How to hire an information technology director

How to hire an information technology director, step by step

Here's a step-by-step information technology director hiring guide:

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

What does an information technology director do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your information technology director job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find an information technology director for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   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 an information technology director 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 an information technology director that fits the bill.

   The following list breaks down different types of information technology directors and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Information Technology Director	Description	Hourly rate
   Information Technology Director	Computer and information systems managers, often called information technology (IT) managers or IT project managers, plan, coordinate, and direct computer-related activities in an organization. They help determine the information technology goals of an organization and are responsible for implementing computer systems to meet those goals.	$46-94
   Director, Technical Operations	A director of technical operations is in charge of spearheading the efforts in optimizing business operations. Their responsibilities revolve around performing research and analysis to determine the best operational practices, setting goals and objectives, allocating budgets, coordinating different departments, and evaluating the performance of technicians and engineers... Show more	$47-96
   Vice President, Technology	A vice president of technology is in charge of overseeing all technological operations in a company while managing the workforce involved, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. Typically, it is their responsibility to establish goals and objectives, devising strategies to enforce them... Show more	$50-104

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Customer Service
   • Project Management
   • Cloud
   • Network Infrastructure
   • Disaster Recovery
   • Windows Server
   • ERP
   • CRM
   • SQL Server
   • Software Development
   • MPLS
   • Strategic Direction
   • Business Continuity
   • PCI

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Lead the implementation of the ServiceNow ITSM solution.
   • Work with customers and internal management to create and manage acceptable SLA standards and measurements.
   • Manage the migration of email system for 400 plus users from Novell GroupWise to Google Gmail.
   • Manage the QA department and oversee the support of all storage for the company and its outsource customers.
   • Perform resource planning for a portfolio of projects via prioritizing the demand queue and successfully managing business relationships.
   • Lead the prototyping of a Microsoft SharePoint implementation that customize the look & feel to support the organizational requirements.

   More information technology director duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your information technology director job description helps attract top candidates to the position. An information technology director 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 an information technology director in Louisiana may be lower than in California, and an entry-level information technology director usually earns less than a senior-level information technology director. Additionally, an information technology director 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 information technology director salary

   $138,906yearly

   $66.78 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level information technology director salary

   $97,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 31, 2025

   Average information technology director salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$170,038	$82
   2	Nevada	$151,032	$73
   3	Washington	$150,282	$72
   4	New Jersey	$139,114	$67
   5	Arizona	$139,099	$67
   6	Connecticut	$139,073	$67
   7	Massachusetts	$138,717	$67
   8	New York	$138,026	$66
   9	North Carolina	$137,978	$66
   10	Virginia	$137,071	$66
   11	Texas	$136,409	$66
   12	Michigan	$135,584	$65
   13	Pennsylvania	$131,846	$63
   14	Ohio	$131,265	$63
   15	Illinois	$131,056	$63
   16	Utah	$126,836	$61
   17	District of Columbia	$126,730	$61
   18	Tennessee	$126,129	$61
   19	Georgia	$125,912	$61
   20	Indiana	$120,405	$58

   Average information technology director salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	The Tipping Point	$201,433	$96.84
   2	DoorDash	$200,482	$96.39	5
   3	Levi Strauss & Co.	$197,268	$94.84	2
   4	Intuitive Surgical	$197,021	$94.72	4
   5	Stanford Health Care	$194,387	$93.46	12
   6	Seagate Technology	$192,152	$92.38
   7	Regeneron	$190,311	$91.50	12
   8	Infoblox	$190,233	$91.46	1
   9	Yuma Regional Medical Center	$190,192	$91.44
   10	Milliman	$189,683	$91.19	3
   11	LinkedIn	$189,193	$90.96	20
   12	Palo Alto Networks	$185,868	$89.36	69
   13	VMware	$185,168	$89.02
   14	Leadpoint	$184,231	$88.57
   15	Sony Interactive Entertainment America	$183,804	$88.37
   16	Key Energy Services	$183,390	$88.17
   17	Minted	$182,877	$87.92
   18	Icertis	$182,794	$87.88
   19	Citi	$181,779	$87.39	23
   20	Ross Stores	$181,734	$87.37	13

4. Writing an information technology director job description

   A job description for an information technology director 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 an information technology director job description:

   Information technology director job description example

   NVIDIA is seeking a Senior Director to lead all aspects of IT Enterprise and Infrastructure support throughout EMEA & APAC. In this role, you will serve as a leader within the IT organization, collaborating cross-functionally and with leadership to drive performance and employee efficiency. You will be responsible for leading a team of regional professionals with variable skills to provide our employees and site locations with innovative technical support. The successful candidate would be able to demonstrate an execution approach to facilitate the effective translation of strategic plans to incremental delivery of impact to the business. Structured thinking, problem-solving skills, and outstanding communication abilities will be crucial for success in this role as you build strong teams that partner with engineering and operations teams across NVIDIA.
   What you'll be doing:
   Leading multi-location teams of technical resources to provide remote and on-site support for employees and services Engages with all levels of management and key collaborators to develop, implement, and lead support and operational objectives Identify and incorporate future service management needs into a well-considered multi-year roadmap across all NVIDIA product areas Maintain a continuous record of service level fulfillment and compliance status, while actively minimizing and resolving risks Contribute to Operation Reviews of IT services covering Customer Satisfaction, SLA performance, and Operational metrics for your regions Lead and contribute to IT projects in order to implement solutions and strategies Providing leadership, direction, and strategy for a growing organization Building the organizational capacity vital to execute the strategy Raising the bar for customer experience
   
   What we need to see:
   Experience as a team leader in similar on-site and hybrid working environment Broad knowledge and understanding of a variety of IT applications and infrastructure Strong execution skills to plan and steer IT implementation projects Experience recruiting and leading engineering teams, including performance management Collaborative approach and strong problem-solving skills to work with leaders across organizational and technical domains Excellent written and verbal communication skills to manage optimally across cultures and geographies BS in Engineering, CS, and/or equivalent experience Demonstrated ability in Information Technology Enterprise and Infrastructure Management
   
   Ways to stand out from the crowd:
   Having excellent interpersonal and leadership skills will be essential for success: success depends on establishing rapport and credibility with multiple stakeholders across the organization Track record with delivering high availability in complex, global environments Have a wide degree of creativity and latitude to adjust to constantly evolving plans and circumstances Experience working in a hybrid on-prem and public cloud environment
   
   NVIDIA is widely considered to be one of the technology world's most desirable employers. We have some of the most forward-thinking and hardworking people in the world working for us. If you're creative and autonomous, we want to hear from you!
   
   NVIDIA is committed to encouraging a diverse work environment and is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. As we highly value diversity in our current and future employees, we do not discriminate (including in our hiring and promotion practices) on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status or any other characteristic protected by law.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

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

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with information technology director candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   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 information technology director

   Once you've selected the best information technology director candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing 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.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new information technology director. 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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How much does it cost to hire an information technology director?