How to hire a business unit director

How to hire a business unit director, step by step

Here's a step-by-step business unit director hiring guide:

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

What does a business unit director do?

Post a business unit director job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   The business unit director hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a business unit director to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a business unit director that fits the bill.

   The following list breaks down different types of business unit directors and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Business Unit Director	Description	Hourly rate
   Business Unit Director	Top executives devise strategies and policies to ensure that an organization meets its goals. They plan, direct, and coordinate operational activities of companies and organizations.	$45-91
   Director Of Business Operations	The position of a director of business operations involves the direction and coordination of an organization. It is the main responsibility of the directors of operations to oversee the profitability and overall growth of their organization... Show more	$32-87
   Director New Business Development	A director of new business development is in charge of spearheading new programs and procedures, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. It is their duty to set goals and objectives in adherence to the company's vision and mission, establishing guidelines, allocating budgets, and overseeing the progress of all efforts... Show more	$34-80

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Project Management
   • Digital Marketing
   • Sigma
   • Business Development
   • Direct Reports
   • Customer Satisfaction
   • Revenue Growth
   • Logistics
   • Financial Analysis
   • Product Development
   • Strategic Direction
   • Financial Performance
   • Strategic Plan
   • Internal Controls

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage a portfolio of inpatient and outpatient products market to major academic medical centers, community hospitals and nursing homes.
   • Manage a portfolio of inpatient and outpatient products market to major academic medical centers, community hospitals and nursing homes.
   • Increase EBITDA for the division.
   • Obtain first ISO certification for the production lines.
   • Conduct and complete internal reviews of domestic mutual funds and institutional operations, including compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley and anti-money laundering requirements.

   More business unit director duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your business unit director job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A business unit director salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a business unit director in Florida may be lower than in Alaska, and an entry-level business unit director usually earns less than a senior-level business unit director. Additionally, a business unit director with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average business unit director salary

   $135,050yearly

   $64.93 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level business unit director salary

   $95,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 27, 2025

   Average business unit director salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$155,509	$75
   2	New York	$144,846	$70
   3	Connecticut	$143,594	$69
   4	Massachusetts	$140,602	$68
   5	Virginia	$136,230	$66
   6	North Carolina	$135,030	$65
   7	Colorado	$128,676	$62
   8	Texas	$125,990	$61
   9	Wisconsin	$125,976	$61
   10	Pennsylvania	$125,408	$60
   11	Arizona	$122,064	$59
   12	Illinois	$121,677	$59
   13	Georgia	$117,299	$56
   14	Michigan	$117,261	$56
   15	South Carolina	$103,870	$50
   16	Utah	$96,929	$47
   17	Idaho	$94,892	$46
   18	Florida	$93,294	$45

   Average business unit director salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Lasko Products	$138,959	$66.81
   2	Master Fluid Solutions	$138,937	$66.80	2
   3	Indeed	$138,633	$66.65	51
   4	Applied Materials	$135,736	$65.26	12
   5	Briggs & Stratton	$130,770	$62.87	1
   6	HZO	$130,627	$62.80
   7	Flex Construction	$130,582	$62.78	14
   8	Kulicke & Soffa	$130,382	$62.68
   9	Red Hat	$130,290	$62.64	1
   10	Ingram Micro	$130,007	$62.50	9
   11	CBRE Group	$128,812	$61.93	149
   12	Danone Sverige	$127,686	$61.39
   13	HennigesAutomotive	$126,325	$60.73
   14	Northrop Grumman	$123,352	$59.30	23
   15	Argus Consulting	$123,182	$59.22
   16	Curtiss-Wright	$121,191	$58.26	3
   17	Compass Group USA	$119,038	$57.23	430
   18	Charles Schwab	$118,979	$57.20	13
   19	Delphi Holdings, LLC	$115,050	$55.31
   20	Carnegie Mellon University	$98,646	$47.43	6

4. Writing a business unit director job description

   A business unit director 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 a business unit director job description:

   Business unit director job description example

   Brooks Instrument is an industry leader in flow measurement and flow control products for critical applications, and a division of ITW (A Fortune 200 Company) is seeking candidates for an Industrial Business Unit Engineering Director. This position will be based out of our headquarters facility in Hatfield, PA (Suburban Philadelphia). In addition to our Pennsylvania operations, Brooks maintains manufacturing locations in, Hungary, and Korea. The Company also maintains sales offices throughout the world. Our products are used in laboratory and process applications in end markets such as: life sciences, chemicals, semiconductor, analytical instruments, nuclear, and solar cells.
   Basic Function
   
   The Engineering Director is responsible for managing a cross-functional engineering team and budget to achieve new product development objectives for Brooks' flow measurement and control product families. The Engineering Director, in close coordination with Product Marketing, is responsible for executing ITW's Customer Back Innovation process to gather customer input and release new products that address customer pain points with realizable value. In addition, the Engineering Director participates in defining and pursuing the Technology roadmap.
   
   Essential Duties and Responsibilities
   
   * Manages a group of cross-functional contributors to support new product development projects.
   * Ensures all functional teams are creating and driving best engineering practices.
   * Creates and enforces best practices for project management.
   * Identifies resource gaps and supports hiring.
   * Establishes goals with direct reports and provides written performance feedback at established company intervals.
   * Manages coordination of engineering resources, including implementation plans to assigned projects.
   * Works closely with business unit leaders and product managers to establish project priorities.
   * Communicates regularly with executive team and business unit leaders on development project status, including schedule, budget, risks, and mitigation plans.
   * Supports leadership team in budget planning and forecasting for Annual and Long Range Plans.
   * Participates in the research and analysis of data such as design proposals, specifications, and manuals to determine feasibility of design or application while adhering to project timing.
   * Researches and provides feedback to business leaders on promising areas of research or technology that address current needs and have larger potential markets.
   * Utilizes originality, ingenuity, and creativity to manage complex and large scope project assignments.
   * Maintains and enhances department safety policies and procedures.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right business unit director for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with business unit directors they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit business unit directors who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

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

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting business unit directors 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.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new business unit director

   Once you've selected the best business unit director 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 also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new business unit director first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

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.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire a business unit director?