How to hire a chief deputy

How to hire a chief deputy, step by step

Here's a step-by-step chief deputy hiring guide:

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

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your chief deputy 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 a chief deputy 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?

   Yes

   No

   A chief deputy's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, chief deputies 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 chief deputy salaries for various roles:

   Type of Chief Deputy	Description	Hourly rate
   Chief Deputy	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.	$39-92
   Owner	Owners, in the most basic sense, own the business, company, or organization. They are responsible for building the business... Show more	$28-64
   Board Member	Board members are fiduciaries of an organization leading it to its sustainable development. They are elected by its board of directors or its supervisory committee... Show more	$12-95

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Oversight
   • Policy Development
   • Human Resources
   • Financial Reports
   • Technical Assistance
   • District Court
   • Law Enforcement Agencies
   • Strategic Plan
   • Direct Supervision
   • Logistical Support
   • USAID
   • Real Estate
   • Training Programs
   • HQ

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Evaluate progress of program plans to determine whether overall command-wide objectives are being accomplish economically with reference to budget and manpower.
   • Develop and maintain relationships with DOD and other federal agencies on every forward operating base.
   • Maintain a fleet of 40 plus patrol cars.
   • Assist DISA in the hardening of the DoD unclassify network architecture.
   • Research, develop and implement the police division's first bicycle patrol unit.
   • Coordinate UNAMSIL's interface with other UN agencies and INGOs in the field and HQ.

   More chief deputy duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the chief deputy job description is a good way to get more applicants. A chief deputy salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a chief deputy in Kentucky may be lower than in Nevada, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level chief deputy. Additionally, a chief deputy with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average chief deputy salary

   $126,924yearly

   $61.02 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level chief deputy salary

   $83,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 12, 2025

   Average chief deputy salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	District of Columbia	$160,386	$77
   2	Nevada	$156,553	$75
   3	California	$149,828	$72
   4	New Jersey	$149,612	$72
   5	Illinois	$140,981	$68
   6	Massachusetts	$140,796	$68
   7	Connecticut	$139,749	$67
   8	Virginia	$139,404	$67
   9	Pennsylvania	$129,816	$62
   10	Texas	$126,322	$61
   11	Maryland	$124,540	$60
   12	Michigan	$123,682	$59
   13	Ohio	$120,876	$58
   14	Arizona	$116,710	$56
   15	Hawaii	$115,810	$56
   16	Colorado	$115,536	$56
   17	Oregon	$114,843	$55
   18	Georgia	$112,226	$54
   19	Louisiana	$107,282	$52
   20	Florida	$105,604	$51

   Average chief deputy salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Creative Associates International	$164,294	$78.99
   2	Abt Associates	$162,191	$77.98
   3	Federal Reserve Bank of New York	$159,647	$76.75
   4	The Atlantic	$146,509	$70.44	2
   5	United States Courts	$145,324	$69.87	18
   6	NJ Transit	$143,357	$68.92
   7	JWCH Institute	$142,124	$68.33
   8	County Of Los Angeles Public Library	$139,648	$67.14
   9	Customers Bank	$135,855	$65.31
   10	Colorado State Express	$134,712	$64.77
   11	Mta	$134,290	$64.56
   12	Administrative Office Of The Courts Of Ga	$133,874	$64.36
   13	Ventura County Community Foundation	$132,657	$63.78
   14	Crowley Holdings Inc.	$130,892	$62.93
   15	Boeing	$126,556	$60.84	12
   16	Icma-rc	$126,317	$60.73	26
   17	John Deere	$123,851	$59.54
   18	U.S. District Court	$120,744	$58.05
   19	Tetra Tech	$120,297	$57.84	6
   20	Chicago Public Schools	$118,356	$56.90	1

4. Writing a chief deputy job description

   A job description for a chief deputy 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 a chief deputy job description:

   Chief deputy job description example

   The CDC Foundation helps the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) save and improve lives by unleashing the power of collaboration between CDC, philanthropies, corporations, organizations, and individuals to protect the health, safety and security of America and the world. The CDC Foundation is the go-to nonprofit authorized by Congress to mobilize philanthropic partners and private-sector resources to support CDC's critical health protection mission. Since 1995, the CDC Foundation has raised over $1 billion and launched more than 1,000 programs impacting a variety of health threats from chronic disease conditions including cardiovascular disease and cancer, to infectious diseases like rotavirus and HIV, to emergency responses, including COVID-19 and Ebola. The CDC Foundation managed hundreds of CDC-led programs in the United States and in more than 140 countries last year. Learn more at www.cdcfoundation.org.
   
   The CDC Foundation is seeking a Deputy Chief Administrator/OCME. The Deputy Chief Administrator/OCME role will provide oversight and ensure communication and coordination for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and the North Carolina Medical Examiner System. This position will identify, develop and recommend, and advise leadership and others on new program initiatives to carry out more effectively/efficiently the responsibilities of the Medical Examiner System. The ideal candidate will possess strong leadership and interpersonal skills with the ability to manage, direct, lead and coordinate the work of others.
   
