How to hire a head trainer

How to hire a head trainer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step head trainer hiring guide:

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

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The head trainer 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 head trainer's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, head trainers 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.

   Here's a comparison of head trainer salaries for various roles:

   Type of Head Trainer	Description	Hourly rate
   Head Trainer	Training and development specialists plan, conduct, and administer programs that train employees and improve their skills and knowledge.	$21-67
   Facilitator	A facilitator is responsible for assisting a group event or program, ensuring that the participants coordinate well. Facilitators also monitor that the objectives of the event are smoothly delivered and organized... Show more	$13-33
   Development Coordinator	A development coordinator is responsible for planning various programs and events for an organization or company. They primarily focus on securing funding by holding fundraising events, devising programs to increase brand awareness, and even coming up with various campaigns supporting a cause... Show more	$17-35

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Customer Service
   • Training Programs
   • Safety Procedures
   • HR
   • Training Classes
   • CPR
   • Training Sessions
   • New Servers
   • Strength Training
   • POS
   • Training Materials
   • Fine Dining
   • Training Clients
   • Group Training

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Coordinate competitive sensitive information design and review of eLearning and instructor lead materials.
   • Certify in CPR, EMT, & a.
   • Develop and coordinate activities to increase awareness of the community's need for CPR training.
   • Deliver direct coaching for shops, outbound factory and SME, and training the trainers for customer care and indirect sales.
   • Travele nationally training medical staff how to use Medicare reimbursement software.
   • Perform managerial functions including payroll, employee schedules, hiring/firing, preparing financial reports and all other day-to-day fitness center/clinic management.

   More head trainer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your head trainer job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A head trainer 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 head trainer in Missouri may be lower than in California, and an entry-level head trainer usually earns less than a senior-level head trainer. Additionally, a head trainer 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 head trainer salary

   $79,555yearly

   $38.25 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level head trainer salary

   $45,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 19, 2025

   Average head trainer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$132,165	$64
   2	Virginia	$115,612	$56
   3	New York	$113,022	$54
   4	Connecticut	$112,217	$54
   5	New Jersey	$108,046	$52
   6	Washington	$103,493	$50
   7	Texas	$97,812	$47
   8	Massachusetts	$96,856	$47
   9	Delaware	$93,272	$45
   10	Illinois	$87,750	$42
   11	Pennsylvania	$79,537	$38
   12	Colorado	$73,298	$35
   13	Georgia	$72,576	$35
   14	Florida	$69,968	$34
   15	Wisconsin	$62,974	$30
   16	Ohio	$60,445	$29

   Average head trainer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Johnson & Johnson	$115,684	$55.62	10
   2	Morgan Stanley	$104,638	$50.31
   3	BNY Mellon	$98,734	$47.47	3
   4	Amazon	$94,242	$45.31	55
   5	DISH Network	$84,751	$40.75
   6	Beazley Insurance Company, Inc.	$81,903	$39.38
   7	Siemens	$81,081	$38.98	5
   8	Beacon Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine	$74,997	$36.06
   9	Exabeam	$65,035	$31.27
   10	Bristow Group	$64,304	$30.92
   11	Akuna Capital	$63,921	$30.73
   12	Fitch Learning	$52,576	$25.28
   13	EYM Group	$49,488	$23.79
   14	PUMA	$44,887	$21.58
   15	F45 Training	$43,562	$20.94	200

4. Writing a head trainer job description

   A head trainer 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 head trainer job description:

   Head trainer job description example

   Role purpose
   
   This role is accountable for driving the effective design and implementation of the capability development strategy within Seed Sales organization.. This role is responsible for the ongoing development of specific competencies for the three brands, NK, Golden Harvest, and GHX. The role will be responsible for commercial capability development, including Agronomy's intersection with sales, the overall customer experience, specific role competency, interview targeted selection, on-boarding and other implications to selling activities and channel capabilities
   
   This role is also accountable for leading field sales excellence, enabling a 4x4 culture to exist across the organization. Success in the role requires cross-boundary collaboration with key internal Business Partners to deliver Commercial Unit requirements and operation needs. Stakeholders range from Marketing, Production & Supply, and Finance in service of the US Commercial Units and Key Account Managers (KAM) operational needs.
   
   The role will provide direction and guidance on the structure of the Developmental Sales Rep (DSR) and Intern program, including the sourcing and recruitment activities, placement before and after the programs, and curriculum / project design of the programs.
   
   The position holder will lead a team of sales trainers and ensure the delivery and administration of high performance sales management training principles throughout the assigned support areas. The training audience includes internal employees and personnel from our strategic customer accounts
   
   The role provides strategic direction to the Sales Operations team. This leads to sales enablement through efficient business process and operation support. This support includes: sales process simplification, sales reporting, analytics, account planning, exception management, employee on-boarding, as well as support for the commercial unit. The role is accountable for enabling the support structure needed to optimize farmer interaction and selling time for our Sales teams.
   
   This role provides strategic direction for the Go To Market Leads, who enable execution of business strategy and tactics across the commercial organization. To direct the G2M leads, this role should have a robust understanding of business needs, systems, and process to give direction on a 6 month timeline ensuring systems builds and on time delivery.
   
   

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find head trainers 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 head trainer job on Zippia to find and recruit head trainer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit head trainers, 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 head trainer

   Once you've decided on a perfect head trainer 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.

   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.

   To prepare for the new head trainer first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

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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