Brian Howard has recruited within the employee benefits, medical self-funding, and digital health industry for 30 years, building personal relationships with the candidates and companies that define it. That foundation extends naturally into the broader healthcare services and payer markets — including health plan services, healthcare AI and analytics platforms, care management, and the technology vendors that sell into payer organizations. Many of the companies in those categories share buyers, talent pools, and operating dynamics with the self-funding ecosystem Brian knows in depth.
Brian holds the Certified Self Funding Specialist (CSFS) designation, issued jointly by the Health Care Administrators Association and the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. He is the only executive recruiter in the country who holds this credential — a reflection of both his technical depth and his standing within the industry.
Before founding The Howard Group, Brian earned a Juris Doctorate and practiced law for four years. That background shapes how he thinks — about risk, about contracts, and about the regulatory environment his clients navigate every day. In an industry defined by complex risk structures and legal exposure, it is a perspective most recruiters simply do not have.
Every search Brian runs is worked personally. There are no junior researchers making calls on your behalf, no account managers between you and the work. When you engage Brian Howard, you get Brian Howard — from the first conversation to the final offer.
