How to hire a director

How to hire a director, step by step

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

What does a director do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your director 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 director 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

   Hiring the perfect director 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.

   This list presents director salaries for various positions.

   Type of Director	Description	Hourly rate
   Director	Producers and directors create motion pictures, television shows, live theater, commercials, and other performing arts productions. They interpret a writer’s script to entertain or inform an audience.	$31-92
   Director Of Operations And Finance	A director of operations and finance is in charge of overseeing and spearheading business and financial operations, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. Their responsibilities revolve around performing research and analysis to identify the best practices to optimize operations, coordinating with different departments to gather data, conducting research and analysis to identify new business and investment opportunities, and monitoring the progress of various projects and programs... Show more	$37-87
   Regional Director Of Operations	A Regional Director of Operations supervises an organization's operational activities for an assigned region. Their duties include hiring employees, creating work schedules, overseeing the regional budget, and authorizing expenditures.	$37-82

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Healthcare
   • Customer Service
   • Oversight
   • Project Management
   • Human Resources
   • Business Development
   • Strategic Plan
   • Financial Management
   • Payroll
   • Professional Development
   • Direct Reports
   • Process Improvement
   • Risk Management
   • R

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage water metering programs for NYC and national portfolio.
   • Collaborate with the CPA to manage financials and reporting / distribution to physicians.
   • Manage OEM manufacturing partners for making bulk solutions, product fills and final packaging.
   • Lead company's first deep-fill structural project, bring company into EPA compliance, establish effective QA-QC program.
   • Develop company website entirely as well as wrote and manage the SEO and upkeep for overall site maintenance.
   • Manage the company's hotel portfolio operations and assets, including renovation, new build, conversions, and rebranding.

   More director duties

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, directors' average salary in iowa is 56% less than in new york.
   • Seniority. Entry-level directors 66% less than senior-level directors.
   • Certifications. A director 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 director's salary.

   Average director salary

   $113,489yearly

   $54.56 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level director salary

   $66,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 19, 2026

   Average director salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	New York	$139,575	$67
   2	California	$136,707	$66
   3	Connecticut	$125,420	$60
   4	District of Columbia	$114,648	$55
   5	Georgia	$109,715	$53
   6	New Jersey	$109,651	$53
   7	Massachusetts	$104,894	$50
   8	Texas	$104,178	$50
   9	Washington	$98,165	$47
   10	Virginia	$96,902	$47
   11	Illinois	$96,407	$46
   12	Maryland	$96,191	$46
   13	Florida	$93,950	$45
   14	Nevada	$92,870	$45
   15	North Carolina	$92,325	$44
   16	Michigan	$91,344	$44
   17	Arizona	$87,128	$42
   18	Oregon	$85,949	$41
   19	Minnesota	$85,580	$41
   20	Colorado	$85,514	$41

   Average director salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Mayo Clinic	$235,290	$113.12	28
   2	ICE Mortgage Technology	$225,540	$108.43
   3	Apple	$220,883	$106.19	33
   4	Barclays	$218,102	$104.86	23
   5	McKinsey & Company Inc	$216,971	$104.31
   6	alliantgroup	$216,763	$104.21
   7	Deutsche Asset Management	$216,759	$104.21
   8	Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group	$214,914	$103.32
   9	NVIDIA	$213,795	$102.79	23
   10	Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation	$212,968	$102.39	2
   11	eBay	$210,386	$101.15	31
   12	General Atlantic	$209,757	$100.84
   13	THINX	$209,571	$100.76
   14	Google	$208,634	$100.30	134
   15	Biogen	$207,115	$99.57	46
   16	Bain & Company	$206,163	$99.12	10
   17	National Bank of Canada	$205,986	$99.03
   18	BNP Paribas	$205,946	$99.01	5
   19	A.T. Kearney	$205,854	$98.97	2
   20	Deutsche Bank	$204,557	$98.34	72

4. Writing a director job description

   A 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 director job description:

   Director job description example

   Macy's is proudly America's Department Store. There's a reason we've been around for 160 years. Customers come to us for fashion, value and celebration. Now is an exciting time to join Macy's, Inc. The face of retail is changing, and change requires innovation.

