How to hire a partner-director

How to hire a partner-director, step by step

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

What does a partner-director do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The partner-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 partner-director's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, partner-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 partner-directors.

   Type of Partner-Director	Description	Hourly rate
   Partner-Director	Advertising, promotions, and marketing managers plan programs to generate interest in products or services. They work with art directors, sales agents, and financial staff members.	$38-86
   Director Of Sales & Business Development	A director of sales business development is responsible for monitoring the business and project plans, ensuring that the sales targets are met, according to project requirements and specifications. Directors of sales business development perform data analysis to track business performance and identify opportunities to grow revenues and profits... Show more	$18-84
   Director Of Marketing & Development	A director of marketing development is a management professional who is responsible for improving the marketing scheme of an organization while discovering ways to obtain new customers. This director is required to lead a team of marketers and work with other departments to make the organization's marketing plans become a reality... Show more	$28-77

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Business Development
   • Project Management
   • Account Management
   • Cloud
   • Strategic Partnerships
   • Digital Marketing
   • Partner Relationships
   • CRM
   • Saas
   • Revenue Growth
   • Facebook
   • Client Facing
   • Partner Program
   • KPIs

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage SEO, SEM, and multi-channel revenue attribution modeling
   • Manage and implement software in client CRM environment including complex architectural scenarios.
   • Lead centralized, electronic referral center coordinating post-acute service needs of patients discharging from multiple acute facilities in Arizona region.
   • Consult with clients to establish and track ROI measures.
   • Maintain and update advertisements, SEO web traffic building, and website.
   • Used the CRM to schedule follow up calls, record pending sales, and promote company with email.

   More partner-director duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your partner-director job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A partner-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 a partner-director in North Dakota may be lower than in Nevada, and an entry-level partner-director usually earns less than a senior-level partner-director. Additionally, a partner-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 partner-director salary

   $121,279yearly

   $58.31 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level partner-director salary

   $81,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 18, 2025

   Average partner-director salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$139,674	$67
   2	Nevada	$139,408	$67
   3	New Jersey	$135,461	$65
   4	New York	$126,927	$61
   5	Texas	$125,188	$60
   6	Washington	$123,567	$59
   7	Rhode Island	$115,692	$56
   8	North Carolina	$112,812	$54
   9	District of Columbia	$112,551	$54
   10	Colorado	$112,545	$54
   11	Georgia	$111,466	$54
   12	Massachusetts	$111,318	$54
   13	Illinois	$110,776	$53
   14	Virginia	$110,314	$53
   15	Arkansas	$110,247	$53
   16	Florida	$109,813	$53
   17	Ohio	$109,425	$53
   18	Utah	$109,212	$53
   19	Wisconsin	$108,671	$52
   20	Missouri	$108,392	$52

   Average partner-director salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Meta	$187,158	$89.98	162
   2	Google	$179,232	$86.17	82
   3	Credit Karma	$175,829	$84.53	4
   4	Anaplan	$171,619	$82.51	7
   5	PayPal	$169,839	$81.65	48
   6	Databricks	$167,451	$80.51	9
   7	Citi	$164,617	$79.14	15
   8	FullContact	$163,439	$78.58
   9	Palo Alto Networks	$160,492	$77.16	43
   10	Sharecare	$160,361	$77.10	56
   11	Fastly	$160,119	$76.98
   12	Icertis	$159,624	$76.74	2
   13	Rubrik	$158,511	$76.21	161
   14	Zscaler	$158,472	$76.19	7
   15	Nike	$156,727	$75.35	26
   16	Toys"R"Us	$153,724	$73.91
   17	ACDI/VOCA	$152,335	$73.24
   18	The Walt Disney Company	$151,523	$72.85	38
   19	Danbury Public Schools	$149,702	$71.97	1
   20	Amazon	$148,698	$71.49	148

4. Writing a partner-director job description

   A good partner-director 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 partner-director job description:

   Partner-director job description example

   As Management Leadership for Tomorrow pursues our 2022 growth strategy, we are seeking a Director of Partnerships to help manage and grow relationships with a portfolio of organizations in one of several important sectors: Finance/Financial Services, Consulting/Professional Services and/or CPG/Retail. Key responsibilities will include growing and managing our base of strategic partners; working with our program teams to design curriculum to prepare Fellows and alumni for careers with partner organizations; sharing best practices and developing strategic partnership plans to help partners recruit and retain more diverse talent; and ensuring a strong return on investment for partners and for MLT.
   
