How to hire an arts manager

Arts manager hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring arts managers in the United States:

In the United States, the median cost per hire an arts manager is $1,633.
It takes between 36 and 42 days to fill the average role in the US.
Human Resources use 15% of their expenses on recruitment on average.
On average, it takes around 12 weeks for a new arts manager to become settled and show total productivity levels at work.

How to hire an arts manager, step by step

To hire an arts manager, you should create an ideal candidate profile, determine a budget, and post and promote your job. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to hire a arts manager:

Here's a step-by-step arts manager hiring guide:

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

What does an arts manager do?

An arts manager is someone who helps the artist in their daily activities. It is often associated with an artist manager, but in most cases, this position works primarily in taking care of the created artwork on behalf of the artist. The art manager also checks and inspects all skills and determines their value, where they are most useful, and quality assurance. In many cases, the arts managers are seen in animation studios, where the need for quality art designs is paramount.

Learn more about the specifics of what an arts manager does

Post an arts manager job for free, promote it for a fee

Identify your hiring needs

Before you post your arts manager job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find an arts manager for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

Determine employee vs contractor status

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

An arts manager's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, arts managers 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 arts manager salaries for various roles:

Type of Arts Manager	Description	Hourly rate
Arts Manager	Advertising, promotions, and marketing managers plan programs to generate interest in products or services. They work with art directors, sales agents, and financial staff members.	$27-64
Promotions Director	Promotions Directors have many skills and requirements, starting with a bachelor's or master's degree in business administration with classes in marketing, economics, business accounting, statistics, math, computer technology, and communications. Averaging at an annual salary of $42K, this career choice requires interaction across multiple departments to create promotional programs and events.	$26-68
Art Director	An art director's duty will vary depending on the line of industry involved. However, most of the responsibilities will revolve in taking charge of the artistic direction and decisions in a project or campaign... Show more	$27-64

Create an ideal candidate profile
Common skills:
- Customer Service
- Art Direction
- Animation
- Art Assets
- Unity
- Graphic Design
- Adobe Creative Suite
- Fine Arts
- External Vendors
- Visual Quality
- Adobe Photoshop
- In-House
- Press Releases
- Production Process
Check all skills
Responsibilities:
- Manage and create art for the purpose of embroidery and printing.
- Manage all aspects of the operation of an in-house print shop including purchase of all print supplies and maintenance of printers
- Manage all aspects of day-to-day operation of a desktop publishing and service bureau, including design, page-layout and typesetting.
- Lead corporate rebranding efforts to reflect proprietary technology and high-end international market.
- Shape entire program, run RFP process, contract vendors.
- Help equip those with clear callings and talent in music and the arts in ministry.
More arts manager duties

Make a budget

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

Location. For example, arts managers' average salary in mississippi is 42% less than in nevada.
Seniority. Entry-level arts managers 57% less than senior-level arts managers.
Certifications. An arts manager 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 arts manager's salary.

Average arts manager salary

$88,844yearly

$42.71 hourly rate

Entry-level arts manager salary

$58,000 yearly salary

Updated December 17, 2025

Average arts manager salary by state

Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	Nevada	$118,956	$57
2	California	$118,876	$57
3	Washington	$108,876	$52
4	Massachusetts	$93,609	$45
5	New York	$91,269	$44
6	Arizona	$87,036	$42
7	Indiana	$86,876	$42
8	Virginia	$82,782	$40
9	Maryland	$81,639	$39
10	Oregon	$79,673	$38
11	Colorado	$76,087	$37
12	Texas	$74,436	$36
13	Illinois	$74,255	$36
14	Georgia	$73,487	$35
15	Arkansas	$69,770	$34
16	Florida	$66,059	$32

