How to hire a desk manager

Desk manager hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring desk managers in the United States:

In the United States, the median cost per hire a desk manager is $1,633.
It takes between 36 and 42 days to fill the average role in the US.
Human Resources use 15% of their expenses on recruitment on average.
On average, it takes around 12 weeks for a new desk manager to become settled and show total productivity levels at work.

How to hire a desk manager, step by step

To hire a desk manager, you need to identify the specific skills and experience you want in a candidate, allocate a budget for the position, and advertise the job opening to attract potential candidates. To hire a desk manager, you should follow these steps:

Here's a step-by-step desk manager hiring guide:

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

What does a desk manager do?

A desk manager's responsibilities focus on facilitating communication and performing organizational support tasks to maintain the smooth flow of operations at offices. Although the extent of their duties primarily depends on their company or employment industry, it usually includes handling calls and correspondence, answering inquiries, resolving issues and concerns, forwarding calls and messages, arranging appointments and schedules, organizing files, and overseeing various communication materials. In some offices, a desk manager manages different teams, supervising their performance while enforcing company standards and policies.

Learn more about the specifics of what a desk manager does

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Identify your hiring needs

Before you start hiring a desk manager, 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?

Hiring the perfect desk manager also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

The following list breaks down different types of desk managers and their corresponding salaries.

Type of Desk Manager	Description	Hourly rate
Desk Manager		$21-61
Coordinator/Manager	A coordinator/manager is a professional who is responsible for supervising the day-to-day operations of a facility by following a set of policies and guidelines. Coordinators/managers collaborate with board members to ensure the overall quality of the facility and maintain inventory levels for all components and parts... Show more	$12-44
Customer Experience Manager	A customer experience manager (CEM) links the gap between the brand they work for and the customer. It is their job to ensure that customer experience is engaging, efficient, and effective... Show more	$19-65

Create an ideal candidate profile
Common skills:
- CRM
- Sales Process
- Quality Customer Service
- CSI
- Sales People
- Sales Desk
- Desk Assistants
- Financial Institutions
- Product Knowledge
- Support Desk
- POS
- Telephone Calls
- Front Desk Operations
- Training Sessions
Check all skills
Responsibilities:
- Provide leadership and direction to facility management and program owners while motivating and interacting with employees to achieve continuous improvement.
- Maintain POS transactions and hotel budget.
- Shred patient information to comply with HIPAA regulations.
- Follow HIPAA guidelines to ensure staff compliance.assist with all dental procedures.
- Design a multi-part training program for the primary POS program used in retail locations.
- Import and export all patient data into the EMR from hospitals and other qualify health care providers.
More desk manager duties

Make a budget

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

Location. For example, desk managers' average salary in mississippi is 50% less than in new york.
Seniority. Entry-level desk managers 65% less than senior-level desk managers.
Certifications. A desk manager 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 desk manager's salary.

Average desk manager salary

$75,140yearly

$36.13 hourly rate

Entry-level desk manager salary

$44,000 yearly salary

Updated January 31, 2026

Average desk manager salary by state

Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	California	$113,917	$55
2	New York	$107,579	$52
3	Washington	$107,525	$52
4	New Jersey	$100,233	$48
5	Rhode Island	$96,576	$46
6	Massachusetts	$92,954	$45
7	Vermont	$90,070	$43
8	Oregon	$88,715	$43
9	Illinois	$86,676	$42
10	District of Columbia	$86,215	$41
11	Virginia	$85,357	$41
12	Texas	$84,100	$40
13	Indiana	$81,976	$39
14	Connecticut	$81,071	$39
15	Arizona	$80,828	$39
16	Colorado	$80,645	$39
17	Michigan	$80,223	$39
18	Maryland	$79,463	$38
19	Hawaii	$78,597	$38
20	New Mexico	$74,560	$36

