How to hire a principal analyst

How to hire a principal analyst, step by step

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

What does a principal analyst do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your principal 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 principal 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

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a principal analyst to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a principal analyst that fits the bill.

   Here's a comparison of principal analyst salaries for various roles:

   Type of Principal Analyst	Description	Hourly rate
   Principal 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.	$41-71
   Analyst Internship	An analyst internship is a student program where an intern is assigned to assist analyst professionals by analyzing business goals, objectives, and needs. Analyst interns assist in the planning and designing of business processes and suggest recommendations for improvement... Show more	$13-25
   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

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Portfolio
   • ERP
   • Project Management
   • Data Analysis
   • Process Improvement
   • Risk Assessments
   • DOD
   • Windows
   • Financial Analysis
   • Infrastructure
   • Excellent Interpersonal
   • Visualization
   • QA
   • Securities

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Develop EVM analysis reports and access reports on a monthly basis for the use of the IPT leads.
   • Manage administration and supervise development of logistics policies and programs to ensure they meet the changing conditions in program requirements.
   • Mine CRM software and leverage professional network for high quality referrals.
   • Maintain defect-free deployment of software solutions through thorough planning, testing and QA efforts.
   • Create performance metrics to measure effectiveness of SAR program and training within DHS components.
   • Team member for the QA testing on the product releases, including installations and upgrades.

   More principal analyst duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your principal analyst job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A principal analyst salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, principal analysts' average salary in mississippi is 35% less than in washington.
   • Seniority. Entry-level principal analysts earn 42% less than senior-level principal analysts.
   • Certifications. A principal analyst with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a principal analyst's salary.

   Average principal analyst salary

   $114,156yearly

   $54.88 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level principal analyst salary

   $87,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 31, 2026

   Average principal analyst salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$145,142	$70
   2	Washington	$138,773	$67
   3	Oregon	$122,860	$59
   4	Connecticut	$111,214	$53
   5	New Jersey	$109,459	$53
   6	Texas	$109,371	$53
   7	Massachusetts	$109,209	$53
   8	District of Columbia	$107,736	$52
   9	Illinois	$107,170	$52
   10	Virginia	$106,589	$51
   11	New York	$105,014	$50
   12	Pennsylvania	$105,011	$50
   13	Maryland	$104,847	$50
   14	Ohio	$103,777	$50
   15	Georgia	$102,195	$49
   16	Minnesota	$101,427	$49
   17	Colorado	$98,513	$47
   18	Florida	$97,668	$47
   19	Indiana	$96,913	$47
   20	Iowa	$94,389	$45

   Average principal analyst salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Google	$158,824	$76.36	115
   2	World Fuel Services	$144,399	$69.42	1
   3	Avid	$136,721	$65.73	2
   4	OCC	$136,720	$65.73	28
   5	LinkedIn	$131,931	$63.43	14
   6	Yext	$131,126	$63.04
   7	VMware	$129,617	$62.32
   8	DocuSign	$128,547	$61.80
   9	Amazon	$127,943	$61.51	523
   10	Upwork	$125,717	$60.44	2
   11	Intuitive Surgical	$125,209	$60.20	11
   12	SS&C Technologies	$125,187	$60.19	19
   13	FireEye	$124,670	$59.94
   14	Infinera	$124,461	$59.84
   15	Majesco	$121,550	$58.44	2
   16	Jade Global	$120,291	$57.83	1
   17	Trideum	$119,947	$57.67
   18	TEKsystems	$119,683	$57.54	58
   19	Temenos AG	$119,473	$57.44
   20	Tripadvisor	$118,694	$57.06

4. Writing a principal analyst job description

   A principal analyst 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 principal analyst job description:

   Principal analyst job description example

   Role: Principal sales enablement analyst - Portugal
   Location: Lisbon, Portugal.
   Office & Home Working Hybrid
   
   The Principal sales enablement analyst will support the global sales team reporting directly to the Senior Director of global sales enablement. The Principal Analyst will be responsible for the Introduction of a new wave of automation in how Infinera defines and manages Go To Market strategies, building an ambitious stream of projects to implement efficient account planning in support of the long term business model through our next wave of growth in the Industry.
   
   Essential Functions/Responsibilities
   Implement & lead an innovative account planning methodology utilizing SFDC expertise, and drive uniform real time output. Develop metrics & dashboards across existing and evolving sales campaigns and initiatives to drive investment decisions globally with a focus on top line growth and ROI. Work collaboratively to develop Sales training programs including virtual classroom material along with potential for a sales methodology introduction - to aid ongoing efficiency of the sales team. Coordinate with regional sales leadership and market development teams to ensure clarity on sales strategy across the top 50 global accounts is clear & actionable. Work with sales operations, IT and other stakeholders to ensure processes and technology meet the needs of the broader corporate goals to meet the growth and efficiency required. Develop & maintain dashboards showing progress of sales initiatives aligned to the corporate long-term business model.
   
   Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
   Extensive hands on experience in developing and adapting Salesforce and Salesforce bolt on apps. Desire to automate and drive intelligence into all aspects of reporting Exceptional analytical problem-solving skills with a passion for data integrity, process definition, and continuous learning.Excellent verbal and written communication skills: concise, articulate, and confident.Ability to maintain confidentiality and sensitivity with a high degree of professionalism in all aspects of job responsibilities.Highly organized individual with hands on attitude and timely execution of tasks.Well-developed decision making, prioritization, and problem-solving skills.Self-starter, motivated to evolve and be an agent for constant change.
   
   Credentials and Experience
   A minimum of 10+ years in sales support/analyst/sales ops/enablement role in a fast-paced environment.Bachelor's degree or equivalent.Experience with global technology, software, hardware, R&D or manufacturing environments.Knowledge and experience in global company/environment supporting multiple time zones.Hunger to learn and develop new skills and constantly evolve (self and role) Expert in Salesforce, Account Planning, Business Intelligence & Excel, comfortable using full MS suite of applications
   
   #LI-GA1
   #LI-Hybrid
   Infinera is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Infinera complies with all applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find principal analysts 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 principal analyst job on Zippia to find and attract quality principal analyst candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as dice, engineering.com, stack overflow, it job pro.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit principal analysts, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   While interviews are great, you will only sometimes learn enough from a conversation with a principal analyst applicant. In those cases, having candidates complete a test project can go a long way in figuring out who's the most likely to succeed in the role. If you aren't a technical person and 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 principal analyst

   Once you've decided on a perfect principal analyst 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.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new principal analyst. 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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