting steps they do not have the time or tools to execute, providing partial recruiting support as needed.

Quantifiable outcome

• 95% of clients dominate their respective markets by a 2:1 margin
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Merritt Hawkins: Largest U.S. physician search firm, placing specialists across medical practices and hospitals using retained and contingent models. Directly comparable to sea-change's specialty-recruiting business model, though Merritt Hawkins serves multiple specialties rather than just ophthalmology.
• Jackson Healthcare: Atlanta-based healthcare staffing firm with specialty-focused physician placement subsidiaries. Comparable to sea-change in its specialty-vertical model and relationship-based recruiting approach.
• CHG Healthcare: Healthcare staffing company operating brands like CompHealth and Weatherby that place physicians across specialties. Comparable business model (specialty physician placement with retained/contingent structures) though broader than sea-change's ophthalmology-only focus.
• CompHealth: Physician and advanced-practice staffing firm placing clinicians in permanent and locum roles across the U.S. Directly comparable in its specialist placement offering, though operates at significantly larger scale than sea-change.
• Weatherby Healthcare: Locum tenens and permanent physician staffing firm owned by CHG Healthcare. Comparable to sea-change in its physician-recruiting model and focus on practice placements.
• Hayes Locums: Healthcare staffing firm specializing in physician and advanced-practice locum tenens placements. Comparable in its relationship-driven, specialty-focused recruitment approach.

Broad incumbents

• AMN Healthcare: Large publicly traded healthcare staffing company with a physician placement division. Operates at much greater scale than sea-change across multiple healthcare segments, but overlaps directly in physician/permanent placement services.
• Heidrick & Struggles: Global executive search firm placing senior leaders across industries including healthcare. Comparable retained-search methodology, but serves executive-level roles across all industries rather than specializing in physician placement.
• Spencer Stuart: Global executive search firm with a healthcare practice placing senior executives at hospitals, health systems, and large practices. Comparable consultative retained-search model but at executive level rather than practicing-physician level.
• Korn Ferry: Global organizational consulting firm with a substantial executive search and healthcare practice. Comparable in its retained-search and consulting revenue model, though operates across all C-suite roles and industries.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/484438208255975
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/pub/diane-l-mccabe/20/42/56a

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about sea-change