How to hire an acquisition specialist

How to hire an acquisition specialist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step acquisition specialist hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write an acquisition specialist job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new acquisition specialist
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does an acquisition specialist do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring an acquisition specialist, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   An acquisition specialist's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, acquisition specialists from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   Here's a comparison of acquisition specialist salaries for various roles:

   Type of Acquisition Specialist	Description	Hourly rate
   Acquisition Specialist	Buyers and purchasing agents buy products and services for organizations to use or resell. They evaluate suppliers, negotiate contracts, and review the quality of products.	$20-47
   Procurement Agent	A procurement agent develops profitable measures to save the client money and ensure the quality of goods supplied. Procurement agents obtain the purchased items through suppliers, monitor them, and expedite the orders... Show more	$23-50
   Planner/Buyer	The role of buyers/planners is to ensure that office materials and equipment are well-supplied within their organization. They decide and purchase the materials needed for use or resale by their organization... Show more	$17-37

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Program Management
   • Market Research
   • DOD
   • Logistics
   • PowerPoint
   • Acquisition Strategy
   • Acquisition Support
   • Cost Estimates
   • RFP
   • Digital Marketing
   • Acquisition Documentation
   • Acquisition Process
   • Real Estate
   • Cost Analysis

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage SharePoint for deliverables and maintain the CDRL lists and IMS for management.
   • Review and update all packaging BOMs at all mills to achieve accurate perpetual inventories.
   • Program manager responsible for managing the successful launch of new vehicle products at OEM customer sites.
   • Manage multiple customer relationships and sales-cycle using CRM Salesforce.com.
   • Support: NAVSEA - PEO EXW PMS3771 for the LCAC program.
   • Order and submit NEPA and SHPO reports.

   More acquisition specialist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your acquisition specialist job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. An acquisition specialist can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, acquisition specialists' average salary in montana is 45% less than in new jersey.
   • Seniority. Entry-level acquisition specialists 57% less than senior-level acquisition specialists.
   • Certifications. An acquisition specialist with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in an acquisition specialist's salary.

   Average acquisition specialist salary

   $65,906yearly

   $31.69 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level acquisition specialist salary

   $43,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 17, 2025

   Average acquisition specialist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	District of Columbia	$83,998	$40
   2	Virginia	$83,986	$40
   3	Maryland	$83,578	$40
   4	California	$81,991	$39
   5	New York	$81,023	$39
   6	Massachusetts	$78,533	$38
   7	Nevada	$68,952	$33
   8	Indiana	$68,429	$33
   9	North Carolina	$67,881	$33
   10	Illinois	$66,294	$32
   11	Alabama	$65,629	$32
   12	Arizona	$61,113	$29
   13	Texas	$58,957	$28
   14	Washington	$58,406	$28
   15	Oregon	$58,303	$28
   16	Colorado	$56,370	$27
   17	Florida	$55,736	$27
   18	Georgia	$55,089	$26
   19	Missouri	$54,611	$26
   20	Utah	$49,232	$24

   Average acquisition specialist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Amazon	$120,657	$58.01	63
   2	SAS Institute	$117,504	$56.49
   3	Genentech	$117,214	$56.35
   4	Better	$107,421	$51.64
   5	HSBC Bank	$105,371	$50.66
   6	Redfin	$98,368	$47.29
   7	Johnson & Johnson	$96,817	$46.55	11
   8	Avian	$94,778	$45.57	1
   9	Booz Allen Hamilton	$93,993	$45.19	9
   10	Gillette	$93,111	$44.76
   11	Glu Mobile	$89,225	$42.90
   12	Noblis	$89,161	$42.87	1
   13	Grant Thornton	$88,898	$42.74
   14	Jam City	$88,523	$42.56	1
   15	Discover	$88,446	$42.52
   16	ZeroCater	$88,386	$42.49
   17	Encyclopdia Britannica Online	$87,878	$42.25
   18	Crown Castle International	$86,944	$41.80
   19	The Aerospace Corporation	$86,511	$41.59
   20	MITRE	$85,912	$41.30	4

4. Writing an acquisition specialist job description

   A job description for an acquisition specialist role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's an acquisition specialist job description:

   Acquisition specialist job description example

   Barbaricum is a rapidly growing government contractor providing leading-edge support to federal customers, with a particular focus on Defense and National Security mission sets. We leverage more than 14 years of support to stakeholders across the federal government, with established and growing capabilities across Intelligence, Analytics, Engineering, Mission Support, and Communications disciplines. Founded in 2008, our mission is to transform the way our customers approach constantly changing and complex problem sets by bringing to bear the latest in technology and the highest caliber of talent.
   
