How to hire a department administrator

How to hire a department administrator, step by step

Here's a step-by-step department administrator hiring guide:

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

What does a department administrator do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The department administrator 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 department administrator's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, department administrators 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 presents department administrator salaries for various positions.

   Type of Department Administrator	Description	Hourly rate
   Department Administrator	Computer networks are critical parts of almost every organization. Network and computer systems administrators are responsible for the day-to-day operation of these networks.	$16-34
   Administrative Analyst	An administrative analyst specializes in analyzing the company's processes and operations to come up with the best practices for the business. Their responsibilities revolve around conducting research and analysis through site inspections, surveys, interviews, and assessments... Show more	$17-38
   Administrator Secretary	Administrator secretaries are assistants to managers or higher officers in charge of administrative tasks. Their responsibilities include liaising with an organization's internal departments and in communicating with the general public... Show more	$12-22

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patient Care
   • Patients
   • Financial Reports
   • Human Resources
   • Payroll
   • Departmental Policies
   • Data Entry
   • Purchase Orders
   • Financial Management
   • Staff Development
   • Financial Performance
   • PowerPoint
   • Administrative Functions
   • Travel Arrangements

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage calendars, correspondence, logs, reports and maintain documentation in Prolog.
   • Lead implementation of local area network and upgrade of scheduling, billing and A/R software.
   • Manage patient records ensuring confidentiality and compliance with all HIPAA regulations.
   • Initiate and manage the implementation of facilities management oversight of external properties.
   • Direct Medicaid health plan management division activities (manage care program operations, quality improvement, and contract administration).
   • Verify vendor quotes and resolve invoice discrepancies.

   More department administrator duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your department administrator job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A department administrator salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a department administrator in Florida may be lower than in Alaska, and an entry-level department administrator usually earns less than a senior-level department administrator. Additionally, a department administrator with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average department administrator salary

   $49,768yearly

   $23.93 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level department administrator salary

   $34,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 15, 2025

   Average department administrator salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$64,772	$31
   2	Massachusetts	$56,855	$27
   3	New York	$56,342	$27
   4	New Hampshire	$54,527	$26
   5	Pennsylvania	$53,984	$26
   6	Wisconsin	$52,289	$25
   7	Virginia	$50,813	$24
   8	Ohio	$50,799	$24
   9	Utah	$50,763	$24
   10	District of Columbia	$49,818	$24
   11	Michigan	$49,568	$24
   12	North Carolina	$49,027	$24
   13	Colorado	$48,301	$23
   14	Vermont	$47,742	$23
   15	Nevada	$47,691	$23
   16	Illinois	$47,132	$23
   17	Iowa	$46,060	$22
   18	Georgia	$45,557	$22
   19	Texas	$45,281	$22
   20	Missouri	$44,808	$22

   Average department administrator salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	MacArthur Foundation	$81,119	$39.00
   2	City of San Antonio	$78,012	$37.51	6
   3	Molina Healthcare	$76,572	$36.81
   4	PNM Resources	$68,346	$32.86
   5	New York University	$63,718	$30.63	7
   6	Tenet Healthcare	$63,427	$30.49	34
   7	McCluskey Chevrolet	$59,639	$28.67
   8	UMass Lowell	$59,615	$28.66	1
   9	Agilent Technologies	$59,332	$28.52	4
   10	Shriners Hospitals for Children	$59,064	$28.40	3
   11	State University of New York College at Cortland	$58,958	$28.35	3
   12	Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center	$57,037	$27.42
   13	Rutgers University	$55,577	$26.72	30
   14	University of California-Berkeley	$55,531	$26.70	1
   15	Roswell Park	$55,113	$26.50
   16	UC Santa Barbara	$54,721	$26.31
   17	UCHealth	$53,813	$25.87	3
   18	UMiami Health System	$53,439	$25.69
   19	University of Colorado Boulder	$52,493	$25.24	2
   20	Emory Healthcare	$52,242	$25.12	32

4. Writing a department administrator job description

   A job description for a department administrator 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 department administrator job description:

   Department administrator job description example

   Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey is seeking a Department Administrator for the Student Affairs Department of Recreation. Under the general supervision of the Assistant Director of Member Services and Business Enterprise, the Member Services Coordinator supports managing the Member Services student and part-time staff of 120+ employees across five Recreation centers on the Rutgers University - New Brunswick campus including scheduling, supervising, onboarding, promotions, system/technology access, certifications, evaluations, staff training development and implementation, payroll management, reporting, and management of assigned services.
   
   This position interacts with other areas of campus recreation, the professional staff within the Division of Student Affairs, and several departments across the entire University system.
   Among the key duties of this position are the following:
   
   * Hires, onboards, trains, schedules and supervises assigned student and part-time employees.
   * Reviews and processes payroll for all assigned student and part-time employees.
   * Sets and evaluates employee performance goals and provide feedback for improvement.
   * Develops, implements and maintains staff training modules, manuals and resources.
   * Ensures compliance with all unit, department, divisional, state and federal requirements and standards for hiring and training.
   * Forecasts, requests, monitors, and administers student and part-time employee budgets.
   * Makes purchasing decisions related to staffing and equipment loans within assigned operating budgets and assist with forecasting and evaluation.
   * Develops and implements tracking solutions for ensuring student and part-time employee compliance.
   * Assists with the reconciliation, remittance, and financial reporting for all in-person sales at the Member Services Desk and ancillary areas as assigned.
   * Manages equipment loan operations and other assigned services at all 5 recreation centers on the Rutgers University - New Brunswick campus.
   * Develops and implements training and procedures to ensure inventory control.
   * Utilizes available data to identify and implement improvements to equipment loan offerings.
   * Supports front-end sales and operations related to all departmental programs, services and customer needs.
   * Assists other areas within the department with all department events, programs, services, initiatives and all duties as assigned.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right department administrator 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 department administrator job on Zippia to find and recruit department administrator candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as dice, engineering.com, stack overflow, it job pro.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting department administrators 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.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   Sometimes, it's not enough to interview department administrator candidates, so you can ask them to do a test project. If you are not a technical person and don't know what a test project should be, you can use these websites:

   • TestDome
   • CodeSignal
   • Testlify
   • BarRaiser
   • Coderbyte

   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 department administrator

   Once you have selected a candidate for the department administrator 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 department administrator 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 department administrator?