How to hire a functional consultant

How to hire a functional consultant, step by step

Here's a step-by-step functional consultant hiring guide:

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

What does a functional consultant do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the functional consultant you need to hire. Certain functional consultant roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a functional consultant to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a functional consultant that fits the bill.

   This list shows salaries for various types of functional consultants.

   Type of Functional Consultant	Description	Hourly rate
   Functional Consultant	Computer systems analysts study an organization’s current computer systems and procedures and design information systems solutions to help the organization operate more efficiently and effectively. They bring business and information technology (IT) together by understanding the needs and limitations of both.	$31-52
   Consultant/Team Lead	Consultant team leads analyze background documentation, project documents, financial reports, etc., to prepare an initial report about the projects they are working on. They gather data through interviews, research, and surveys to design proposals meant to create an inclusive environment for everyone... Show more	$34-62
   Customer Relationship Management Consultant	A customer relationship management consultant is responsible for providing management solutions for clients to develop successful customer relationships. Customer relationship management consultants evaluate business requirements and plans and identify potential risks that may affect the reputation and stability of an organization in the market... Show more	$35-62

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Business Process
   • Prototyping
   • ERP
   • CRM
   • Test Cases
   • Payroll
   • Custom Reports
   • Master Data
   • Test Scenarios
   • Test Scripts
   • Enterprise Resource Planning
   • Gl
   • UAT
   • Gap Analysis

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Lead project to enhance batch and on-line system, using DB2, VSAM and DYL280.
   • Used TcpTrace to track and analyze the status of leads in SalesForce.
   • Analyze impacts and work with SME's, business partners to gather detail requirements and manage risks/ issues.
   • Design and maintain numerous data warehousing tools to automate the ETL process, data retrieval, integration and reporting functions.
   • Lead architecture, develop of predictive models & application develop of radiology-oncology executive dashboard and alerting services base on statistical calculations.
   • Act as back up for FI analyst, assisting and providing support for issues relate to GL, AP and AR.

   More functional consultant duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your functional consultant job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A functional consultant salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a functional consultant in Nebraska may be lower than in California, and an entry-level functional consultant usually earns less than a senior-level functional consultant. Additionally, a functional consultant with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average functional consultant salary

   $85,317yearly

   $41.02 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level functional consultant salary

   $65,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 18, 2025

   Average functional consultant salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$108,570	$52
   2	New York	$96,362	$46
   3	Washington	$95,071	$46
   4	District of Columbia	$91,013	$44
   5	New Jersey	$88,100	$42
   6	Pennsylvania	$87,533	$42
   7	Massachusetts	$85,856	$41
   8	Delaware	$85,728	$41
   9	Connecticut	$84,684	$41
   10	Texas	$84,275	$41
   11	Arizona	$81,065	$39
   12	Minnesota	$80,289	$39
   13	North Carolina	$78,844	$38
   14	Ohio	$78,487	$38
   15	Illinois	$78,172	$38
   16	Florida	$77,745	$37
   17	Wisconsin	$77,672	$37
   18	Colorado	$76,755	$37
   19	Michigan	$76,395	$37
   20	Indiana	$75,753	$36

   Average functional consultant salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Workday	$123,010	$59.14	5
   2	Icertis	$118,751	$57.09
   3	Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings	$107,983	$51.91
   4	Avanade	$107,273	$51.57	4
   5	MRI Software	$106,686	$51.29
   6	Hitachi U.S.A.	$104,618	$50.30	3
   7	The Children's Place	$102,529	$49.29
   8	Seagate Technology	$102,279	$49.17
   9	Copart	$98,048	$47.14
   10	Wpp Us Holdings Inc	$97,270	$46.76
   11	Dynamic Enterprises Inc	$96,534	$46.41
   12	Wolters Kluwer	$96,192	$46.25	1
   13	Guidehouse	$96,121	$46.21	218
   14	Oracle	$96,112	$46.21	1,153
   15	Wells Fargo	$95,620	$45.97	6
   16	Infor	$94,776	$45.57
   17	Pinnacle Technical Resources	$94,343	$45.36	3
   18	Servigistics	$93,741	$45.07
   19	Mavis Tire	$93,443	$44.92
   20	EPAM Systems	$92,792	$44.61	25

4. Writing a functional consultant job description

   A functional consultant 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. Below, you can find an example of a functional consultant job description:

   Functional consultant job description example

   Duration - 12 Months

   Qualifications:

   What you need to succeed (minimum qualifications):

   Bachelor's degree in Information Systems or an equivalent major is required

   5 years of related supply chain professional work experience in SAP ERP

   2 years of related SAP EWM application experience for warehouse management operation

   Strong knowledge in SAP modules such as Sales and Distribution, Procurement, Good Receipt, Goods Return, Repair order (Sub-Contracting), Batch Managed inventory, Consignment, Invoice, Cycle Count, and Warranty.

   Responsibilities :

   Preferred job title - SAP EWM Business Support Consultant

   Responsibilities and Duties:

   Provide system-related support for DMS Business teams to resolve any issues while using SAP ECC modules such as Sales and Distribution, Procurement, Sub-Contracting, Inventory Management, Cycle Count

   Provide system-related support for DMS Business teams to resolve any issues while using SAP EWM Inbound receiving, Quality inspection, Work Center, Putway, EWM outbound Waves, Outbound Picking, Packing, Quality Inspection, and Goods Issue process

   Responsible for monitoring ECC/EWM inbound & Outbound queues issue and working with DMS Business teams and the Delta SAP COE team to resolve queue issues in a timely manner

   Responsible for supporting the SAP Intercompany sales process between DMS and Delta Air Lines

   Monitor recurring SAP ECC / EWM issues encountered during regular business and work with the SAP development team to deliver fixes

   Analyze and support any integration issues between SAP and 3rd party systems (Aeroxchange) and Salesforce

   Work with DMS user champions to streamline data and processes to minimize integration errors

   Be creative in providing quick and effective solutions to achieve timely delivery of goods and services to Delta and 3rd party customers

   Develop troubleshooting guides for frequently experienced system and process issues, and train user champions to use the guides to resolve issues independently

   Responsible for providing support such as test data, use cases, and user testing to roll out SAP enhancements developed and released by Delta SAP COE

   Perform data consistency checks and plan for corrective and preventive actions

   Willing to work at the office in Atlanta for 3 to 4 days in a week - onsite position, must be able to come into the office on hybrid schedule A/B Schedule.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find functional consultants for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your functional consultant job on Zippia to find and recruit functional consultant candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as dice, engineering.com, stack overflow, it job pro.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting functional consultants requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   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.

   Sometimes, it's not enough to interview functional consultant candidates, so you can ask them to do a test project. If you are not a technical person and don't know what a test project should be, you can use these websites:

   • TestDome
   • CodeSignal
   • Testlify
   • BarRaiser
   • Coderbyte

   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 functional consultant

   Once you've found the functional consultant 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.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new functional consultant. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are 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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How much does it cost to hire a functional consultant?