Average arts manager salary by company

Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
1	Meta	$145,730	$70.06	2
2	Apple	$139,538	$67.09	1
3	Microsoft	$129,750	$62.38	2
4	The Walt Disney Company	$127,864	$61.47	1
5	Unity Technologies	$113,926	$54.77
6	Sucker Punch Productions	$106,105	$51.01
7	Rockstar Games	$101,708	$48.90
8	Electronic Arts	$101,082	$48.60
9	ZeniMax Media	$100,464	$48.30
10	Naughty Dog	$100,339	$48.24
11	Brilliant	$99,621	$47.89
12	ngmoco	$99,398	$47.79
13	Activision Blizzard	$99,210	$47.70
14	POOL	$97,868	$47.05
15	W. R. Grace & Co	$97,268	$46.76
16	Wizards of the Coast	$95,048	$45.70
17	Allianz of America, Inc.	$92,838	$44.63
18	Pocket Gems	$92,717	$44.58
19	City & County Of San Francisco - Police Department (sfpd)	$92,561	$44.50
20	Elevance Health	$90,877	$43.69

Writing an arts manager job description
An arts manager job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of an arts manager job description:
Arts manager job description example
For over 30 years, Naughty Dog has been crafting best-selling, critically acclaimed games that constantly push the boundaries of narrative, gameplay, and technology. Our most recent game, The Last of Us Part II, has received over 300 Game of the Year awards and three of our games are among the top 10 highest scored games on the PlayStation 4. As a part of the Naughty Dog legacy, you'll become a part of continuing the development of extraordinary and enduring experiences for a broad, global range of audiences.

We are looking for an in-house concept artist who will be managing the external artists and teams. They will be expected to give artistic feedback and direction based on pre-established art direction. This may require them to draw/paint over the submissions, create documents, gather references, and finish off or polish the final submissions. They will be interfacing with the leads, art and creative directors and will pass along direction or feedback to the external teams/artists through meetings, recordings, Jira, Miro and other means of communication. They will be responsible for managing and maintaining the concept library and white board, making sure all assets are tracked, archived and up to date.

Responsibilities:
- Interface with Concept Lead/Art Director to understand the Artistic vision
- Communicate direction/feedback to external artists and teams
- Manage tasking the external artists and teams
- Responsible for polishing art submissions from external artists
- Responsible for drawing over submissions to illustrate the feedback
- Work with producers and OS Production artists to manage the schedule and deadlines
- Manage the time cards and invoices for the external artists
- Manage the concept art assets, tracking iterations, updating the digital whiteboard and maintaining the folder structure
Requirements & Skills:
- Must be a skilled concept artist familiar with current industry standard workflows
- Must be skilled in traditional painting and illustration mediums
- Must know industry standard Art software and tools like Photoshop, illustrator, Maya/Max, Blender, red shift, Octane, etc
- Must be familiar with project management software like Jira, confluence, Miro and Excel
- Must show good communication skills and comprehension of feedback/direction
- Must be organized and able to create efficient workflows and processes
#LI-CW1
Post your job
There are a few common ways to find arts managers for your business:
- Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
- Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
- Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
- Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.
Post your job online:
- Post your arts manager job on Zippia to find and recruit arts manager candidates who meet your exact specifications.
- Use field-specific websites.
- Post a job on free websites.
Interview candidates
Recruiting arts managers 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.
Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates 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.
Send a job offer and onboard your new arts manager
Once you've selected the best arts manager candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.
It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.
After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new arts manager. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.
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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How much does it cost to hire an arts manager?

Hiring an arts manager comes with both the one-time cost per hire and ongoing costs. The cost of recruiting arts managers involves promoting the job and spending time conducting interviews. Ongoing costs include employee salary, training, benefits, insurance, and equipment. It is essential to consider the cost of arts manager recruiting as well the ongoing costs of maintaining the new employee.

You can expect to pay around $88,844 per year for an arts manager, as this is the median yearly salary nationally. This can vary depending on what state or city you're hiring in. If you're hiring for contract work or on a per-project basis, hourly rates for arts managers in the US typically range between $27 and $64 an hour.

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Updated December 17, 2025

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