How to hire a director of veterans affairs

How to hire a director of veterans affairs, step by step

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

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The director of veterans affairs 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 of veterans affairs's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, directors of veterans affairs 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 director of veterans affairs salaries for various positions.

   Type of Director Of Veterans Affairs	Description	Hourly rate
   Director Of Veterans Affairs	Postsecondary education administrators oversee student services, academics, and faculty research at colleges and universities. Their job duties vary depending on the area of the college they manage, such as admissions, student life, or the office of the registrar.	$23-65
   Student Dean	A Student Dean is focused on responding to students' needs at a college or university. They plan and direct university activities related to student services and campus life.	$15-52
   Chairperson	A chairperson is responsible for managing the overall business team, ensuring everyone's compliance with the company's strategies and processes to reach the highest business goals and objectives. A chairperson's duties also include monitoring the staff's performance, analyzing the committee's performance and decisions, providing reports and updates during meetings, improving the current policies and procedures as necessary, and facilitating committee's programs and special events... Show more	$22-162

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Mental Health
   • Rehabilitation
   • Financial Aid
   • Student Veterans
   • DOD
   • Student Enrollment
   • Assist Veterans
   • State Regulations
   • Educational Benefits
   • Va-Once
   • Veterans Benefits
   • Federal Agencies
   • Patient Care
   • Audit Standards

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Transform CRM system from measuring activities to managing business pipeline.
   • Oversee and complete the Pell and DL reconciliation process.
   • Coordinate work flow operations pertaining to admission of patients into the hospital and develop policies and procedures to improve admission process.
   • Provide guidance and influence the integration of minority students in school activities through athletic and community base programs.

   More director of veterans affairs duties

3. Make a budget

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

   Average director of veterans affairs salary

   $81,280yearly

   $39.08 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level director of veterans affairs salary

   $48,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 15, 2025

   Average director of veterans affairs salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Connecticut	$116,545	$56
   2	District of Columbia	$113,209	$54
   3	Massachusetts	$108,532	$52
   4	New York	$102,163	$49
   5	Indiana	$101,366	$49
   6	California	$97,930	$47
   7	New Jersey	$97,011	$47
   8	Pennsylvania	$92,591	$45
   9	Maryland	$92,062	$44
   10	Wisconsin	$91,482	$44
   11	Ohio	$90,289	$43
   12	Nevada	$89,528	$43
   13	Minnesota	$88,781	$43
   14	Virginia	$84,711	$41
   15	Alabama	$78,762	$38
   16	North Dakota	$78,639	$38
   17	Illinois	$77,964	$37
   18	Colorado	$76,634	$37
   19	Texas	$75,474	$36
   20	Utah	$74,320	$36

   Average director of veterans affairs salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	AIG	$116,599	$56.06	1
   2	Splunk	$116,405	$55.96
   3	Northwest Lineman College	$115,251	$55.41
   4	Myriad Genetics	$109,046	$52.43
   5	Intel	$108,035	$51.94	4
   6	Merck	$107,350	$51.61	1
   7	Stanford University	$104,836	$50.40	6
   8	Emory University	$103,226	$49.63
   9	Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Inc.	$102,346	$49.20	1
   10	Medline	$101,771	$48.93	7
   11	The University of Chicago	$99,370	$47.77	4
   12	New York Institute of Technology	$98,630	$47.42	3
   13	The ACI Group	$98,422	$47.32
   14	Columbia University in the City of New York	$98,343	$47.28	5
   15	Corning Incorporated	$97,822	$47.03
   16	Siemens	$97,646	$46.95	1
   17	Sony Pictures	$96,840	$46.56
   18	BridgeBio	$95,842	$46.08	2
   19	Sage Therapeutics	$94,898	$45.62
   20	Pharmaceutical Product Development	$94,614	$45.49

4. Writing a director of veterans affairs job description

   A director of veterans affairs 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 of veterans affairs job description:

   Director of veterans affairs job description example

   Alabama State University, Student Affairs, invites applications to fill the position of Director of Veterans Affairs. The successful applicant will coordinate all aspects of the Veterans Affairs and Resource Center to include, but not limited to, certifying enrollment for veteran's benefits, developing and implementing marketing plans, programs and processes, to enhance and facilitate enrollment for the veteran population; establishing relationships with federal, state and local veterans' service agencies.
   Duties and Responsibilities:
   
   * Serve as point of contact for veteran's educational programs, policies, procedures and regulations
   * Serve as liaison between ASU and the ADVA for eligibility for veteran students
   * Develop and expand the University's relationships with other U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and other services agencies
   * Provide accurate information to all interested parties regarding current educational benefits and programs which are provided by federal and state government and local agencies to support veterans
   * Counsel students and parents concerning eligibility and benefits available under various programs
   * Ensure compliance with federal and state government reporting requirements related to veterans educational benefits
   * Manage and monitor schedule changes, major changes, withdrawals, audits and inapplicable courses for appropriate changes in benefits
   * Implement control measures to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of certification
   * Establish and maintain student VA files
   * Coordinate with the office of Admission and Recruiting, Records and Registration, Financial Aid, and Disabilities Services to improve the enrollment process for veteran students
   * Recommend, implement, and administer methods and procedures to enhance recruitment efforts
   * Develop a working knowledge of ASU academic programs that are of interest to veterans students
   * Evaluate U.S. Armed Forces transcripts for transfer credit and transfer equivalencies
   * Develop and maintain the department's website
   * Represent the University on committees and advisory groups that work to advance and enhance VA benefits, and state and regional organizations that assist veteran students with four-year college graduation
   * Actively promote programs that engage veterans and the campus community
   * Perform other duties as assigned
   
   Minimum Qualifications
   
   A Master's degree in Business, Management, Education, or related field, 1 years of experience determining veteran status and eligibility for compliance with federal and state rules and regulations, and maintaining records databases for diverse student population at the college or university level are required.
   
   Supplemental Information
   
   EEOC STATEMENT:
   
   It is the policy of Alabama State University to provide equal employment opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, genetic information or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.
   
   SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION:
   
   Consistent with its obligations under the law, the University will provide reasonable accommodation to any employee with a disability who requires accommodation to perform the essential functions of the job.
   
   Federal law requires identity and employment eligibility verification on Form I-9 within three (3) business days of employment.
   
   All positions require the passing of a background check and some the passing of a drug screen.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right director of veterans affairs 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.

   To find director of veterans affairs candidates, you can consider the following options:

   • Post your job opening on Zippia or other job search websites.
   • Use niche websites that focus on engineering and technology jobs, such as k12jobspot, learn4good, serious teachers, teachingjobs.com.
   • Post your job on free job posting websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit directors of veterans affairs, 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 veterans affairs

   Once you've found the director of veterans affairs 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 director of veterans affairs. 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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