How to hire a community development director

How to hire a community development director, step by step

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

What does a community development director do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a community development director, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   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 community development 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 community development director that fits the bill.

   This list presents community development director salaries for various positions.

   Type of Community Development Director	Description	Hourly rate
   Community Development Director	Public relations managers plan and direct the creation of material that will maintain or enhance the public image of their employer or client. Fundraising managers coordinate campaigns that bring in donations for their organization.	$33-81
   Publications Manager	A publications manager specializes in devising strategies to optimize publication procedures, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. Their responsibilities include liaising with media and other external agencies, overseeing staff performances, setting objectives and guidelines, spearheading campaigns, handling licensing procedures, and participating in marketing operations... Show more	$31-63
   Director, Customer Relations	Director of Customer Relations is responsible for leading the design and improvement of an organization's overall customer service experience. Their duties include developing customer service budget, driving customer service process improvements, implementing customer service agents, managing email and telephony customer service routing, and creating training programs for customer service staff... Show more	$43-94

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Economic Development
   • Oversight
   • Project Management
   • Press Releases
   • Community Outreach
   • Program Development
   • Web Site
   • Community Relations
   • Strategic Plan
   • Alumni
   • Financial Support
   • Code Enforcement
   • Planning Commission
   • Business Development

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage organization s membership program by implementing annual membership drives and appeals.
   • Support documentation activities for FDA audits & manage integration activities for acquisitions.
   • Provide oversight and leadership to HUD fund rehab lending and grant programs, housing counseling and financial fitness training.
   • Write grants, speeches, e-blasts, and appeals on social media and websites for non-profits and political campaigns.
   • Ensure target ROI with feasibility studies on potential acquisitions, identifying optimum projects requiring rezoning and entitlement approvals for development.
   • Craft innovative plan for rebranding agency image; plan and implement new outreach focusing on culturally aware approaches.

   More community development director duties

3. Make a budget

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

   Average community development director salary

   $109,396yearly

   $52.59 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level community development director salary

   $70,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 23, 2025

   Average community development director salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$139,469	$67
   2	Nevada	$130,482	$63
   3	New York	$125,583	$60
   4	Arizona	$114,983	$55
   5	Louisiana	$110,641	$53
   6	Washington	$110,142	$53
   7	Illinois	$107,848	$52
   8	Ohio	$106,570	$51
   9	Texas	$102,451	$49
   10	Kansas	$102,270	$49
   11	Oregon	$97,107	$47
   12	Missouri	$96,696	$46
   13	Virginia	$96,523	$46
   14	Maryland	$95,861	$46
   15	Minnesota	$95,838	$46
   16	North Carolina	$90,151	$43
   17	Colorado	$86,906	$42
   18	Oklahoma	$82,690	$40
   19	Florida	$80,617	$39
   20	Hawaii	$71,641	$34

   Average community development director salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Bazaarvoice	$156,902	$75.43
   2	APA Services	$118,761	$57.10
   3	U.S. Bank	$115,700	$55.63	63
   4	Icma-rc	$108,832	$52.32	12
   5	Harris Health System	$104,556	$50.27
   6	Jewish Fed of Tulsa	$104,433	$50.21
   7	Fifth Third Bank	$101,859	$48.97	4
   8	Community Health Choice	$101,069	$48.59
   9	Piper Jaffray	$97,342	$46.80
   10	Circle International Inc	$96,725	$46.50	1
   11	Bon Secours Community Hospital	$96,204	$46.25	19
   12	Kansas City Kansas Community College	$95,891	$46.10
   13	City of Largo	$88,253	$42.43	2
   14	Colonial Heights Public Schools	$86,491	$41.58
   15	Minnesota Limited	$82,021	$39.43	2
   16	The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society	$77,014	$37.03
   17	City of Reno	$76,924	$36.98
   18	Valley of the Sun United Way	$76,019	$36.55
   19	City Of Ceres	$74,164	$35.66
   20	City of Tacoma	$73,852	$35.51	1

4. Writing a community development director job description

   A community development 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 community development director job description:

   Community development director job description example

   Make banking a Fifth Third better We connect great people to great opportunities. Are you ready to take the next step? Discover a career in banking at Fifth Third Bank.
   GENERAL FUNCTION:
   Develop relationships with developers (for profit & not-for-profit) of low income housing tax credit projects and historic tax credit projects which will lead to investment opportunities in all Fifth Third markets; this position is accountable for monitoring the underwriting of the investment, presentation of the investment to Loan Committee, and closing the investment. The position is also responsible for the ongoing monitoring of the investments within their assigned portfolio.
   
   Responsible and accountable for risk by openly exchanging ideas and opinions, elevating concerns, and personally following policies and procedures as defined. Accountable for always doing the right thing for customers and colleagues, and ensures that actions and behaviors drive a positive customer experience. While operating within the Bank's risk appetite, achieves results by consistently identifying, assessing, managing, monitoring, and reporting risks of all types.
   
   ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
   Develop and maintain relationships with real estate developers in the low income housing tax credit and historic tax credit industry.Develop a procedure to uncover investment opportunities within the Fifth Third Bancorp delineated market area.Establish and maintain excellent relationships and communications with key external and internal individuals and groups that deal with tax credits. These would include but not limited to: state housing finance agencies, state housing equity funds, accountants, attorneys, compliance auditors, commercial and real estate lenders, CRA Officers.Gather and analyze all necessary information to perform a thorough analysis of the investment.Make a formal recommendation as to invest or not invest; if not to invest, must make recommendation as to what changes would need to be made or conditions would need to be met in order to make a recommendation to invest.As directed, make presentation to loan committee on investment recommendation.As directed, concentrate on developing investment opportunities in key Fifth Third markets.Negotiate with developer's investment terms and conditions that provide an acceptable return and protects the banks interest.As an officer of the CDC, as directed, execute documents to admit the CDC into the investment.Work with internal and external partners to ensure completion of appropriate documents to close investments in a timely manner.Complete all ongoing monitoring of assigned portfolio and maintain written reports as outlined in the CDC's policies and procedures manual. Work with management to assign appropriate risk ratings and monitor continuously.As directed, make presentations to community groups, Fifth Third affiliates or other organizations concerning tax credit investments and the role of the CDC.
   
   MINIMUM KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES REQUIRED:
   Must have 5 to 7 years commercial lending, real estate lending, small business lending or a combination thereof; or, 3 to 5 years of proven low income housing tax credit investment experience.Strong communication and business development skills required.Ability to travel 3 to 10 days a month.Strong computer skills preferred MBA strongly preferred.
   
   #LI-SM1
   
   Community Development Investment Director I
   
   LOCATION -- Dublin, Ohio 43017
   
   Fifth Third Bank, National Association is proud to have an engaged and inclusive culture and to promote and ensure equal employment opportunity in all employment decisions regardless of race, color, gender, national origin, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, military status, veteran status or any other legally protected status.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right community development 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 community development directors they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit community development 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 community development director job on Zippia to find and attract quality community development director candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as pr news job board, pr council, prsa job center, hoojobs.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit community development directors, 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.

   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 community development director

   Once you've decided on a perfect community development director candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new community development director. 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 community development director?