Average desk manager salary by company

Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
1	ServiceNow	$131,317	$63.13	2
2	TIBCO Software	$128,206	$61.64
3	Tableau	$125,056	$60.12
4	Adobe	$122,956	$59.11	6
5	TripActions	$119,979	$57.68
6	Ngam Advisors, L.P.	$119,236	$57.33
7	Shutterstock	$118,809	$57.12
8	Amazon	$118,425	$56.94	55
9	Salesforce	$115,883	$55.71	4
10	Twilio	$114,084	$54.85
11	Morgan Stanley	$113,662	$54.65	6
12	Npr	$107,582	$51.72
13	Udemy	$105,069	$50.51
14	Alteryx	$101,541	$48.82
15	Deloitte	$100,611	$48.37	4
16	UMass Memorial Health	$99,924	$48.04	2
17	Crain Kia	$96,754	$46.52
18	Allegro Development	$94,493	$45.43
19	Quorum International	$88,787	$42.69
20	Natixis North America LLC	$81,130	$39.00

Writing a desk manager job description
A good desk manager job description should include a few things:
- Summary of the role
- List of responsibilities
- Required skills and experience
Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a desk manager job description:
Desk manager job description example
Role Summary/Purpose:
Support internal buyers/requestors and suppliers across all business functions in the enterprise. This role will be responsible for coordinating, evaluating and analyzing competitive events while maintaining and enforcing proper controls and compliance

Essential Responsibilities:
Act as Procurement liaison for internal buyers/requesters and suppliers across all business functions Work cross-functionally with S2P team to enhance and streamline processes Monitor, review and enforce Procurement and Sourcing controls and compliance Provide second level (Tier-2) Customer Care service levels Monitor and review process workflows to ensure timely requisition submissions Create and enforce controls/requirements in the competitive bidding process Coordinate, evaluate, analyze, and communicate results for existing supplier competitive events Coordinate, evaluate, analyze, and communicate procurement requests for Contingent LaborCoordinate and communicate competitive event to auction Synchrony debt Communicate and establish catalogs for procurement of goods and services Utilize Coupa Advantage to procure pre-negotiated goods and services Document and communicate new and existing supplier invitations Coordinate and assist in the analysis of new supplier RFx Events

Qualifications/Requirements:
Bachelor's Degree in Commerce or similar business-related experience Minimum of 5 years Procurement or Sourcing experience Excellent interpersonal and communication skills Experience and proficiency with Coupa Procurement software For Internal Applicants: Understand the criteria or mandatory skills required for the role, before applying.Inform your Manager or HRM before applying for any role on Workday.Ensure that your Professional Profile is updated (fields such as Education, Prior experience, Other skills) and it is mandatory to upload your updated resume (Word or PDF format) Must not be any corrective action plan (First Formal/Final Formal, PIP) Employees who have completed 18 months in the organization and 12 months in current role and level are only eligible. Level 8+ employees can apply

Desired Characteristics:
Advanced analytical and negotiation skills Experience coordinating and managing competitive events Experience managing Contingent Labor processes Effective project management skills with ability to manage multiple stakeholders Experience with Oracle or similar ERP system

Grade/Level: 09

Job Family Group:
Sourcing
Post your job
There are various strategies that you can use to find the right desk manager 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 desk manager job on Zippia to find and recruit desk manager candidates who meet your exact specifications.
- Use field-specific websites.
- Post a job on free websites.
Interview candidates
To successfully recruit desk managers, 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 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.
The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.
Send a job offer and onboard your new desk manager
Once you've found the desk manager 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.
Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new desk manager. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.
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 desk manager?

Before you start to hire desk managers, it pays to consider both the one-off costs like recruitment, job promotion, and onboarding, as well as the ongoing costs of an employee's salary and benefits. While most companies that hire desk managers pay close attention to the initial cost of hiring, ongoing costs are much more significant in the long run.

You can expect to pay around $75,140 per year for a desk manager, as this is the median yearly salary nationally. This can vary depending on what state or city you're hiring in. If you're hiring for contract work or on a per-project basis, hourly rates for desk managers in the US typically range between $21 and $61 an hour.

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Updated January 31, 2026

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How to hire a desk manager