How to hire a course developer

How to hire a course developer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step course developer hiring guide:

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

What does a course developer do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your course developer 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 course developer 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

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a course developer 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 course developer that fits the bill.

   Here's a comparison of course developer salaries for various roles:

   Type of Course Developer	Description	Hourly rate
   Course Developer	Training and development specialists plan, conduct, and administer programs that train employees and improve their skills and knowledge.	$31-61
   Training Facilitator	A training facilitator is responsible for managing the training sessions of employees in an organization, both for career advancement and process-related training. Training facilitators outline the training objectives, prepare the facility and resources, and ensure that all participants are present during the discussion... Show more	$16-37
   Trainer Lead	As a training lead, you are responsible for overseeing a company's employee training and development activities. You are also expected to perform various tasks that may include identifying training needs for the organization, supervising trainers' work, and developing effective employee training programs... Show more	$22-53

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Instructional Design
   • Course Content
   • Course Materials
   • Training Materials
   • Subject Matter Experts
   • ELearning
   • Professional Development
   • Course Design
   • CSS
   • Blackboard
   • Blended Learning
   • PowerPoint
   • Project Management
   • Course Objectives

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage website content maintenance in WordPress CMS and produce copy that assist with SEO improvement.
   • Lead the virtualization of military training exercises and provide periods of instruction using virtual simulations.
   • Code course transcripts (XML).
   • Provide server-side PHP with MySQL DBA for numerous projects.
   • Create and edit HTML pages as necessary for course homepages.
   • Assemble distinct course elements in course platform in CMS and HTML.

   More course developer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your course developer job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A course developer salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, course developers' average salary in alaska is 56% less than in district of columbia.
   • Seniority. Entry-level course developers earn 48% less than senior-level course developers.
   • Certifications. A course developer with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a course developer's salary.

   Average course developer salary

   $92,160yearly

   $44.31 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level course developer salary

   $66,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 14, 2025

   Average course developer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Illinois	$109,211	$53
   2	California	$109,044	$52
   3	New Jersey	$108,847	$52
   4	Maryland	$95,637	$46
   5	New York	$94,783	$46
   6	Massachusetts	$86,679	$42
   7	Pennsylvania	$86,211	$41
   8	Arizona	$81,891	$39
   9	Texas	$78,358	$38
   10	Colorado	$78,253	$38
   11	Oregon	$76,248	$37
   12	South Carolina	$71,740	$34
   13	Utah	$71,594	$34
   14	Florida	$68,729	$33
   15	Arkansas	$58,019	$28

   Average course developer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Udacity	$123,828	$59.53
   2	Algolia	$106,788	$51.34
   3	Snowflake Computing	$106,110	$51.01
   4	BAE Systems	$104,978	$50.47	20
   5	Avnet	$98,842	$47.52
   6	MathWorks	$94,200	$45.29
   7	Adobe	$93,877	$45.13	1
   8	3D Systems	$92,575	$44.51
   9	InterSystems	$89,938	$43.24	3
   10	Splunk	$89,574	$43.06
   11	Partners Healthcare Solutions Inc	$86,051	$41.37
   12	DataCamp	$86,051	$41.37
   13	(i)Structure	$86,051	$41.37
   14	Accent Controls	$84,945	$40.84
   15	Structure Group	$84,218	$40.49	1
   16	Rutgers University	$83,178	$39.99	22
   17	Massachusetts General Hospital	$82,659	$39.74
   18	Park Ave Motor Corp	$80,331	$38.62
   19	Esri	$73,212	$35.20	10
   20	Cornell University	$71,563	$34.41

4. Writing a course developer job description

   A course developer 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. Below, you can find an example of a course developer job description:

   Course developer job description example

   Agile Decision Sciences LLC, a subsidiary of ASRC Federal, is seeking a full-time or part-time **FMS Policy Instructor and Course Developer** .
   **Overview:**
   
   Army Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Instructor/Developer will be part of a small team of experts developing online and instructor-led courses for US Army personnel in the Security Assistance Enterprise. This position will develop and deliver the content of training courses and ensure that each student is provided every opportunity to fully understand the course content, over a multi-year schedule. The Customer office is in the National Capitol Region (NCR), course instruction takes place nationwide, and this position is eligible for remote work provided the candidate is able to travel monthly for course instruction.
   
   **Responsibilities:**
   
   Collaborating with the Army Customer and FMS enterprise teams to deliver instruction according to required knowledge areas.
   
   Ensuring that each student is provided every opportunity to fully understand the course content throughout all courses.
   
   Improving curriculum of training based on customer and student feedback.
   
   Developing new training materials and course products, over a multi-year schedule.
   
   Participate in weekly training sessions to further professional development and improve course instruction. Able to connect to online web-based collaboration tools remotely.
   
   Deliver mobile training courses at various military installations, to include the setup, and breakdown of course equipment and training aids.
   
   **_ASRC Federal and its Subsidiaries are Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action employers. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, gender, color, age, sexual orientation, gender identification, national origin, religion, marital status, ancestry, citizenship, disability, protected veteran status, or any other factor prohibited by applicable law._**
   
   **Requirements** :
   
   **Education, Skills, and Experience:**
   
   Bachelor's degree and a minimum of eight (8) years of experience in Security Assistance of which three (3) must have been in an instructional position.
   
   The requirement of a Bachelor's degree may be waived if the candidate has had at least ten (10) years of applied Security Assistance experience while serving as a uniformed member of the armed forces or a US Government employee.
   
   Certified instructor/trainer.
   
   **Clearance Requirements:**
   
   Secret - Candidates will be subject to a government background investigation and must meet eligibility criteria for access to classified information.
   
   U.S. Citizenship is required.
   
   ASRC Federal and its Subsidiaries are Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action employers. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, gender, color, age, sexual orientation, gender identification, national origin, religion, marital status, ancestry, citizenship, disability, protected veteran status, or any other factor prohibited by applicable law.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

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

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit course developers, 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.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   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 course developer

   Once you've found the course developer 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.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is 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 course developer?