How to hire a program administrator

How to hire a program administrator, step by step

Here's a step-by-step program administrator hiring guide:

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

What does a program administrator do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The program administrator 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

   Hiring the perfect program administrator also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   The following list breaks down different types of program administrators and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Program Administrator	Description	Hourly rate
   Program Administrator	Computer networks are critical parts of almost every organization. Network and computer systems administrators are responsible for the day-to-day operation of these networks.	$16-35
   Program Officer	A program officer is an essential part of a foundation or charitable organization. It is up to program officers to supervise program progress and proposals, seek grants, manage projects, and oversee budgets... Show more	$25-56
   Business Administrator	A business administrator is responsible for monitoring the efficiency of daily business functions, ensuring the timely submission of project deliverables, and supervising project management procedures. Business administrators coordinate with existing and potential clients for business offers and updates, negotiating contracts, and identifying business opportunities from the market trends to generate more revenues and increase profitability... Show more	$21-54

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Customer Service
   • Oversight
   • Patients
   • Project Management
   • PowerPoint
   • Client Facing
   • Data Entry
   • Program Management
   • Excellent Organizational
   • Human Resources
   • Excellent Interpersonal
   • Social Work
   • Mental Health
   • Program Policies

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage monetary, laptop and training supports for members living with HIV.
   • Manage overall document inventory and wiki updates via SharePoint.
   • Manage CRM and SharePoint systems for online recruiting technology company.
   • Manage co-op vendor and provide overall program direction for Toyota dealers and regional offices nationwide.
   • Develop and implement administrative procedures for new mental health management unit providing day services to elderly patients.
   • Invoice clients using QuickBooks software.

   More program administrator duties

3. Make a budget

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

   Average program administrator salary

   $50,715yearly

   $24.38 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level program administrator salary

   $34,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 14, 2025

   Average program administrator salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Hawaii	$120,546	$58
   2	California	$81,198	$39
   3	Oregon	$70,466	$34
   4	Washington	$65,937	$32
   5	New Jersey	$64,521	$31
   6	Arizona	$63,595	$31
   7	Alaska	$62,784	$30
   8	District of Columbia	$61,035	$29
   9	Massachusetts	$58,058	$28
   10	New York	$57,514	$28
   11	Tennessee	$54,236	$26
   12	Ohio	$52,139	$25
   13	Virginia	$51,759	$25
   14	Maryland	$51,581	$25
   15	Georgia	$50,938	$24
   16	Texas	$50,754	$24
   17	Oklahoma	$50,060	$24
   18	Pennsylvania	$49,732	$24
   19	Florida	$49,235	$24
   20	North Carolina	$48,740	$23

   Average program administrator salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Meta	$132,375	$63.64	146
   2	Amdocs	$94,201	$45.29
   3	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$88,134	$42.37	102
   4	City and County of Denver Government	$86,352	$41.52	3
   5	Amazon	$85,475	$41.09	322
   6	TALENT Software Services	$83,002	$39.90	1
   7	Santa Clara Valley Water District	$82,965	$39.89
   8	Maryland Department Of Business & Economic Development	$79,230	$38.09
   9	Cubic	$78,555	$37.77	3
   10	Northrop Grumman	$77,232	$37.13	170
   11	Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory	$74,277	$35.71	1
   12	City of Pasadena	$74,223	$35.68	1
   13	Loyola Marymount University	$73,597	$35.38	2
   14	Health Research, Inc.	$72,276	$34.75	1
   15	Keysight Technologies	$71,769	$34.50
   16	Blackbaud	$71,388	$34.32
   17	Curry College	$71,071	$34.17
   18	Elevance Health	$70,731	$34.01
   19	Solectron Corp	$69,689	$33.50	6
   20	Jacobs Engineering Group	$69,594	$33.46

4. Writing a program administrator job description

   A program administrator 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. Below, you can find an example of a program administrator job description:

   Program administrator job description example

   Work type: Full Time
   School/Department: Dept of Electrical Engineering Grade: Grade 11 Categories: Finance/Accounting, General Administration Job Type: Officer of Administration Bargaining Unit: Regular/Temporary: Regular End Date if Temporary: Hours Per Week: 35 Salary Range: Position Summary
   
   Reporting to the Principal Investigator (PI) and working closely with the GRAs of the Columbia high-Speed and Millimeter-wave IC (CoSMIC) Lab, the project coordinator provides high-level account expense management to the Principal Investigator and group researchers. The Administrator will oversee all procurement for the group. The Administrator will manage the PI and the group's calendar, organizing internal and external meetings. The Administrator produces and analyzes reports necessary for government grant proposals, including budgets, and conflict tables. The Administrator devises students on account issues, housing issues, and defense planning, as well as ensure research needs are met. Works independently and under minimal supervision, insuring accuracy of work product and timeliness of submission to meet critical deadlines. Additionally, the Project Administrator will have the ability to suggest and make changes that will streamline.
   
   Responsibilities
   (30%) Manages procurement operations for the group: Manages the procurement of supplies and minor equipment, both through PCard and tracks receipt of orders (packing slips) on shared group Wiki database.Manages the procurement and tracking of major capital assets and complex fabricated assets through requisitions in ARC Reconciles PCard transactions on a monthly basis in ARC. Manages procurement, vendors, and lab requisitions, liaising with vendors and lab members to source competitive quotes, complete sole source Justifications when necessary, and execute purchasing agreements. Works on procurement independently and under minimal supervision in a timely and accurate manner. (305) Provides extensive managerial support for the financial operations of the group: Analyzes and takes required relevant action regarding financial information for TBERS as well as subcontractor and vendor invoices using ARC Database. Creates custom reports based on data from Financial Database, FDS, and reconciles them will planned spending. Meets with senior leadership monthly to present financial reports and advise on planned spending. Serves as backup to group administrator on labor accounting (salary allocations, cost transfers, combo code creation, etc.) In PAC, as well as budget analyses and planning, using group's Excel shadow ledger. (20%) Provides support for government grant proposals and progress reports: Produces and analyzes justifications for new grant proposals and outlines budget parameters for collaborators at other institutions and senior managers and leaders. Manages confidential data and sensitive information, including proposals and progress reports as necessary. Evaluates detailed statements for progress reports and audits (Internal and external) as necessary. (10%) Group calendar and website management. Meeting organization, travel arrangement, arrangement for visitors. (10%) Performs other related projects and assignments. Minimum Qualifications
   Bachelor's degree 2-4 years related experience, excellent communication, interpersonal and organizational skills. Must be able to work independently with minimal supervision. Quantitative skills are essential for this position. Must be able to work interactively and collaboratively with faculty, research staff, University offices, and external granting agencies. Must be very in Microsoft Office, especially Excel, and other related software required. Must be flexible in terms of working hours, priorities, and deadlines. Proficiency in a corporate or enterprise database management systems such as PeopleSoft if desirable. Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran
   
   Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.
   
   Applications open: Aug 15 2022Eastern Daylight Time
   Applications close:

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find program administrators 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 program administrator job on Zippia to find and recruit program administrator candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with program administrator 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.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   If your interviews with program administrator applicants aren't enough to make a decision, you should also consider including a test project. These are often the best, most straightforward, and least bias-prone ways of determining who will likely succeed in the role. If you 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 program administrator

   Once you have selected a candidate for the program administrator 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 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 program administrator. 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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