How to hire a Medical Director

How to hire a medical director, step by step

Here's a step-by-step medical director hiring guide:

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

What does a Medical Director do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The medical director 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 medical director's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, medical directors 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 shows salaries for various types of medical directors.

   Type Of Medical Director	Description	Hourly Rate
   Medical Director	Medical and health services managers, also called healthcare executives or healthcare administrators, plan, direct, and coordinate medical and health services. They might manage an entire facility, a specific clinical area or department, or a medical practice for a group of physicians... Show More	$68-177
   Director Of Professional Services	A director of professional services is responsible for evaluating and improving the professional services offered by the firm. Directors of professional services assess the operational processes and systems to ensure high-quality outputs and deliverables... Show More	$45-99
   Director Of Clinical Operations	A director of clinical operations is responsible for monitoring the overall operations of a clinic facility, ensuring the efficiency of staff performance in providing the best quality care services for the patients. Directors of clinical operations enforce safety guidelines and security procedures during operations for everyone's strict compliance to prevent hazards and unforeseen circumstances within the premises... Show More	$40-95

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common Skills:

   • Patients
   • Medical Care
   • Medical Services
   • Utilization Review
   • Appeals
   • Internal Medicine
   • Medical Management
   • Primary Care
   • Utilization Management
   • Psychiatry
   • Quality Improvement
   • Clinical Trials
   • Oncology
   • Informed Consent

   Check All Skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage OPD for acute injuries.
   • Manage patients with diabetes, hypertension and other medical problems.
   • Manage patients living with HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and other sexually transmit infections.
   • Manage hypertension and diabetes in elderly patients
   • Conduct psychiatry evaluations and treatment, manage co-occurring disorders.
   • Manage budget planning, forecasting and accruals for improve financial management.

   More Medical Director duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the medical director job description is a good way to get more applicants. A medical director 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 medical director in Georgia may be lower than in Alaska, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level medical director. Additionally, a medical director with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average medical director salary

   $230,317yearly

   $110.73 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level medical director salary

   $143,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 21, 2025

   Average medical director salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate
   1	Washington	$260,967	$125
   2	Oregon	$256,702	$123
   3	Maine	$256,194	$123
   4	Minnesota	$253,343	$122
   5	Nevada	$248,501	$119
   6	California	$243,518	$117
   7	Indiana	$239,181	$115
   8	Illinois	$239,011	$115
   9	Wisconsin	$237,944	$114
   10	Kansas	$236,874	$114
   11	Rhode Island	$236,038	$113
   12	Missouri	$235,225	$113
   13	Colorado	$234,818	$113
   14	New Mexico	$234,366	$113
   15	Tennessee	$231,570	$111
   16	Arizona	$231,392	$111
   17	Arkansas	$231,149	$111
   18	Pennsylvania	$229,198	$110
   19	Oklahoma	$227,438	$109
   20	Massachusetts	$226,946	$109

   Average medical director salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
   1	UnitedHealth Group	$298,950	$143.73	342
   2	Abbott	$285,416	$137.22	15
   3	Snelling	$282,851	$135.99
   4	PeaceHealth	$282,717	$135.92	18
   5	CHA Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center	$281,937	$135.55	2
   6	Boston Public Health Commission	$281,704	$135.43	1
   7	Santiam Memorial Hospital	$280,871	$135.03
   8	Pacific Medical Centers	$280,558	$134.88
   9	Cytokinetics	$279,537	$134.39
   10	Quest Diagnostics	$279,129	$134.20	45
   11	Pikeville Medical Center	$278,811	$134.04
   12	INTEGRIS Health	$278,166	$133.73	12
   13	Novartis	$277,860	$133.59	34
   14	Community Health Systems	$277,452	$133.39	109
   15	Biogen	$277,385	$133.36	19
   16	Genentech	$277,286	$133.31	47
   17	State of Connecticut	$276,721	$133.04	2
   18	New England Cancer Specialists	$275,975	$132.68
   19	UHS Binghamton General Hospital	$275,617	$132.51	6
   20	AbbVie	$274,300	$131.88	140

4. Writing a Medical Director Job Description

   A medical director 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 medical director job description:

   Medical Director job description example

   PPD’s mission is to improve health. It starts as an idea to cure. It becomes a life saved. All in-between, it’s you! We know that meaningful results not only require the right approach, but also the right people. We invite you to re-imagine health promoting protocols with us, working alongside our talented, bright and energetic teams.
   
   Due to continued growth, PPD is now looking to appoint an Associate Medical Director/Medical Director, Neurology, to join our team of Medical Directors in North America. This role can be office-based or home based.
   
   The Associate Medical Director/Medical Director will be responsible for providing medical support and medical advice for clinical trials and safety evaluation within the PPD Pharmacovigilance department.
   Essential Functions: * Provide study, project and program-specific medical monitoring and review services, including but not restricted to: * Managing of all medical aspects of contracted tasks. Monitoring of safety variables. * Discussing with clients, investigators and healthcare professionals of medical issues in the pre and post approval services by using proper medical judgment, interpretation and decision. * Provide medical consultation to team members and answer study related medical questions. Communicate clearly with associates and clients, maintaining and open line of communication to ensure all procedures are followed appropriately * Analysis and assessment of safety data to identify and manage emerging safety signals. * Medical review of individual case safety reports, serious adverse event reports and clinical outcome reports. * Assist in Business Development activities * Present PPD standard medical safety processes to clients at business development meetings and communicate with various medical communities to explore and expand PPD business. * Participate in training of project teams. * Provide therapeutic and protocol training as needed. * Write, review and approve reports, regulatory submissions and protocols, ensuring that the medical content is accurate and complete. This is an outstanding opportunity for an experienced MD with Neurology experience to join an industry-leading organization that offers excellent prospects and growth and development. #LI-CG1 #LI-Remote
   Education & Qualifications * MD, MB/BS or equivalent degree and strong medical knowledge, proven clinical experience managing Neurology patients in hospital practice * Significant experience within pharmaceutical industry, clinical trials or pharmaceutical medicine is beneficial * Is fluent in spoken and written English * Solid understanding of regulatory guidelines for adverse event reporting * Strong communication & presentation skills and is a strong team player At PPD we hire the best, develop ourselves and each other, and recognize the power of being one team. We understand that you will want to grow both professionally and personally throughout your career, and therefore at PPD you will benefit from an award-winning learning and development program, ensuring you reach your potential. We have a strong will to win - We earn our customer’s trust - We are gamechangers - We do the right thing -We are one PPD - If you resonate with our five principles above, and ultimately wish to accelerate the delivery of safe and effective therapeutics for some of the world’s most urgent health needs, then please submit your application – we’d love to hear from you.
   Job: **Medical Directors*
   Organization: **US BU*
   Title: Assoc Dir/Medical Director - Neurology
   Location: NC-Morrisville-Morrisville NC 3900 Paramount

   Copy This Example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right medical director for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

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

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit medical directors, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   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 medical director

   Once you have selected a candidate for the medical director 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.

   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.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new medical 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 a medical director?