How to hire a clinical trial coordinator

How to hire a clinical trial coordinator, step by step

Here's a step-by-step clinical trial coordinator 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 trial coordinator job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new clinical trial coordinator
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a clinical trial coordinator do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your clinical trial coordinator 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 clinical trial coordinator 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

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

   Type of Clinical Trial Coordinator	Description	Hourly rate
   Clinical Trial Coordinator	Natural sciences managers supervise the work of scientists, including chemists, physicists, and biologists. They direct activities related to research and development, and coordinate activities such as testing, quality control, and production.	$16-34
   Research Nurse	A research nurse specializes in conducting studies and scientific research for healthcare and medical development. They may work for medical facilities, private clinics, learning institutions, and government agencies... Show more	$18-35
   Study Director	Technically, a study director carries out scientific responsibilities for protocol design or study plan and approval. Study directors supervise the gathering, analysis, interpretation, documentation, and reporting of data results... Show more	$26-56

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Clinical Trials
   • Patients
   • Informed Consent
   • IRB
   • Meeting Minutes
   • FDA
   • Patient Care
   • CRA
   • Internal Audit
   • Oncology
   • Data Entry
   • Excellent Organizational
   • Data Collection
   • Study Activities

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Establish and maintain strong community partnerships to achieve HIV prevention objectives.
   • Coordinate grant and IRB renewals and submissions; and preparation of publications, study protocols and manuals of operations.
   • Develop a GUI tool for volume & surface area of lesion/hematoma/edema in stroke MRI.
   • Privilege to negotiation principles from the consumers stand point within the divisions of: oncology, bariatric, cosmetic & cardiovascular.
   • Compose SPSS syntax to simplify data import process, reducing the time require from a full day to a few minutes.
   • Analyze collected data using SPSS to determine possible significant findings.

   More clinical trial coordinator duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your clinical trial coordinator job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A clinical trial coordinator can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, clinical trial coordinators' average salary in oklahoma is 37% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level clinical trial coordinators 51% less than senior-level clinical trial coordinators.
   • Certifications. A clinical trial coordinator 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 a clinical trial coordinator's salary.

   Average clinical trial coordinator salary

   $50,720yearly

   $24.38 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level clinical trial coordinator salary

   $35,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 29, 2026

   Average clinical trial coordinator salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$70,374	$34
   2	New York	$65,369	$31
   3	Massachusetts	$63,921	$31
   4	New Jersey	$59,016	$28
   5	Florida	$58,071	$28
   6	Maryland	$56,643	$27
   7	Pennsylvania	$56,520	$27
   8	Vermont	$54,611	$26
   9	Nevada	$54,107	$26
   10	Oregon	$53,468	$26
   11	Washington	$53,080	$26
   12	Illinois	$52,115	$25
   13	Michigan	$50,606	$24
   14	Missouri	$48,058	$23
   15	Ohio	$47,409	$23
   16	North Carolina	$46,898	$23
   17	Indiana	$46,473	$22
   18	Louisiana	$45,465	$22
   19	Wisconsin	$45,454	$22
   20	Colorado	$45,313	$22

   Average clinical trial coordinator salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Mohawk Valley Health System	$66,020	$31.74
   2	Veritas Health Services Inc	$62,268	$29.94
   3	Parexel International	$61,871	$29.75	448
   4	Neuralink IT Solutions	$59,994	$28.84	1
   5	LCMC Health	$59,090	$28.41	18
   6	University of Southern California	$59,037	$28.38	32
   7	Mercy Children's Hospital	$55,311	$26.59	8
   8	Hca Hospital Services Of San Diego	$54,484	$26.19
   9	Hackensack Meridian Health	$54,458	$26.18	83
   10	University of California	$54,140	$26.03	233
   11	Vanderbilt University Medical Center	$53,829	$25.88	32
   12	Union Hospital of Cecil County	$53,804	$25.87	6
   13	Brigham and Women's Hospital	$53,686	$25.81	79
   14	Massachusetts General Hospital	$53,681	$25.81
   15	Kelsey-Seybold Clinic	$53,537	$25.74	1
   16	Fulcrum Therapeutics	$53,206	$25.58
   17	Northwestern Medicine	$52,801	$25.39	68
   18	St Joseph Medical Group	$52,754	$25.36	81
   19	Rochester Regional Health	$52,690	$25.33	1
   20	Henry Ford Health System	$52,594	$25.29	1

4. Writing a clinical trial coordinator job description

   A job description for a clinical trial coordinator 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 clinical trial coordinator job description:

   Clinical trial coordinator job description example

   The Project Leadership function at Parexel is a critical part of driving success for our clients and advancing clinical research projects. As a part of the Global Project Leadership organization, your work has a direct impact on the projects, teams, and clients you work with, helping to deliver projects to the benefit of the patients we serve.
   
   Parexel currently has Home Based Project Leadership opportunities at levels to fit your experience and career goals.
   .
   You will oversee all elements of the trial to ensure project deliverables and client satisfaction are executed to the highest standards. You will actively lead cross functional Parexel and client teams by combining deep clinical research experience with insight into client pressures to develop the right solutions for the clients. Your experience running global clinical trials across all phases will help you achieve operational excellence through on time and on budget delivery to the highest quality. As member of the Project Leadership team, your goal is to exceed client expectations, and help your team achieve success by serving as a role model and coach.
   
   The Global Project Leadership department has dedicated members at all levels who are aligned to work with specific types of clients and deliver solutions customized to fit those client’s needs, working on projects spanning across all phases of global clinical trials, in a wide array of therapeutic areas. Successful candidates possess an undergraduate degree in a clinical or health related field: advanced degree preferred, along with a minimum, 2+ years' experience leading Global Clinical Trials in Project Management within a CRO (preferred), Biotech or Pharma company. These positions also require experience in project scheduling, managing resources and budgets and coordinating team activities, as well as experience with the full clinical development process through regulatory submissions. Additional years of experience will be required for the more senior roles of Senior Project Leader, Associate Project Director and Project Director.
   
   To excel in this role, flexibility, problem solving capabilities and strategic vision are qualities that propel our Project Leadership team member’s growth. In addition, you need to be detailed-oriented, computer proficient and possess superior interpersonal and organizational skills.
   
   Employment is contingent on disclosure of your COVID-19 vaccination status and, if relevant, proof of vaccination
   #LI-REMOTE

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find clinical trial coordinators 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 clinical trial coordinator job on Zippia to find and recruit clinical trial coordinator candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit clinical trial coordinators, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   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 trial coordinator

   Once you've found the clinical trial coordinator candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   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 clinical trial coordinator. 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.

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 trial coordinator?