   Headquartered in Washington, DC's historic Dupont Circle neighborhood, Barbaricum also has a corporate presence in Tampa, FL and Dayton, OH, with team members across the United States and around the world. As a leader in our space, we partner with firms in the private sector, academic institutions, and industry associations with a goal of continually building our expertise and capabilities for the benefit of our employees and the customers we support. Through all of this, we have built a vibrant corporate culture diverse in expertise and perspectives with a focus on collaboration and innovation. Our teams are at the frontier of the Nation's most complex and rewarding challenges. Join us.
   
   Barbaricum seeks an experienced Electromagnetic Warfare SME to support a Special Operations customer that includes an Electromagnetic Warfare Officer, Electromagnetic Warfare capability manager and a commodity team to deliver outstanding services to DoD customers and stakeholders. This individual will support across both Acquisition and Technical subject areas.
   
   This role requires someone who is an independent self-starter, capable of identifying and executing complex and sometimes ambiguous tasks in a timely, complete, and accurate manner to accomplish broader team objectives and Commander's intent.
   
   Responsibilities Acquisition subject areas include: Planning, preparation, execution, and assessment of studies, projects, and programs Aggregation, allocation, decomposition, and tracking of requirements. Developing and/or reviewing Statement of Objectives (SOO), Statement of Work (SOW), and Performance Work Statements (PWS) Evaluating proposals for compliance with Request for Proposal (RFP) and programmatic considerations of cost, schedule, performance, and risk Generation and/or review of detailed financial reporting to plan, monitor, and report on program financial status, invoices, obligations, expenditures, and risk Generation and/or review of other core business process documents including briefing materials and formal memoranda Generate and evaluate test and evaluation plans and documents Initiate, direct, coordinate, and participate in the preparation of or revision of appropriate materiel requirements documents, program management documents, test plans, and training plans for chartered systems Serve as the point of contact for planning, coordinating, and managing the overall acquisition of materiel for operations, maintenance supervision, management, budgetary programs and support of all EW programs within the command Technical subject areas include:Design, development, testing, and fielding of advanced and novel capabilities associated with Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR), and Electromagnetic Warfare (EW) CONUS/OCONUS communications networks understanding Test and Evaluation planning, review, and oversight Technical understanding of system employment of current and next-gen EW equipment Leading Integrated Product Teams (IPTs) and Engineering working groups that will review and assess the maturity of engineering artifacts, CONOPs, and systems architecture products.Assessing Integrated Master Schedules (IMS) to identify integration dependencies, gaps, and risks Working directly with the customer, and supporting contractors, to determine the overall maturity of EW acquisitions at each stage of the Lifecycle Acquisition Process while adhering to government standards and procedures Providing decision support and technical consultation, meeting coordination, and leading the development of initial recommendations for Government decision-makers CONUS/OCONUS Field Service Representative (FSR) contract management Plan, develop, and implement EW operations tactics, techniques and procedures for EW specialists Serve as a technical lead for EW research and development programs with Interagency partners, regularly brief senior Intelligence Community personnel on the command's EW efforts Coordinate internally/externally to ensure that collection management, analysis and production are sufficient to support planning and operations
   
   Required Qualifications Active DoD Top Secret SCI security clearance Bachelor's Degree in a relevant field of study from an accredited university15 years of demonstrated relevant DoD EW experience Demonstrated expertise of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR & DFAR), and DoD Instruction 5000.02 Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) Level II in Program Management, System Engineering and/or Test and Evaluation Management or equivalent DAU course work Demonstrated superior written and verbal communication skills Demonstrated self-motivated, professional, team player Demonstrated expertise in integration of service common Electromagnetic Support (ES), Electromagnetic Attack (EA), Electromagnetic Protect (EP), counter RADAR capabilities
   
   Desired Qualifications 20+ years of relevant experience in DoD EW systems engineering DAWIA Level III in Program Management, Contracting, System Engineering and/or Test and Evaluation ManagementMilitary service/support experience, in particular SOF Demonstrated experience supporting the DoD Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) resource allocation process Demonstrated experience supporting the DoD Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS) and Special Operations Forces Capabilities Integration and Development System (SOFCIDS) capability needs identification process Project Management Professional (PMP) CertificationGraduate degree in relevant discipline (science, engineering, mathematics, business administration, knowledge management, accounting, or similar) Advanced proficiency with MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) and Adobe AcrobatAbility to travel CONUS on short notice Test and evaluation planning and execution experience Demonstrated operational employment of Ground and Airborne EW systems and/or program management
   , please visit our website at www.barbaricum.com. We will contact candidates directly to schedule interviews. No phone calls please.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find acquisition specialists for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any acquisition specialists they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level acquisition specialists with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your acquisition specialist job on Zippia to find and recruit acquisition specialist candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting acquisition specialists requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new acquisition specialist

   Once you have selected a candidate for the acquisition specialist position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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