How to hire a clinical specialist

How to hire a clinical specialist, step by step

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

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

What does a clinical specialist do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The clinical specialist 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

   A clinical specialist's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, clinical 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.

   This list shows salaries for various types of clinical specialists.

   Type of Clinical Specialist	Description	Hourly rate
   Clinical Specialist	Registered nurses (RNs) provide and coordinate patient care, educate patients and the public about various health conditions, and provide advice and emotional support to patients and their family members.	$18-54
   Clinical Manager	A clinical manager is responsible for monitoring medical procedures and administrative duties to ensure the smooth flow of operations in a healthcare facility. Clinical managers manage the facility's staffing needs, evaluate budget reports, assist healthcare professionals on administering medical duties, and develop strategic procedures to optimize treatments and maximize productivity... Show more	$26-61
   Clinical Coordinator	A clinical coordinator is responsible for monitoring a healthcare facility's daily operations, ensuring the best quality services for the patients. Clinical coordinators perform administrative and clerical tasks as needed, such as organizing patient files, communicating with other departments and healthcare organizations for validating patients' information and insurance documents, prepare medical reports, assist medical professionals in medical procedures, and observe sanitary and hygienic standards... Show more	$20-37

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Excellent Interpersonal
   • Patient Care
   • Clinical Support
   • Customer Service
   • Technical Support
   • Work Ethic
   • Medical Devices
   • Sales Support
   • Data Collection
   • Clinical Expertise
   • Oncology
   • Patient Outcomes
   • Social Work

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Collaborate with teams managing Medicare / Medicaid (CMS) requirements to increase care access for all patients.
   • Manage CNS supervise hospital base cardiac surgery clinic.
   • Collaborate with ambulatory practice managers as lead patient scheduler to develop back office scheduler position to manage all disease group patients.
   • Monitor patients with implant devices and provide ongoing programming recommendations to cardiologists and surgical staff.
   • Monitor documentation to ensure compliance with ICH GCP guidelines and interact with regulatory team members.
   • Serve as NRP and BLS instructor.

   More clinical specialist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the clinical specialist job description is a good way to get more applicants. A clinical specialist 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 clinical specialist in South Carolina may be lower than in Connecticut, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level clinical specialist. Additionally, a clinical specialist with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average clinical specialist salary

   $67,002yearly

   $32.21 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level clinical specialist salary

   $39,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 23, 2026

   Average clinical specialist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$101,045	$49
   2	Connecticut	$96,021	$46
   3	New York	$86,189	$41
   4	Arizona	$82,393	$40
   5	Massachusetts	$81,139	$39
   6	Nevada	$78,363	$38
   7	Oregon	$77,158	$37
   8	Maryland	$71,034	$34
   9	Minnesota	$68,985	$33
   10	Washington	$68,171	$33
   11	Indiana	$68,098	$33
   12	Texas	$67,956	$33
   13	North Carolina	$66,301	$32
   14	Virginia	$64,221	$31
   15	Michigan	$62,926	$30
   16	Florida	$61,652	$30
   17	District of Columbia	$61,246	$29
   18	Utah	$60,945	$29
   19	Missouri	$56,965	$27
   20	Colorado	$56,905	$27

   Average clinical specialist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Genentech	$134,712	$64.77	12
   2	Natera	$122,561	$58.92	45
   3	AstraZeneca	$118,855	$57.14	16
   4	Intuitive Surgical	$118,251	$56.85	25
   5	Edwards Lifesciences	$112,814	$54.24	31
   6	Zymeworks	$107,889	$51.87
   7	FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies	$105,514	$50.73	1
   8	Regeneron	$103,280	$49.65	26
   9	Stryker	$97,975	$47.10	174
   10	Cleveland Clinic	$97,270	$46.76	213
   11	W. R. Berkley	$97,002	$46.64
   12	Booz Allen Hamilton	$96,596	$46.44	1
   13	Nicklaus Children's Hospital	$96,162	$46.23	5
   14	Community Medical Center	$94,829	$45.59
   15	Mallinckrodt	$93,955	$45.17
   16	Hca Hospital Services Of San Diego	$93,909	$45.15
   17	Medline	$93,483	$44.94	4
   18	Medtronic	$92,639	$44.54	244
   19	NuVasive	$92,613	$44.53
   20	Intelligent Medical Objects	$92,482	$44.46

4. Writing a clinical specialist job description

   A clinical specialist 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 clinical specialist job description:

   Clinical specialist job description example

   Reporting to Nursing Service Admin, the Clinical Skin Specialist communicates and collaborates closely with physicians and other members of the health care team to provide consistent quality care for patients with wounds and ostomies. Working with a high degree of autonomy, the Clinical Skin Specialist accepts responsibility and accountability for assigned patients as a case manager to plan, implement and evaluate the care for all chronic wound patients. The incumbent works within the framework of the State Nurse Practice Act and follows all Paradigm (PMM), wound care and hospital policies and procedures. He/she complies with hospital and nursing philosophy and standards while performing job duties and responsibilities and will demonstrate competence in these key job areas through the ability to perform functions, including, but not limited to, the common examples listed.
   1. Current licensure as a Registered Nurse in the State of California is required.
   
   2. Three years of clinical experience is required.
   
   3. Wound certification (CWCN, CWON, CWOCN, CCCN or WCC) is required within six months of hire.
   
   4. Current American Heart Association (AHA) Healthcare Provider CPR card is required. 5. Bachelor's Degree in Nursing is preferred.
   
   6. Experience as an Enterostomal Therapist is preferred.
   
   7. CETN certification is preferred. 8. Organizational skills and an ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing are required.
   
   **Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion**
   
   Trinity Health is a family of 115,000 colleagues and nearly 26,000 physicians and clinicians across 25 states. Because we serve diverse populations, our colleagues are trained to recognize the cultural beliefs, values, traditions, language preferences, and health practices of the communities that we serve and to apply that knowledge to produce positive health outcomes. We also recognize that each of us has a different way of thinking and perceiving our world and that these differences often lead to innovative solutions.
   
   Our dedication to diversity includes a unified workforce (through training and education, recruitment, retention, and development), commitment and accountability, communication, community partnerships, and supplier diversity.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right clinical specialist 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 clinical specialists they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit clinical specialists 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.

   To find clinical specialist candidates, you can consider the following options:

   • Post your job opening on Zippia or other job search websites.
   • Use niche websites that focus on engineering and technology jobs, such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
   • Post your job on free job posting websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting clinical 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.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete 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 clinical specialist

   Once you have selected a candidate for the clinical 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 clinical specialist 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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How much does it cost to hire a clinical specialist?