How to hire a lead data analyst

How to hire a lead data analyst, step by step

Here's a step-by-step lead data analyst hiring guide:

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

What does a lead data analyst do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your lead data analyst 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 a lead data analyst 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

   A lead data analyst's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, lead data analysts 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 lead data analyst salaries for various positions.

   Type of Lead Data Analyst	Description	Hourly rate
   Lead Data Analyst	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.	$34-62
   Analyst Lead	The duties of an analyst lead depend on one's line of work or industry of employment. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around performing research and analysis, coordinating with different departments to gather leads and data, reviewing findings, and producing reports and presentations for the stakeholders and other higher-ranking officials... Show more	$35-58
   Developer Analyst	A developer analyst is a professional who is responsible for building application requirements and develops database solutions that allow operational efficiency and user-friendly tools. Developer analysts are required to develop a detailed definition of business solutions that can include database design, data flow, and transaction processing requirements... Show more	$30-54

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Analytics
   • Python
   • Power Bi
   • Data Analysis
   • Visualization
   • SAS
   • Data Quality
   • Analyze Data
   • BI
   • ETL
   • Data Collection
   • Statistical Analysis
   • SQL Server
   • Data Analysts

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage the transition of the EDI system from GENTRAN to B2Bi.
   • Manage the operations and financial accounting team activities relating to the securities trading life cycle.
   • Accomplish at designing dashboards and data summaries for technical and non-technical audiences and facilitating implementation of business strategies and missions.
   • Create pilot reports that introduce JavaScript through imbed HTML tags.
   • Create, assign and validate UNIX groups to different SAS users as per the data governance rules.
   • Ensure data integrity and verify all data modifications and calculations during database migration using ETL tools.

   More lead data analyst duties

3. Make a budget

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

   $96,584yearly

   $46.43 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level lead data analyst salary

   $72,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 15, 2025

   Average lead data analyst salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$128,256	$62
   2	New Jersey	$108,337	$52
   3	Washington	$105,988	$51
   4	North Carolina	$105,743	$51
   5	Connecticut	$100,253	$48
   6	Massachusetts	$99,019	$48
   7	Pennsylvania	$98,489	$47
   8	New York	$98,137	$47
   9	Maryland	$95,217	$46
   10	Virginia	$94,714	$46
   11	Arizona	$94,366	$45
   12	Minnesota	$93,831	$45
   13	Florida	$92,279	$44
   14	Georgia	$92,043	$44
   15	Michigan	$91,988	$44
   16	Texas	$91,979	$44
   17	Missouri	$90,623	$44
   18	Louisiana	$88,849	$43
   19	Delaware	$85,393	$41
   20	Illinois	$84,588	$41

   Average lead data analyst salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	The Citadel	$158,397	$76.15	2
   2	Apple	$139,298	$66.97	80
   3	ByteDance	$138,897	$66.78	13
   4	Meta	$138,665	$66.67	812
   5	Google	$129,171	$62.10	259
   6	The Walt Disney Company	$126,673	$60.90	74
   7	Microsoft	$123,470	$59.36	130
   8	Harley-Davidson	$121,724	$58.52	2
   9	Nike	$120,515	$57.94	4
   10	Shell Trading	$120,014	$57.70	1
   11	Cargill	$119,816	$57.60	21
   12	StockX	$118,871	$57.15
   13	Chevron	$118,564	$57.00	1
   14	Cambridge Associates	$117,980	$56.72
   15	Grubhub	$117,644	$56.56	7
   16	Citi	$117,613	$56.54	56
   17	New Relic	$116,225	$55.88	7
   18	Glassdoor	$114,061	$54.84	1
   19	Rockstar Games	$112,988	$54.32	1
   20	Barclays	$112,847	$54.25

4. Writing a lead data analyst job description

   A good lead data analyst job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a lead data analyst job description:

   Lead data analyst job description example

   With us, you'll do meaningful work from Day 1. Our collaborative culture is built on three core behaviors: We Play to Win, We Get Better Every Day & We Succeed Together. And we mean it - we want you to grow and make a difference at one of the world's leading digital banking and payments companies. We value what makes you unique so that you have an opportunity to shine.

   Come build your future, while being the reason millions of people find a brighter financial future with Discover.

   Job Description

   Responsible for working closely with management to execute analytical initiatives. Responsible for solving business problem by leveraging techniques such as segmentation, optimization, and advanced analytics. Creates reports and dashboards to closely monitor performance metrics and provide insights.

   Responsibilities

   • Leads the development and implementation of advanced analytics including customer segmentation, optimization, prescriptive analytics to solve business problems. Operates as a subject matter expert on statistical analysis, test and design of experiment, analysis methodology, and financial impact analysis.

   • Collaborates with cross-functional partners to understand their business needs, formulate and complete end-to-end analysis that includes data gathering, analysis, ongoing scaled deliverables and presentations. Delivers effective presentations of findings and recommendations to multiple levels of leadership, creating visual displays of quantitative information.

   • Establishes and maintains effective performance tracking; identify improvement opportunity, form hypothesis, proposes, designs and implements tests to drive strategy enhancement and optimization.

   • Manages multiple priorities, communicate business performance and project progress to management & business partners.

   • Develops and automates reports, iteratively build and prototype dashboards to provide insights at scale, solving for analytical needs. Facilitates implementation of work product and ensure accuracy.

   • Consistently follows standard work processes and documentation requirements. Recommends improvement to work processes to increase efficiency while maintaining quality of work.

   • Continuously improves technical and leadership skills through training and development.

   Minimum Qualifications

   At a minimum, here's what we need from you:

   • Bachelor's Degree in Analytics, Engineering, Statistics, or related field.

   • 4+ years of experience in Credit Risk, Fraud Risk, Marketing Analytics, Optimization, Operations Analytics, Data Science or related.

   Preferred Qualifications

   If we had our say, we'd also look for:

   • Master's Degree in Analytics, Engineering, Mathematics or Statistics

   • 6+ years of experience in Credit Risk, Fraud Risk, Marketing Analytics, Optimization, Operations Analytics, Data Science or related

   What are you waiting for? Apply today!

   The same way we treat our employees is how we treat all applicants - with respect. Discover Financial Services is an equal opportunity employer (EEO is the law). We thrive on diversity & inclusion. You will be treated fairly throughout our recruiting process and without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status in consideration for a career at Discover.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right lead data analyst 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 lead data analysts they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit lead data analysts 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 lead data analyst job on Zippia to find and attract quality lead data analyst candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as dice, engineering.com, stack overflow, it job pro.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with lead data analyst 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.

   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.

   If your interviews with lead data analyst applicants aren't enough to make a decision, you should also consider including a test project. These are often the best, most straightforward, and least bias-prone ways of determining who will likely succeed in the role. If you don't know how to design an appropriate test, you can ask someone else on the team to create it or take a look at these websites to get a few ideas:

   • 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 lead data analyst

   Once you've found the lead data analyst 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.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new lead data analyst. 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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