   The candidate will also possess solid organizational and analytical abilities that allow for project leadership and decision-making.
   
   Job HighlightsPosition Title: Deputy Chief Administrator/OCMELocation: Onsite (Raleigh, NC) Position End Date: 6/30/2023Salary: $125,000 plus benefits
   
   Education:Master's degree in a discipline relative to the program, business, or public administration from an appropriately accredited institution and ten years of managerial or supervisory experience in a closely related programmatic area; or Bachelor's degree university as indicated above from an appropriately accredited institution and ten years of experience in a closely related program, six of which must be managerial or supervisory experience in a closely related programmatic area; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
   
   Qualifications:Possess strong leadership and interpersonal skills with the ability to direct, lead and coordinate the work of others. Possess solid organizational and analytical abilities that allow for project leadership and decision-making. Knowledge of local/state health and human services or public health system. Possess excellent oral and written communication skills to describe and establish direction and achieve desired outcomes. The ability to effectively interact, build and maintain relations with external and internal stakeholders and constituents, state and local executives/management, the Governor's Office and a variety of federal agencies. Possess analytical skills to synthesize and comprehend complex information related to human services or public health services and programs to facilitate and delegate problem solving to policy/program administrators and specialists.
   
   Responsibilities:Provide oversight and strategic planning, operational guidance and day-to-day support for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and NC Medical Examiner System Work closely with Public Health Leadership, law enforcement, legal officials, Emergency Management, county managers, NC Funeral board, attorney organizations, regional autopsy centers, educational institutions, and other stakeholders to ensure consistent and coordinated implementation of medical examiner operations and response.Manage complex problems as a team and demonstrate innovative problem solving while also ensuring compliance with state and federal requirements related to medicolegal death investigation response activities.Provide guidance, leadership, and support for the OCME and Medical Examiner System including, but not limited to, the interpretation of legislation, rules, and administrative code during states of emergency, COVID-19, and pandemic response in collaboration with DHHS and DPH attorneys.Communicate with a diverse workforce of employees comprised of full-time, part-time, time-limited, lawyers, laboratory staff, program staff and other professionals assigned to the Medical Examiner System and COVID-19 pandemic response workstream.Identify, develop, and recommend and advise leadership and others on new program initiatives to carry out more effectively/efficiently the responsibilities of the Medical Examiner System. Foster cross-divisional collaboration along with the value that we are members of one department, one team, working towards one goal: to improve the health, safety, and well-being of the citizens by providing professional, timely, and high-quality death investigations including examinations, reports, and communications.Maintains an open and trusting environment for on-going collaboration and continuous improvement.Make presentations to division and departmental leadership, legislative committees, meets with legislators and staff in the Fiscal Research Division, and offers recommendations and guidance regarding public health programs, appropriation, and existing and/or proposed legislation.Participate with executive level staff within the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and NC Medical Examiner system in preparation of long-term and immediate public health objectives, staffing, and funding priorities.Ensure that public health programs, rules, policies and initiatives are well coordinated, collaborative and in alignment with Departmental and OCME strategies and priorities, state and federal funders, local government entities, and other state entities impacting public health, such as Emergency Management, Department of Public Instruction, Medical Board, Board of Pharmacy, Department of Agriculture, Department of Public Safety, Housing Finance Agency, and the Department of Transportation, as well as an array of private public health partners Work with national, regional, and local professional public health organizations, and represents and speaks on behalf of the OCME, Medical Examiner System, Division and the state.Provide guidance and support, if needed, to the Commission for Public Health and additional advisory and legislated boards and commissions.
   
   Special Notes:This role is involved in a dynamic public health program. As such, roles and responsibilities are subject to change as situations evolve. Roles and responsibilities listed above may be expanded upon or updated to match priorities and needs, once written approval is received by both the CDC Foundation and North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, in order to best support the State of North Carolina in their public health programming.
   
   The CDC Foundation requires all employees to be fully vaccinated* for COVID-19 as a condition of employment effective November 22, 2021. All offers of employment after that date are contingent upon proof of full-vaccination status as a part of the pre-employment process.
   
   *Fully vaccinated is defined as follows: At least two weeks have passed since receipt of the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine, or the second dose of the either the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech two-dose vaccines.
   
   This position is currently a remote position. CDC Foundation retains the right to make adjustments to this as required.
   
   All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, mental or physical disabilities, veteran status, and all other characteristics protected by law.
   
   We comply with all applicable laws including E.O. 11246 and the Vietnam Era Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 governing employment practices and do not discriminate on the basis of any unlawful criteria in accordance with 41 C.F.R. §§ 60-300.5(a)(12) and 60-741.5(a)(7). As a federal government contractor, we take affirmative action on behalf of protected veterans.
   The CDC Foundation is a smoke-free environment.
   
   Relocation expenses are not included.

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5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right chief deputy for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

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

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit chief deputies, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   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 chief deputy

   Once you have selected a candidate for the chief deputy 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 chief deputy 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.)

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