How to hire a program lead

How to hire a program lead, step by step

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

What does a program lead do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

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

   Type of Program Lead	Description	Hourly rate
   Program Lead	Recreation workers design and lead recreational and leisure activities for groups in volunteer agencies or recreation facilities, such as playgrounds, parks, camps, aquatic centers, and senior centers. They may lead activities such as arts and crafts, dance, sports, adventure programs, music, and camping.	$28-82
   Activity Coordinator	An activity coordinator is someone who creates and plans activities, outings, and events in various settings. Typically, they oversee creating programs, staffing events, and supervising the implementation of activities... Show more	$13-21
   Activities Director	An activities director is responsible for planning engaging events for the participants, considering individual interests and the safety of procedures and resources. Activities directors guide the activity staff on assisting the participants, ensuring that they are comfortable with joining the activities... Show more	$12-35

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Project Management
   • HR
   • Work Ethic
   • CPR
   • Customer Satisfaction
   • Customer Service
   • Professional Development
   • Kids
   • Patients
   • Excellent Interpersonal
   • Enterprise Applications
   • PowerPoint
   • Math
   • Ongoing Maintenance

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Assess instructor effectiveness in achieving client ISP objectives.
   • Manage security and access policies base upon operational need-to-know and DOD regulations and requirements
   • Conduct daily clinical documentation audits, manage consumer financial accounts, provide oversight and approval for all treatment and discharge planning.
   • Up to date on CPR, trauma medical aid and restraints holds.
   • Know basics of first aid and CPR, have not receive certification yet.
   • Evaluate quarterly expenditure reports and project budgets, and release money to local NGOs.

   More program lead duties

3. Make a budget

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

   Average program lead salary

   $100,727yearly

   $48.43 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level program lead salary

   $59,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 13, 2025

   Average program lead salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	District of Columbia	$129,841	$62
   2	New York	$126,616	$61
   3	Massachusetts	$116,198	$56
   4	New Jersey	$105,998	$51
   5	Maryland	$103,572	$50
   6	North Carolina	$101,654	$49
   7	Michigan	$99,308	$48
   8	Pennsylvania	$98,544	$47
   9	Maine	$97,431	$47
   10	Illinois	$91,260	$44
   11	Virginia	$90,948	$44
   12	Ohio	$80,053	$38
   13	Minnesota	$77,585	$37
   14	Washington	$74,477	$36
   15	Indiana	$74,121	$36
   16	Missouri	$69,457	$33
   17	California	$68,970	$33
   18	Georgia	$68,890	$33
   19	Oregon	$68,799	$33
   20	Arizona	$68,347	$33

   Average program lead salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Netflix	$173,036	$83.19	6
   2	Meta	$166,916	$80.25	158
   3	The Walt Disney Company	$162,308	$78.03	35
   4	Google	$157,539	$75.74	176
   5	Lyft	$157,454	$75.70	5
   6	Airbnb	$157,074	$75.52	2
   7	Apple	$149,542	$71.90	127
   8	Databricks	$144,912	$69.67	4
   9	Hulu	$144,495	$69.47
   10	Silicon Valley Bank	$143,670	$69.07
   11	Fluke	$143,321	$68.90
   12	Control Risks	$142,666	$68.59
   13	Koch Industries	$142,120	$68.33
   14	Microsoft	$140,957	$67.77	32
   15	J.P. Morgan	$140,718	$67.65
   16	Twilio	$138,680	$66.67
   17	Citi	$138,522	$66.60	8
   18	Uber Technologies	$136,147	$65.46
   19	Stripe	$135,387	$65.09	14
   20	DTCC	$133,693	$64.28	8

4. Writing a program lead job description

   A job description for a program lead 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 program lead job description:

   Program lead job description example

   Minimum qualifications:
   
   + Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience.
   
   + 10 years of customer-facing experience in innovation, product management, or management consulting.
   
   + Experience delivering innovation in customer experiences.
   
   Preferred qualifications:
   
   + Experience managing products/technologies with Cloud infrastructure, SaaS, and/or etc.
   
   + Ability to work with cross-functional teams of all levels, including executive audiences.
   
   + Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
   
   The Google Cloud Platform team helps customers transform and build what's next for their business - all with technology built in the cloud. Our products are engineered for security, reliability and scalability, running the full stack from infrastructure to applications to devices and hardware. Our teams are dedicated to helping our customers - developers, small and large businesses, educational institutions and government agencies - see the benefits of our technology come to life. As part of an entrepreneurial team in this rapidly growing business, you will play a key role in understanding the needs of our customers and help shape the future of businesses of all sizes use technology to connect with customers, employees and partners.
   
   In this role, you will be leading the creation, scoping, shaping, and delivery of innovations that utilize Google Cloud. You will lead the team to create new products, businesses, and experiences. You will problem solve and direct customers towards the creation of innovative outcomes, using transformative technology.
   
   Google Cloud accelerates organizations' ability to digitally transform their business with the best infrastructure, platform, industry solutions and expertise. We deliver enterprise-grade solutions that leverage Google's cutting-edge technology - all on the cleanest cloud in the industry. Customers in more than 200 countries and territories turn to Google Cloud as their trusted partner to enable growth and solve their most critical business problems.
   
   + Leverage innovation expertise to help solve our customer's most complex business challenges using Google products and services.
   
   + Establish holistic innovation programs for Google Cloud's most strategic customers in close collaboration with the customer, account teams, and broader Google ecosystem.
   
   + Lead innovation perspective, content creation and design thinking workshops to identify, validate, and prioritize new ideas/use cases aligned with business outcomes.
   
   + Direct the creation of product plans, success metrics, customer journeys, business cases, prototypes, development sprints, product backlogs, and go-to-market strategies.
   
   + Drive leadership on innovation within Google Cloud while serving as a leader on how Google technology can shape transformation.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find program leads for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any program leads they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level program leads with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

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

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with program lead 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 program lead

   Once you have selected a candidate for the program lead 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.

   To prepare for the new program lead first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

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 program lead?