How to hire a leadership development program manager

How to hire a leadership development program manager, step by step

Here's a step-by-step leadership development program manager hiring guide:

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

What does a leadership development program manager do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a leadership development program manager, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect leadership development program manager also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   Here's a comparison of leadership development program manager salaries for various roles:

   Type of Leadership Development Program Manager	Description	Hourly rate
   Leadership Development Program Manager	Training and development managers plan, direct, and coordinate programs to enhance the knowledge and skills of an organization’s employees. They also oversee a staff of training and development specialists.	$20-50
   Training Administrator	Training administrators coordinate employees and management training programs. The administrators administer competency or skill assessments, outplacement, career counseling, and other specialized training for employees... Show more	$15-28
   Director Of Training	Training directors are responsible for directing the planning, design, and implementation of training programs. They are responsible for assessing and identifying the company's training needs, maintaining a consistent culture regarding training, and managing and directing employee training... Show more	$22-62

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • HR
   • Project Management
   • Management
   • Instructional Design
   • Leadership Development Programs
   • Succession Planning
   • Organization Development
   • Leadership
   • Logistics
   • Performance Management
   • Curriculum Design
   • Business Results
   • Business Strategy
   • Training Programs

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage implementation of referrals, coordinate assignment of new physicians and create support network for transitioning patients during clinic closure.
   • Represent the logistics business division for all quality relate issues including process development for all ISO and Non-ISO certify warehouse locations.
   • Create PowerPoint presentations for customer events and for internal training.

   More leadership development program manager duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the leadership development program manager job description is a good way to get more applicants. A leadership development program manager 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 leadership development program manager in South Carolina may be lower than in California, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level leadership development program manager. Additionally, a leadership development program manager with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average leadership development program manager salary

   $68,399yearly

   $32.88 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level leadership development program manager salary

   $43,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 17, 2025

   Average leadership development program manager salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$94,941	$46
   2	Massachusetts	$76,825	$37
   3	New Jersey	$76,044	$37
   4	New York	$74,192	$36
   5	Texas	$73,909	$36
   6	Connecticut	$72,362	$35
   7	Virginia	$71,353	$34
   8	Washington	$65,944	$32
   9	Maryland	$65,418	$31
   10	Alaska	$64,864	$31
   11	Rhode Island	$64,528	$31
   12	District of Columbia	$64,303	$31
   13	Iowa	$62,674	$30
   14	Hawaii	$62,536	$30
   15	Illinois	$60,447	$29
   16	Pennsylvania	$59,900	$29
   17	Georgia	$59,883	$29
   18	Colorado	$59,250	$28
   19	Maine	$59,095	$28
   20	Kansas	$58,205	$28

   Average leadership development program manager salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Amazon	$132,847	$63.87	596
   2	Amd	$122,956	$59.11	22
   3	LinkedIn	$120,635	$58.00	8
   4	Sanofi Genzyme	$111,518	$53.61
   5	TD Bank	$107,777	$51.82	17
   6	Sanofi US	$106,686	$51.29	5
   7	QAD	$105,804	$50.87
   8	U.S. Bank	$100,114	$48.13	28
   9	Columbia Bank	$97,415	$46.83	4
   10	Dairy Farmers of America	$94,987	$45.67	6
   11	Bausch + Lomb	$89,533	$43.04	5
   12	PA Consulting	$88,561	$42.58
   13	The Kraft Heinz Company	$85,325	$41.02	10
   14	ERM	$82,332	$39.58	5
   15	Regal Beloit	$80,748	$38.82	4
   16	Harman International	$80,244	$38.58	1
   17	KPMG LLP	$70,098	$33.70	64
   18	Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC	$67,087	$32.25
   19	Kantar Health	$66,261	$31.86
   20	Regal Cinemas Corp	$59,634	$28.67	2

4. Writing a leadership development program manager job description

   A job description for a leadership development program manager 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 a leadership development program manager job description:

   Leadership development program manager job description example

   Our mission at Duolingo is to develop the best education in the world and make it universally available. But we've got more left to do - and that's where you come in!
   
   Duolingo is the most popular language-learning application in the world, with over 500 million users and over half a billion exercises completed daily. Beyond our core learning product, we have also entered into literacy with Duolingo ABC and English proficiency testing with the Duolingo English Test.
   
   We are passionate about educating our users, making fact-based decisions, and finding innovative solutions to complex problems. We offer meaningful work, limitless learning opportunities, and collaboration with world-class minds. Come brighten your life and over half a billion more!
   
   Duolingo is seeking a Program Manager to drive the design and delivery of company-wide development programs for our leaders.
   
   Reporting to the Director of Leadership Development, you will play a meaningful role in implementing the overall leadership development strategy at Duolingo. With a direct impact on our leaders' professional journeys, this is a role for an innovative problem solver, creative learning experience designer, skilled communicator, resilient project manager, and dedicated builder who takes pride in all the details.
   
   As a member of the Leadership Development team, you will be supporting curriculum development and instructional design as well as managing training programs including content, logistics, facilitation, measurement, budget, and continuous improvement. You will partner closely with the People Team, employees, leaders, and external vendors to deliver impactful programming that builds critical leadership capabilities.
   A day in the life will include... Facilitating discussions to identify needs, align on objectives, and plan the strategy for program design, build, delivery, measurement and scale. Designing and developing relevant and pragmatic program content. Curating external content, when appropriate. Coordinating the involvement of internal and external subject matter experts to facilitate program sessions. Stepping in to facilitate portions of programs, when needed. Supporting the design of data-driven approaches to evaluate program success and ensure we are continuously improving the learner experience. Selecting and managing external vendor relationships. Serving as a contributing team member on special project initiatives (e.g., building out an internal facilitator cadre). To be successful you will have... A proven track-record of delivering company-wide learning solutions in various modalities and formats. Experience with learning program design and facilitation, partnering with collaborators to develop training materials, coordinating training delivery, and evaluating program results. Exceptional project management skills including prioritization, time management, and attention to detail. Thoughtful and clear communication skills in-person as well as through writing and visual content. Excellent collaboration skills with demonstrated ability to successfully navigate cross-functional partnerships. Requirements: 4+ years of progressive work experience delivering learning programs at a fast-paced, engineering focused, technology organization. Bachelor's degree or equivalent required. Proficiency in GSuite and familiarity with functionality of multimedia tools. Ability to work full-time from or relocate to Pittsburgh, PA. Exceptional Candidates Will Have... MBA or advanced degree in a related field. Experience creating content for publishing within a learning management system. Duolingo is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. Take a peek at how we care for our employees' well-being with our benefits here. We will do everything we can within reason to make sure that your interview takes place in an environment that fairly and accurately assesses your skills. If you need assistance or accommodation, please contact your recruiter. We aim to return to office, and as such are requiring all employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and have received any booster doses as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right leadership development program manager 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 leadership development program managers they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit leadership development program managers 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 leadership development program manager job on Zippia to find and recruit leadership development program manager candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with leadership development program manager 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.

   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 leadership development program manager

   Once you've found the leadership development program manager 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 leadership development program manager. 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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