   This is a fast-paced, externally-facing position that develops and executes our partnerships strategy within the aforementioned sectors. It is an ideal senior-level opportunity for someone seeking to build a relationship base in a dramatic way, across various sectors and industries, and to spread MLT's mission across the corporate community. At our partner organizations, as well as within MLT, you will have significant exposure to senior leaders, with whom you will partner to manage engagements and deliver a strong ROI. It will also afford you the opportunity to exercise your client relations skills as you manage high-profile corporate accounts. Your work will bridge the corporate and nonprofit sectors and allow you to grow and deliver at a high level, while pursuing a compelling mission and knowing that your work is making a difference. You will also work cross-functionally with all of our internal teams, honing your influencing and managing skills as you leverage others to advance our work in this area. This role will entail travel (approx. 8-10x a year for ~2 days at a time when it is safe to do so),and the chance to see MLT's work on the front lines with our Fellows at program events.
   
   The ideal candidate thrives in an entrepreneurial environment and has a strong track record of success in corporate relations / client management, consultative or “challenger” sales, or business development. The role requires demonstrated success managing relationships with individuals at various levels within large institutions and possess superior abilities to persuade others, analyze and solve problems, manage projects, create greater exposure, and lead creative engagements.
   
   The Director, Partnerships reports to the Vice President of Programs and Partnerships and is based in our DC-area (Bethesda, MD) office, although a remote arrangement is a possibility.
   
   Key ResponsibiltiesLead all aspects of the partner engagement process, including serving partners; renewing and growing relationship and partner contributions; developing mutually beneficial partnership proposals; leading presentations to key stakeholders; and managing follow-up communications with current partners who make annual contributions to recruit and retain MLT Fellows and alumni Manage a portfolio of strategic partners, cross- and upsell existing partners, and lead renewal negotiations Assist with the sales and fundraising activities of our CEO and VP of PartnershipsAdvise internal teams around the development of sector-specific career opportunities for partners to engage with our Fellows and alumni via previously existing curricula and events, as well as new ones Solicit feedback about our program content, curriculum, and experiences; and refine them as appropriate in order to ensure we are recruiting and developing the right profiles of talent that will succeed within our partner organizations Develop expert knowledge of our partners' unique talent recruitment and retention challenges Lead and participate in partner meetings and MLT seminars (occasionally on evenings and weekends)
   
   QualificationsBA required; MBA strongly preferred8+ years of experience with at least 3 years in corporate or client relations / sales, ideally including B2B sales experience within the professional services industry; if not-for-profit experience, must include partner relations with commercial responsibilities Experience managing a book of commercial business with large organizations, including engagement with C-level partners Proven track record of successfully building all aspects of a new initiative or business from the early stages, including strategy, fundraising, service, and day-to-day team and operations management Superior project management skills, including organization and detail orientation and the ability to manage multiple concurrent tasks efficiently Excellent persuasive communication skills (written and oral), with the ability to build consensus for a service and navigate an environment that requires the buy-in of multiple stakeholders across the organization Excellent ability to manage relationships with individuals at all levels of an organization Strong problem-solving and analytical skills High resourcefulness with the ability to thrive in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment Google Suite (presentation, spreadsheet) proficiency required
   
   MLT is committed to providing a safe and healthy workplace, and to modeling the highest degree of health standards for our Fellows, our Partners, and the communities we serve. We expect all MLT employees and contractors to be fully vaccinated - including the booster regimen - against the coronavirus (COVID-19), in accordance with ADA accommodations. Visitors to MLT's office in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) locations or remote work sites should also expect to comply with this requirement.
   Please apply to a position with MLT ONLY if you are willing and able to prove that you are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, regardless of work location.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find partner-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 partner-director job on Zippia to find and recruit partner-director candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as swipe files, exit five, marketinghire, american marketing association.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with partner-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 to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you 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 partner-director

   Once you've decided on a perfect partner-director candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new partner-director. 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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