Jacksonville, FL Surgical Tech Jobs

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Jacksonville, FL
Surgical Tech Jobs in Jacksonville

Scrub tech, OR tech, and certified surgical technologist openings across Jacksonville's hospital systems and outpatient surgery centers, from Mayo Clinic to the region's large community networks. New postings appear in the job list on this page; the sections below cover who's hiring, what the work pays, and how certification actually works in a state that doesn't license the role.

Curated by Matthew Sorensen, an executive recruiter with 15+ years and 500+ healthcare and skilled-trades placements, including OR and perioperative roles. The hiring notes here come from screening surgical techs for real openings, not from a template.

Where Surgical Techs Work in Jacksonville

Jacksonville pairs a nationally known destination hospital with several large community systems, so the OR job market runs from high-acuity specialty work to steady general-case volume. A few names worth knowing:

Mayo Clinic Jacksonville
A national referral center, which means complex, specialty-heavy cases and, typically, more rigorous screening; techs targeting it should expect the interview to probe specialty experience, not just general scrub skills.
Baptist Health Jacksonville
One of the metro's largest systems, staffing operating rooms across multiple campuses and service lines, a steady source of both hospital-OR and specialty openings.
UF Health Jacksonville
The academic and trauma hospital in the market, which in my experience makes it one of the systems more set up to onboard newer techs coming off clinicals.
Ascension St. Vincent's & HCA Florida Memorial
Two more large employers running ORs and outpatient surgery across the metro, hiring scrub techs and CSTs across shifts and settings.

A hospital OR and a same-day surgery center are different jobs in pay, pace, and call. Understand the trade-off before you pick: ASC vs. hospital OR surgical tech work.

What Surgical Techs Earn in Florida

01
$52,890 median annual (Florida)
The statewide midpoint per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is a Florida figure, not Jacksonville-only, and it sits a bit below the national median for the occupation.
02
$54,190 mean annual (Florida)
The average sits just above the median, the normal pattern when higher earners at the top pull the mean up.
03
$37,490 to $70,840 range
10th to 90th percentile in Florida. Where you land is driven by experience, whether you hold the CST, hospital vs. surgery center, specialty, and shift; call and specialty roles sit toward the top.

For a figure tuned to your setting and specialty, run the surgical tech salary estimator or read the full salary guide.

Certification in Florida

Florida does not license surgical technologists, so there's no state exam or registration to clear; whether you need the CST credential comes down to the employer. In practice most Jacksonville hospitals still prefer or require the CST through the NBSTSA or graduation from a CAAHEP- or ABHES-accredited program, and the first thing I check on a file is whether that certification is current. For how the rules apply to your situation, see surgical tech state requirements.

Jacksonville Surgical Tech FAQ

Do I need a license to work as a surgical tech in Jacksonville?
No. Florida does not license surgical technologists, so there's no state credential to obtain. Employers set their own bar, and most large Jacksonville hospitals prefer or require the CST or graduation from an accredited program.
Can a new grad get hired in Jacksonville with no experience?
Yes. Academic and trauma hospitals like UF Health generally run the training pipelines that make them the most set up to hire techs straight out of clinicals. See the guide on getting hired as a new-grad surgical tech.
Does a surgery center or a hospital pay more?
Neither wins automatically. Hospitals often pay more once call and shift differentials are counted; surgery centers trade some of that for daytime hours and lighter call. The right answer depends on the specific offer and your schedule.

Related Pages

More jobs coming soon