How to hire a project director

How to hire a project director, step by step

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

What does a project director do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

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

   Here's a comparison of project director salaries for various roles:

   Type of Project Director	Description	Hourly rate
   Project Director	A Project Director oversees, monitors, and manages an IT project. They lead a team of developers, web developers, graphic designers, network engineers, and other staff.	$33-77
   Director, Special Projects	The primary responsibility of a director of special projects is to ensure the successful conclusion of construction-related projects. Special project directors lead, organize, and perform corporate projects outside their duties... Show more	$43-88
   Communications Project Manager	A communications project manager is in charge of overseeing the development of internal and external communication materials. Their responsibilities typically revolve around performing research and analysis to identify client or company needs, developing effective communication strategies, coordinating different teams to ensure the quality and accuracy of projects, setting objectives and goals, and managing schedules and budgets... Show more	$28-58

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Project Management
   • Oversight
   • Customer Satisfaction
   • HR
   • Adaptive
   • ERP
   • Excellent Interpersonal
   • Strategic Thinking
   • Financial Management
   • Business Development
   • Construction Management
   • Excellent Organizational
   • Public Health
   • Project Scope

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Provide direction and guidance to Americas regional executives with all aspects of managing their regions in order to achieve business goals.
   • Manage commercial real estate, adaptive reuse development project.
   • Create, maintain, and manage software development project schedules according to PMI standards.
   • Manage customer service center issues spanning Americas, European, and Asian delivery centers.
   • Refine and develop strong/functional on-site OCI management teams to ensure project EPC objectives are achieve.
   • Manage offshore / onshore test teams through entire SDLC for major, minor and hotfix releases.

   More project director duties

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, project directors' average salary in missouri is 43% less than in nevada.
   • Seniority. Entry-level project directors earn 57% less than senior-level project directors.
   • Certifications. A project director 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 project director's salary.

   Average project director salary

   $107,396yearly

   $51.63 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level project director salary

   $70,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 29, 2025

   Average project director salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Nevada	$139,747	$67
   2	California	$138,574	$67
   3	Hawaii	$132,431	$64
   4	Arizona	$129,667	$62
   5	Texas	$125,641	$60
   6	Washington	$123,776	$60
   7	Connecticut	$117,924	$57
   8	Utah	$107,525	$52
   9	Oregon	$106,688	$51
   10	New York	$104,826	$50
   11	District of Columbia	$100,484	$48
   12	Rhode Island	$99,304	$48
   13	Iowa	$99,290	$48
   14	Maryland	$98,963	$48
   15	Ohio	$98,642	$47
   16	Virginia	$97,822	$47
   17	Indiana	$96,132	$46
   18	Louisiana	$95,457	$46
   19	Illinois	$94,926	$46
   20	Pennsylvania	$94,451	$45

   Average project director salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Fried Frank	$159,027	$76.46
   2	Pace University	$147,635	$70.98
   3	Citi	$147,190	$70.76	11
   4	Nike	$145,792	$70.09	1
   5	QSSI	$144,305	$69.38
   6	BP America Inc	$139,327	$66.98	2
   7	Über	$137,855	$66.28	63
   8	Open Society Foundations	$136,669	$65.71
   9	Sagitec Solutions LLC	$136,219	$65.49
   10	Community Health Systems	$134,623	$64.72	9
   11	The Aspen Institute	$133,484	$64.17
   12	Nokia	$132,517	$63.71	1
   13	2k	$131,513	$63.23
   14	Florida Power and Light	$130,906	$62.94	8
   15	Dun & Bradstreet	$130,483	$62.73
   16	Thales	$129,599	$62.31	2
   17	FHI 360	$128,086	$61.58
   18	Molina Healthcare	$128,047	$61.56	653
   19	Hexaware Technologies	$124,707	$59.96	4
   20	The Joint Commission	$124,533	$59.87	3

4. Writing a project director job description

   A job description for a project 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 project director job description:

   Project director job description example

   PROJECT DIRECTOR (GRANT FUNDED) FULL TIME - HIGWAY CONSTRUCTION CAREERS TRAINING PROGRAM (HCCTP)
   DAWSON TECHNICAL INSTITUTE
   KENNEDY-KING COLLEGE
   
   TheProject Director position with Kennedy-King College is located at Dawson Technical College. The Project Director manages aspects of the programming including the budget, day-to-day operations, students, and partnerships. The Highway Construction Careers Training Program (HCCTP) is a scholarship and stipend-based program that supports an average of 15 students per cohort.
   
   DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:
   Oversee and manage the grant-funded programs, serve as primary contact for grant related activities, public relations opportunities and event planning. Facilitate communications between collaborating institutions through monthly reports and meetings. Oversee, manage and revise annual budget, maintain expense records, make recommendations for budget revisions and prepare reports for submission. Supervise, train and evaluate day-to-day activities of support personnel and student employees. Prepares reports for appropriate officials, organizes/analyzes data, and makes recommendations on ways to support program initiatives. Develops metrics to assess and evaluate the programs' progress and formulate opportunities for growth Collaborate with staff to review, update, develop, and maintain program related items such as: training and public relations materials, surveys, evaluation forms, and questionnaires. Adheres to CCC Customer Service Excellence standards. Perform other duties as assigned.
   QUALIFICATIONS:
   Bachelor's degree, Master's preferred, supplemented by 2-4 years related experience with grants and project management, and previous supervisory experience. An equivalent combination of training and experience is required. Excellent verbal and written communications skills. Must be self-directed and innovative, ability to assess current operations in an effort to improve PBI's future goals. Ability to use computers, collect and disseminate data. Proficiency in Microsoft Office. Ability to work well as a team player.
   Chicago residency is required for all full-time employees within six months of hire.
   We are an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer.
   Thank you for your interest in City Colleges of Chicago.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find project directors 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 project directors they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level project directors 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 project director job on Zippia to find and recruit project director candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting project directors requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   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 project director

   Once you have selected a candidate for the project director 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 equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

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