How to hire a learning manager

How to hire a learning manager, step by step

Here's a step-by-step learning 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 learning manager job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new learning manager
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a learning manager do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The learning manager 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 learning manager's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, learning managers 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 learning manager salaries for various roles:

   Type of Learning Manager	Description	Hourly rate
   Learning 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.	$28-65
   Director Of Staff Development	Directors of Staff Development schedule and publicize staff development activities as per the established guidelines to promote professional development. They perform personnel functions to achieve budget objectives, enhance personnel productivity, and maintain adequate staffing... Show more	$24-52
   Development Vice President	A development vice president is in charge of overseeing the operations in a company, ensuring a smooth workflow and efficient workforce. Their responsibilities revolve around creating strategies to develop optimal procedures and services, setting goals and sales targets, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of operations to spearhead improvements, coordinating with analysts and marketing experts to assess the market and consumer needs, and monitoring the progress of different projects... Show more	$49-112

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Project Management
   • Instructional Design
   • Blended Learning
   • HR
   • Professional Development
   • Learning Solutions
   • Learning Programs
   • Subject Matter Experts
   • Development Programs
   • Learning Management System
   • Business Results
   • ELearning
   • Leadership Development
   • Training Content

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Lead experiential learning in supervisory skills, conflict management, leadership, team building and organization process effectiveness.
   • Load, update and maintain internal SharePoint compliance site.
   • Create sharepoint site to house training material for business units.
   • Define ways to improve metrics analysis to demonstrate performance improvements and ROI impacts.
   • Support efforts in areas of eLearning, computer skills, and basic supervisory training.
   • Maintain accurate and update reporting data on usage, solutions of issues, policies\procedures and ROI information.

   More learning manager duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your learning manager job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A learning manager can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, learning managers' average salary in nebraska is 46% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level learning managers 57% less than senior-level learning managers.
   • Certifications. A learning manager with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a learning manager's salary.

   Average learning manager salary

   $90,652yearly

   $43.58 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level learning manager salary

   $59,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 20, 2026

   Average learning manager salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$132,397	$64
   2	Connecticut	$108,463	$52
   3	Washington	$106,947	$51
   4	Massachusetts	$104,607	$50
   5	Oregon	$103,651	$50
   6	Virginia	$95,910	$46
   7	North Carolina	$91,370	$44
   8	Texas	$90,629	$44
   9	Arizona	$89,305	$43
   10	Nevada	$89,189	$43
   11	New York	$88,602	$43
   12	Pennsylvania	$88,172	$42
   13	Maryland	$85,980	$41
   14	Arkansas	$85,979	$41
   15	Iowa	$85,383	$41
   16	District of Columbia	$84,639	$41
   17	Maine	$84,066	$40
   18	Hawaii	$83,988	$40
   19	Utah	$82,686	$40
   20	Illinois	$78,769	$38

   Average learning manager salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Meta	$208,524	$100.25	4
   2	Lyft	$194,801	$93.65
   3	Google	$188,125	$90.44	8
   4	NVIDIA	$178,880	$86.00	31
   5	Gap Inc.	$171,191	$82.30
   6	PayPal	$170,920	$82.17	3
   7	Apple	$169,084	$81.29	7
   8	Robinhood	$163,380	$78.55
   9	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$163,294	$78.51
   10	Square	$161,783	$77.78
   11	Upwork	$160,975	$77.39
   12	Etsy	$160,508	$77.17
   13	Summit Health Oregon	$160,215	$77.03
   14	J.P. Morgan	$158,848	$76.37
   15	Amd	$150,308	$72.26	3
   16	Nike	$146,902	$70.63
   17	McKinsey & Company Inc	$143,906	$69.19
   18	Amazon	$139,885	$67.25	168
   19	Medidata	$139,114	$66.88
   20	Intuitive Surgical	$137,256	$65.99	1

4. Writing a learning manager job description

   A learning manager 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 learning manager job description:

   Learning manager job description example

   This role will drive an essential part of the Learning Enterprise mission to create stackable pathways to career mobility and degree attainment. You will support the delivery of a group of discipline-specific courses (ENG 101 and ENG 102) at scale, thus providing thousands of learners with foundational learning in this critical discipline area that will enable them to find a pathway to higher education and economic mobility.
   
   As a key member of the ULC academic infrastructure, reporting to the Executive Director of ULCs operationally, and the Faculty of Record in regard to course objectives and content, you will:
   * support high-quality instruction at scale, introducing thousands of learners to the discipline;
   * be responsible for managing affiliated personnel, graders, teaching assistants, course facilitators and learning success coaches who support your group of discipline-specific courses ensuring the best quality learner experience;
   * partner with the ULC instructional design team and student success team to design, revise and deliver the courses effectively and improve them for greater learner success over time;
   * work with your Faculty of Record (or if qualified and approved by the college unit, serve as faculty of record), engaging them as subject matter experts in periodic reviews and revisions;
   * evaluate and ensure quality control for all instructional content in the courses;
   * engage in strategy discussions for the marketing and growth of the courses;
   * review course-level and learner level data and collaborate with cross-functional team to continuously improve the courses to maximize learner success; and
   * partner with industry and organizations to create career pipelines for learners in your pathways.
   
   Minimum Qualifications
   
   Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Information Systems, or related field AND five years of related experience two (2) of which include higher education online course development and design associated with learning programs and also includes three years of supervisory experience; OR, Any equivalent combination of education and/or experience from which comparable knowledge, skills and abilities have been achieved.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find learning managers for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any learning managers they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level learning managers with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your learning manager job on Zippia to find and recruit learning manager candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with learning 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 learning manager

   Once you have selected a candidate for the learning manager position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize 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.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is 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 learning manager?