How to hire a professional development director

How to hire a professional development director, step by step

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

What does a professional development director do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

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

   The following list breaks down different types of professional development directors and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Professional Development Director	Description	Hourly rate
   Professional Development Director	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.	$22-103
   HSE Manager	A health, safety, and environmental (HSE) manager is primarily in charge of spearheading and overseeing a company's health and safety programs. Their responsibilities typically revolve around coordinating with different departments to gather data, assessing existing programs and policies to identify areas needing improvement, implementing solutions on issues and concerns, developing strategies to execute programs, and creating new safety policies as necessary... Show more	$28-58
   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

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Professional Development
   • Oversight
   • Adult Learning
   • K-12
   • Curriculum Development
   • Staff Development
   • Career Development
   • Training Programs
   • Education Programs
   • Professional Development Workshops
   • Seminar
   • Leadership Development
   • Competency Development
   • Instructional Strategies

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Extend product revenue by delivering new products for managing configuration of Linux platforms.
   • Prepare powerpoint to production specifications covering research base on SLIFE learning challenges and key program components for effective instruction of SLIFE.
   • Supervise certified nursing assistants with bed placement for post-op patients and maintain paperwork require for house clinician.
   • Implement train-the-trainer programs using SMEs that save the company money by eliminating outside vendors.
   • Engage in personnel hiring decisions, interview candidates, and identify SMEs for specialize consulting work.
   • Provide executive oversight and leadership for HR/Payroll best practices driving organizational change.

   More professional development director duties

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, professional development directors' average salary in florida is 47% less than in oregon.
   • Seniority. Entry-level professional development directors 79% less than senior-level professional development directors.
   • Certifications. A professional development director 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 professional development director's salary.

   Average professional development director salary

   $100,545yearly

   $48.34 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level professional development director salary

   $46,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 17, 2025

   Average professional development director salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$144,469	$69
   2	Massachusetts	$139,944	$67
   3	Connecticut	$139,374	$67
   4	Oregon	$134,990	$65
   5	New York	$134,584	$65
   6	Illinois	$128,663	$62
   7	Maine	$123,804	$60
   8	Maryland	$121,959	$59
   9	Virginia	$119,192	$57
   10	Alaska	$114,355	$55
   11	Colorado	$112,813	$54
   12	North Carolina	$109,443	$53
   13	District of Columbia	$108,405	$52
   14	Ohio	$108,024	$52
   15	Michigan	$107,485	$52
   16	Arkansas	$107,189	$52
   17	Montana	$104,351	$50
   18	Pennsylvania	$104,170	$50
   19	Georgia	$93,011	$45
   20	Tennessee	$92,845	$45

   Average professional development director salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Baker McKenzie	$235,218	$113.09
   2	NVIDIA	$199,737	$96.03	33
   3	Kaiser Permanente	$198,526	$95.45	55
   4	Perkins Coie	$175,496	$84.37
   5	Tufts Medical Center	$174,966	$84.12
   6	NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital	$167,031	$80.30
   7	Maine Behavioral Healthcare	$161,237	$77.52
   8	Southern California Hospitals	$158,568	$76.23
   9	Medstar Health	$157,262	$75.61
   10	Kent Daniels & Associates	$155,755	$74.88
   11	Humana	$148,487	$71.39	177
   12	Samsung Electronics Device Solutions (Semiconductor & Display)	$141,417	$67.99	5
   13	Houston Methodist	$140,287	$67.45	5
   14	Long Island Cares	$128,162	$61.62
   15	Edmond Public Schools	$127,821	$61.45
   16	AVITA Medical	$126,941	$61.03	6
   17	Stanford University	$125,004	$60.10	27
   18	Chapman University	$124,389	$59.80	2
   19	Sensata	$120,193	$57.79	3
   20	City of Philadelphia	$120,136	$57.76	2

4. Writing a professional development director job description

   A job description for a professional development director 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 professional development director job description:

   Professional development director job description example

   At Perkins Coie, we look for individuals who are self-motivated, dedicated to providing value and superior services and, above all, have a high degree of integrity and enthusiasm for their work. We've created a culture that is based on collaboration, devotion to serving our clients, and mutual respect. Perkins Coie is committed to advancing diversity and inclusion both within the firm and throughout our collective communities. Work for one of the 100 Best Workplaces in America, get great health insurance, tuition reimbursement, your birthday off, and paid sabbaticals.
   GENERAL PURPOSE
   Provide leadership in strategic planning, implementation and management of all areas related to attorney training, development, evaluation, advancement and promotion, and performance management.
   
   ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
   These essential functions are primary job duties that incumbents must be able to perform unassisted or with some reasonable accommodation.
   Create, oversee and measure a talent development strategy for our attorney populations.Provide leadership in strategic planning, implementation and management of all areas related to attorney training, development, evaluation, advancement and promotion, and performance management for associates, counsel, senior counsel, partners and others.Develop competencies focused on legal skills and experience based on practice area and seniority as well as professional skills such as leadership and business development. Design training curriculum aligned with these competencies. Identify and implement best practices in delivering training curriculum.Develop and produce training programs for firm retreats including the annual first-year associate, new counsel and new partner retreats as well as, where appropriate, training programs for practice group and subgroup retreats and retreats for women attorneys and diverse attorneys. Oversee and direct special programs including NITA deposition and trial advocacy programs, extended business development coaching programs for select partners and counsel, and Kellogg leadership program for firm leaders.Develop and deliver training in areas of expertise where appropriate.Oversee the evaluation and promotion processes for all non-partner attorneys, including the work of the firm evaluation and promotion committees. Oversee performance management processes and matters related to the evaluation process.Collaborate practice group talent advisors to identify critical training and development needs and other resources. Collaborate with staff training and development team to leverage resources and create efficiencies.Develop and implement strategies to build and maintain a culture of feedback, mentoring and coaching. Provide direction and oversight for formal mentoring programs.Oversee integration processes and initiatives for newly hired attorneys including entry-level and lateral attorney hires. Collaborate with legal recruiting team and Talent Advisors to ensure best practices in integration.Oversee and manage individual coaching engagements and evaluate outcomes and value of coaching engagements generally.Identify preferred external providers for training and coaching services, oversee engagements with those providers, and maintain professional relationships and network with those providers.Develop and apply metrics to evaluate the efficacy of all attorney training and development programs and initiatives.Oversee CLE accreditation, compliance and tracking processes.Oversee and evaluate current technology tools and systems and potential technology solutions related to attorney training, development, evaluation, advancement and promotion, and performance management including, e.g., vi Global's evaluation and real-time feedback tools, Panopto and CE manager. Oversee subscriptions for PLI and WestLegalEd.Direct and facilitate the work of the firm's Attorney Development Committee.Oversee development of annual budget for attorney training and develop programs, initiatives and resources.Perform other duties as assigned.Be present at work during regularly scheduled working hours and as needed in the position, consistent with the Firm's attendance expectations.This position requires travel.
   
   SPECIFIC SKILLS REQUIRED
   Solid understanding of the intricacies of large organizations, preferably a large law firm; ability to work effectively in a highly complex matrixed organization and ability to build consensus across functions and departments. Strong customer service skills with extensive experience in training and development functions across a large geographically dispersed professional services organization. A proven track record of initiating and leading change. Experience with persuading leaders of the importance of a competency model and development of the same. Excellent written and verbal communications skills conveying confidence and credibility to multiple constituencies. Ability to analyze and summarize data, develop budgets and manage budgets effectively.
   
   EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE
   Ten or more years of experience in all aspects of attorney training and professional development, specifically including development of competencies and curriculum; delivery of training and related technology; feedback, mentoring and coaching; and evaluations and performance management. The ideal candidate would have either a JD or an MA or PhD in Organizational Development, or in a related discipline. Previous Human Resources experience desired.
   
   This position may be filled in Colorado or New York. These ranges are specific to Colorado and New York, depending on qualification and experience and may not be applicable to other locations. Colorado compensation range: $177,890 to $320,240 annually, New York compensation range: $206,420 to $371,59 annually. Perkins Coie may provide a discretionary bonus annually and information regarding benefits can be found here.

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5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right professional development 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 professional development director job on Zippia to find and recruit professional development director candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with professional development 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. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   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 professional development director

   Once you've selected the best professional development director candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing 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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