   Job Overview

   The Beauty Field Director is responsible for driving sales as the category expert in Cosmetics and Fragrances for assigned stores. The Beauty Field Director will directly supervise a team of Account Coordinators. The job focus will be elevating the store experience through merchandising, training, collaborating and influencing corporate, store, and vendor partners. The Beauty Field Director will direct consistent store execution by being a knowledgeable and strategic business partner; identifying opportunities and ensuring all corporate and store strategies are successfully implemented. The Beauty Field Director will lead execution of Beauty events to drive sales. Perform other duties as assigned.

   Essential Functions

   • Merchandise & Event Execution to deliver sales growth.

   • Communicate clear, concise priorities, strategies and direction to account coordinators and store teams.

   • Collaborate with corporate and store partners to direct consistent execution based on national guidelines and standards.

   • Ensure local, store, and vendor execution aligns with national guidelines and standards.

   • Collaborate with Regional, Beauty Field Directors, Field Planning Principals, Central and Stores partners to support growth in stores.

   • Analyze business results (store, category, brand, product, etc.) in order to identify and surface sales-driving opportunities.

   • Observe and assess merchandise execution processes. Identify areas of opportunities; recommend solutions to store for corrective action.

   • Be a change agent; encourage self and others to challenge the status quo with forward thinking strategies.

   • Partner with corporate and store teams on floor planning process to support corporate strategies.

   • Lead and participate in event execution, including corporate, promotional, and vendor launch events. Lead local event strategy, planning, and

   execution. Work with corporate, store, and vendor partners to plan and execute events. Perform post-event analysis.

   • Prepare for, participate in, and follow-up on store visits and pre-season planning meetings.

   • Participate in communication cascade calls; attend national webinars and calls with central, regional, and vendor partners.

   • Develop collaborative relationships with vendors; communicate priorities and needs.

   • Visit competition; observe and evaluate competitive opportunities; communicate findings to central and regional teams.

   • Regular, dependable attendance and punctuality.

   People, Selling, & Training

   • Demonstrate and drive excellent service and selling through reinforcing customer-centric culture among Account Coordinators and Beauty Advisors.

   • Partner with store management to recruit top talent and ensure open jobs are filled in a timely manner.

   • Support the onboarding of new Beauty Field Directors, Store Executives, and Beauty Advisors.

   • Manage and develop Account Coordinators by providing guidance, coaching, and feedback and defining schedules. Partner with vendor management

   to align Account Coordinator priorities.

   • Partner with corporate Merchandising and Education teams to understand people, selling, and training strategies. Surface feedback and ideas on training execution.

   • Support vendor partnerships to organize training focused on product features, benefits, and selling techniques. Partner with corporate and vendor

   teams to ensure all product training is relevant and aimed at educating store teams on improving selling techniques and fully aligned with training priorities of Macy's corporate strategy.

   • Focus leaders on clienteling using MyClient as a way to drive sales through enhanced client relationships.

   • Support leaders in coaching and training to store colleagues, inclusive of both selling and informal product training.

   • Recognize store team performance during visits utilizing sales and client metrics reporting.

   Qualifications and Competencies

   •High School or GED minimum

   •5+ years direct experience

   • Practices open and continuous communication, values keeping others informed, effectively presenting information in a clear, concise manner.

   • Excellent leadership, facilitation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work across functional lines and at many levels.

   • Ability to think creatively, strategically and technically

   • Ability to work a flexible schedule based on department and Company needs.

   • Knowledge of MS Office computer programs are required

   Physical Requirements

   • Requires periods of walking, standing, communicating, reaching, crouching and climbing ladders

   • Frequent use of computers and other technology, necessary to perform job functions

   • Frequently lift/move up to 25lb

   Candidates in Colorado: Click here for Pay Range and here to learn about Benefits .

   Candidates in Connecticut: Click here for Pay Range

   Candidates in Nevada: Click here for Pay Range

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find directors for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any directors they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level directors with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your director job on Zippia to find and recruit director candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit directors, 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.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates 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.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new director

   Once you've decided on a perfect 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.

   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 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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