How to hire a director, learning and development

How to hire a director, learning and development, step by step

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

What does a director, learning and development do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The director, learning and development 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 director, learning and development's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, directors, learning and development 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 shows salaries for various types of directors, learning and development.

   Type of Director, Learning And Development	Description	Hourly rate
   Director, Learning And Development	Training and development managers plan, direct, and coordinate programs to enhance the knowledge and skills of an organization’s employees. They also oversee a staff of training and development specialists.	$29-66
   HSE Manager	A health, safety, and environmental (HSE) manager is primarily in charge of spearheading and overseeing a company's health and safety programs. Their responsibilities typically revolve around coordinating with different departments to gather data, assessing existing programs and policies to identify areas needing improvement, implementing solutions on issues and concerns, developing strategies to execute programs, and creating new safety policies as necessary... Show more	$28-58
   Educational Manager	An educational manager is responsible for organizing educational strategies and managing learning resources, following the standard curriculum and guidelines. They coordinate with instructors and other educational institutions to develop teaching practices and adjust curriculum objectives as needed... Show more	$21-62

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Human Resources
   • Training Programs
   • Project Management
   • Instructional Design
   • Blended Learning
   • Learning Management System
   • Learning Solutions
   • Development Strategy
   • Performance Management
   • Learning Programs
   • Continuous Improvement
   • Subject Matter Experts
   • Professional Development
   • Employee Development

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage RFP process to identify best-in-class e-Learning development providers.
   • Lead the implementation of eLearning courses design to support trainer certification process.
   • Base on results, ask to serve in newly create CLO role.
   • Maintain accurate training records and documentation to report ROI statistics.
   • Increase organizational commitment to development of human capital, and increase ROI of programs and initiatives.
   • Customize eLearning curricula base on role - individual contributor-, manager-, and senior manager-level courses.

   More director, learning and development duties

3. Make a budget

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

   Average director, learning and development salary

   $92,733yearly

   $44.58 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level director, learning and development salary

   $61,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 18, 2025

   Average director, learning and development salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$142,993	$69
   2	New Jersey	$117,668	$57
   3	Oregon	$116,924	$56
   4	Connecticut	$116,921	$56
   5	New York	$114,993	$55
   6	Maryland	$107,306	$52
   7	Washington	$105,500	$51
   8	Virginia	$102,545	$49
   9	Rhode Island	$101,224	$49
   10	Wisconsin	$99,720	$48
   11	Nevada	$98,131	$47
   12	North Carolina	$97,819	$47
   13	Massachusetts	$97,043	$47
   14	District of Columbia	$95,605	$46
   15	Arizona	$95,347	$46
   16	Colorado	$92,871	$45
   17	Ohio	$90,881	$44
   18	Iowa	$90,549	$44
   19	Illinois	$89,066	$43
   20	Texas	$86,781	$42

   Average director, learning and development salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Google	$196,567	$94.50	20
   2	SoulCycle Holdings, LLC	$163,160	$78.44
   3	Kaiser Permanente	$161,588	$77.69	4
   4	APCO Worldwide	$160,704	$77.26
   5	McKinsey & Company Inc	$160,659	$77.24
   6	Saks Fifth Avenue	$157,684	$75.81	1
   7	ViacomCBS	$152,297	$73.22
   8	Winthrop Hospital	$149,319	$71.79
   9	CKE Restaurants Holdings	$146,600	$70.48	11
   10	Stanford University	$143,617	$69.05	2
   11	Earthjustice	$142,024	$68.28
   12	Mercy Corps	$141,633	$68.09
   13	Cytokinetics	$139,872	$67.25
   14	Internews	$139,382	$67.01
   15	Lucid Motors	$136,670	$65.71	3
   16	Merck	$135,516	$65.15	8
   17	The RealReal	$129,455	$62.24	1
   18	Alexion Pharmaceuticals	$127,711	$61.40	4
   19	Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network	$126,807	$60.96
   20	University of Baltimore	$125,573	$60.37

4. Writing a director, learning and development job description

   A job description for a director, learning and development 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 director, learning and development job description:

   Director, learning and development job description example

   The Regional Director of Learning & Development serves as the nursing clinical education expert for the region; drives consistency of education programs across the region in keeping with organizational uniform systems through collaboration with administrators, directors of nursing, the director of learning and development, clinical operations, and operations. Defines regional educational needs, utilizing knowledge of theory, principles, or technology of nursing practices. Prioritizes educational needs within the region, designs and delivers training programs to improve knowledge, skills, and consistency in care delivery. Collaborates with divisional and regional teams to develop nursing bench strength, on the job training, preceptor programs, and professional standards of education. Conducts orientation for new clinical department colleagues, teaches physical assessment, serves as the automated clinical program support person, and participates in the design and rollout of new systems and processes. Ensures completion of annual mandatory clinical education and skills validations. Serves as lead educator during survey/regulatory plans of correction/past non-compliance needs; driving critical thinking skills through the nursing process. Works through local/state/federal agencies, company and external resources; fosters nursing support network; pilots and replicates promising practices.
   
   Supports communities and their colleagues through coaching and mentoring to help achieve optimum standard of excellence. Addresses issues of concern through courageous conversation and notifies community leadership and/or supervisor of any interactions requiring attention. Creates an environment that drives clinical capability and enhanced skills through education Participate in community survey readiness by proactively identifying opportunities that warrant ongoing clinical education/in-services for colleagues within region served. Supports and participates in the survey readiness process as educator during real-time plan of correction or past non-compliance needs as needed. Identifies need for education opportunities within the region, designs lesson plans, coordinates and conducts sessions, and evaluates the effectiveness of training and utilization of information. Provides leadership in formulating the goals and objectives of the clinically related in-service education programs for the region and communities within assigned geographic region Plan, develop, direct, evaluate, coordinate, and/or conduct clinical educational and on-the-job training programs within the region and as a contributing member of the THSC team. Demonstrates knowledge of computer applications, serves as a regional support resource for clinical automation systems, and informs others of information resources
   
   Job Type: Full-time
   $37-$40
   
   Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion
   
   Trinity Health is a family of 115,000 colleagues and nearly 26,000 physicians and clinicians across 25 states. Because we serve diverse populations, our colleagues are trained to recognize the cultural beliefs, values, traditions, language preferences, and health practices of the communities that we serve and to apply that knowledge to produce positive health outcomes. We also recognize that each of us has a different way of thinking and perceiving our world and that these differences often lead to innovative solutions.
   
   Our dedication to diversity includes a unified workforce (through training and education, recruitment, retention, and development), commitment and accountability, communication, community partnerships, and supplier diversity.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right director, learning and development 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 directors, learning and development they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit directors, learning and development 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 director, learning and development job on Zippia to find and recruit director, learning and development candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit directors, learning and development, 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.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new director, learning and development

   Once you have selected a candidate for the director, learning and development 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.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them 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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