How to hire a director of physical therapy

How to hire a director of physical therapy, step by step

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

What does a director of physical therapy do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The director of physical therapy 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

   Hiring the perfect director of physical therapy 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 of physical therapy salaries for various positions.

   Type of Director Of Physical Therapy	Description	Hourly rate
   Director Of Physical Therapy	Physical therapists, sometimes called PTs, help injured or ill people improve their movement and manage their pain. These therapists are often an important part of the rehabilitation, treatment, and prevention of patients with chronic conditions, illnesses, or injuries.	$30-87
   Therapist	A therapist is responsible for improving the patients' health conditions by evaluating their needs and providing physical and mental support. Therapists are licensed, medical professionals who specialize in different areas to perform treatments and bring relief to patients... Show more	$18-38
   In Home Therapist	An in-home therapist provides case management, counseling, resource system development, support system development, and crisis intervention services for family members and children. They provide goal-oriented and structured therapy on referral issues for families that help recover from neglect, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, or physical abuse... Show more	$19-31

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Rehabilitation
   • Physical Therapy
   • Treatment Programs
   • Occupational Therapy
   • Outpatient Clinic
   • Acute Care
   • DPT
   • Home Health
   • Direct Patient Care
   • PTA
   • Patient Treatment
   • Discharge Planning
   • Sports Medicine

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Develop department budgets and manage QA adherence.
   • Manage PPS details efficiently to ensure high quality clinical care while maximizing reimbursement for the facility.
   • Attend all daily meetings including stand up, IDT, PPS, and direct and lead weekly rehab meetings.
   • Develop and improve the documentation system with the use of early EMR documentation software.
   • Direct the provision of patient care, clinical duties, and development of COTA.
   • Provide OT treatment for high volume caseloads in rehab, outpatient, SNF, and acute settings.

   More director of physical therapy duties

3. Make a budget

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

   Average director of physical therapy salary

   $107,759yearly

   $51.81 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level director of physical therapy salary

   $63,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 23, 2026

   Average director of physical therapy salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$120,219	$58
   2	Connecticut	$119,827	$58
   3	New Jersey	$115,715	$56
   4	New Mexico	$103,299	$50
   5	Pennsylvania	$97,829	$47
   6	Washington	$97,118	$47
   7	Texas	$95,150	$46
   8	New York	$94,697	$46
   9	Arizona	$90,984	$44
   10	Oregon	$90,395	$43
   11	Georgia	$90,173	$43
   12	Illinois	$86,330	$42
   13	Florida	$86,294	$41
   14	Nevada	$84,986	$41
   15	Louisiana	$83,766	$40
   16	Alabama	$83,730	$40
   17	Kansas	$82,185	$40
   18	Michigan	$81,293	$39
   19	Colorado	$74,335	$36
   20	Idaho	$72,279	$35

   Average director of physical therapy salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Prime Healthcare	$129,248	$62.14	319
   2	Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital	$125,223	$60.20	4
   3	CHRISTUS Health	$107,487	$51.68	67
   4	Mission Regional Medical Center	$103,648	$49.83	49
   5	USPI	$103,142	$49.59
   6	St Luke's Hospital & Health Network Inc	$103,024	$49.53
   7	Aya Healthcare	$102,697	$49.37	16
   8	Community Health Systems	$99,308	$47.74	183
   9	Alliance Physical Therapy Partners	$95,990	$46.15	43
   10	Access Physical Therapy & Wellness	$95,355	$45.84	1
   11	West Coast University	$94,462	$45.41	2
   12	National Medical Association	$86,955	$41.81
   13	Symbria	$85,829	$41.26	165
   14	Highline Physical Therapy	$82,336	$39.58	21
   15	Alliance Physical Therapy	$80,353	$38.63	2
   16	HealthTrust	$79,189	$38.07	32
   17	Hopewell Junction, NY	$78,105	$37.55	1
   18	Rehab	$78,098	$37.55	84
   19	HealthPRO	$77,977	$37.49	236
   20	Jackson Therapy Partners	$77,793	$37.40	1,092

4. Writing a director of physical therapy job description

   A job description for a director of physical therapy 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 of physical therapy job description:

   Director of physical therapy job description example

   Full-time Outpatient Clinic Director/Physical Therapist
   SOL Physical Therapy- Walnut Creek, CA
   
   Are you a physical therapy leader who is self-motivated and passionate about patient care? Join a company whose focus is to change people's lives by providing pain relief and improving their quality of life.
   
   We are looking for a Clinic Director/licensed Physical Therapist for our De Novo clinic located in Walnut Creek, CA who is ready to grow in the field of physical therapy and help grow our company.
   
   What sets us apart?
   
   Our focus is on delivering exceptional results and services, learning new techniques, advancing our capabilities, and of course, having an exceptional team environment! Our expanding practice provides ample opportunities for further education and career advancement.
   
   Be a part of something bigger.
   
   SOL Physical Therapy is an Alliance Physical Therapy Partner. This means that we're a part of a nationwide network of outpatient physical therapy clinics that focus on providing outstanding care for our patients. If you're interested in joining a team of world-class therapists to get people back to their active lives we have a place for you.
   
   What is expected?
   Directs patient care and supervision of care including evaluation, assessment and planning, to insure proper case management. Provides therapy to patients maintaining the highest standards of quality and efficiency. Directly supervises therapists and other clinical staff within the office. Manages the staffing schedule of the clinic, approves timecards, PTO requests and maintains an appropriate staff mix and coverage levels. Identifies staff development opportunities and facilitates learning and development to advance clinical skills. Recruits, selects and retains clinical and support staff. Advances the growth of the clinic by actively supporting the company mission and goals. Develops and implements a systematic marketing plan which includes making sales calls to physicians, nurses, clinicians and other potential referral sources. Provides educational marketing programs for referral sources, area businesses, and the general community. Analyzes patient satisfaction survey feedback to understand how to improve services. Communicates with referral sources by providing regular feedback regarding patient progress. Graduate of an accredited program in Physical therapy. Licensed or eligible in the state of practice. Three or more years' experience as a practicing therapist with knowledge of what is required to run a successful clinic. Previous supervisory experience is preferred. This list of duties is not intended to be all-inclusive and may be expanded to include other duties or responsibilities that senior management may deem necessary.
   What are some of the benefits of the job?
   We have a competitive benefit package with medical, dental, vision and life just to name a few. There is paid time off, paid holidays and 401k match.
   This is Our Vision:
   At Alliance Physical Therapy Partners, we're building a legacy of helping great people achieve great things. Our core values are integrity, service, empowerment, passion and growth. Alliance is not only focused on partnering with physical therapy practice owners, we are concerned with the wellness of our patients, and helping industrial worksites prevent onsite injury. We aim at becoming the leading physical therapy network in the country by delivering superior, quality and compassionate service to our partners and patients alike.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right director of physical therapy 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 of physical therapy they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit directors of physical therapy 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 of physical therapy job on Zippia to find and recruit director of physical therapy candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit directors of physical therapy, 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.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete 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 of physical therapy

   Once you've found the director of physical therapy 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.

   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.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new director of physical therapy. 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.

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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