How to hire a senior administrator

How to hire a senior administrator, step by step

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

What does a senior administrator do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a senior administrator, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A senior administrator's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, senior administrators 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 senior administrators.

   Type of Senior Administrator	Description	Hourly rate
   Senior 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.	$35-69
   Lead Database Administrator	A lead database administrator or DBA serves as a primary technologist in an organization or company. Lead database administrators are technical experts in terms of database and middleware technology design, tuning, configuration, troubleshooting, and building... Show more	$42-71
   Windows System Administrator	A Windows System Administrator maintains the systems and servers of a Windows operating system. They evaluate and modify the system's performance.	$28-50

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Customer Service
   • SR
   • Troubleshoot
   • Linux
   • Data Entry
   • HR
   • Java
   • Unix
   • PowerPoint
   • Dashboards
   • Windows Server
   • Medicare
   • Technical Support
   • Payroll

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Organize and manage all meeting logistics for various conferences and events across the U.S.
   • Lead and/or participate in adding departments to the DMS, client/server upgrades, DR testing, and end user testing.
   • Have configured the SharePoint environment and continuously managing both intranet and internet sites used by end users, consumers and stakeholders.
   • Manage calendar and arrange travel; coordinate meetings and events; create PowerPoint presentations; prepare correspondence and approve expense reports.
   • Provide remote user support via Citrix remote desktop and Cisco VPN.
   • Create, maintain and provide issue resolution of complex Linux and Unix scripts.

   More senior administrator duties

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, senior administrators' average salary in wyoming is 42% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level senior administrators 50% less than senior-level senior administrators.
   • Certifications. A senior administrator 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 senior administrator's salary.

   Average senior administrator salary

   $103,102yearly

   $49.57 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level senior administrator salary

   $73,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 17, 2025

   Average senior administrator salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$139,420	$67
   2	Washington	$120,000	$58
   3	Massachusetts	$111,199	$53
   4	Utah	$109,584	$53
   5	New York	$108,961	$52
   6	Virginia	$102,112	$49
   7	Nevada	$101,496	$49
   8	Pennsylvania	$99,872	$48
   9	Maryland	$99,755	$48
   10	Ohio	$99,606	$48
   11	North Carolina	$98,843	$48
   12	Texas	$98,434	$47
   13	Arizona	$97,604	$47
   14	District of Columbia	$94,597	$45
   15	Georgia	$93,931	$45
   16	Illinois	$92,224	$44
   17	Florida	$91,808	$44
   18	Indiana	$90,027	$43
   19	Oklahoma	$89,864	$43
   20	Nebraska	$86,415	$42

   Average senior administrator salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	The Walt Disney Company	$135,769	$65.27	3
   2	Better	$135,703	$65.24	4
   3	PayPal	$135,048	$64.93
   4	Nomura Securities	$133,331	$64.10
   5	Vista Equity Partners	$132,561	$63.73	1
   6	Intuitive Surgical	$132,159	$63.54
   7	Carbon	$131,914	$63.42
   8	Quidel	$129,995	$62.50
   9	Rivian	$129,402	$62.21	1
   10	Varian Medical Systems	$128,861	$61.95
   11	Atlassian	$128,641	$61.85
   12	Bloomberg	$127,894	$61.49	5
   13	University of Maryland Medical System	$126,378	$60.76	4
   14	Parsons	$125,043	$60.12	29
   15	Riverbed Holdings, Inc.	$123,864	$59.55	1
   16	Pacific Gas and Electric	$123,724	$59.48
   17	AstraZeneca	$122,897	$59.09
   18	Starbucks	$122,607	$58.95
   19	MFS Investment Management	$122,343	$58.82
   20	BD	$122,062	$58.68	1

4. Writing a senior administrator job description

   A senior 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 senior administrator job description:

   Senior administrator job description example

   As an experienced member of our Software Engineering Group, we look first and foremost for people who are passionate around solving business problems through innovation and engineering practices. You'll be required to apply your depth of knowledge and expertise to all aspects of the software development lifecycle, as well as partner continuously with your many stakeholders on a daily basis to stay focused on common goals. We embrace a culture of experimentation and constantly strive for improvement and learning. You'll work in a collaborative, trusting, thought-provoking environment-one that encourages diversity of thought and creative solutions that are in the best interests of our customers globally.
   
   The SAS Application Administrator Lead will be a hands-on technical administrator willing to support the businesses interface to the SAS environment.
   This role requires a wide variety of strengths and capabilities, including:
   BS/BA degree or equivalent experience Expertise in application, data, and infrastructure architecture disciplines Advanced knowledge of architecture and design across all systems Proficiency in multiple modern programming languages Knowledge of industry-wide technology trends and best practices Keen understanding of financial control and budget management Ability to work in large, collaborative teams to achieve organizational goals Passionate about building an innovative culture Provide operational leadership and support to SAS end user teams, in addition to business applications, onboarding, troubleshooting, and issue resolution Oversee business-critical tasks including change management, incident management, user management, security access and controls, work order management, application and business data recovery, and disaster recovery. Propose and integrate new automation functions for SAS operations. Administer SAS 9.4 and/or Viya, Enterprise Miner, SAS Studio. Work in an environment with clustered metadata servers, in complex architecture. Experience performing SAS installations, upgrades and applying hotfixes. Experience with SAS connectivity to multiple data environments (e.g. Teradata, Oracle, SQL, Hadoop, etc.)
   Additional Skills
   5+ years of experience as a SAS Systems Administrator with UNIX/Linux administration 5+ years of experience developing proactive processes that allows large-scale issues to be averted. 4+ years of experience using UNIX scripting commands such as java, bash, ksh and perl. 5+ years of experience within an AIX infrastructure with GPFS, S3 and NAS storage. SAS Visual Analytics within a distributed environment is a plus. Control-M and AutoSys schedulers is a plus Supporting end users from a teaching/guidance perspective. Kubernetes experience is a plus.
   Our Corporate Technology team relies on smart, driven people like you to develop applications and provide tech support for all our corporate functions across our network. Your efforts will touch lives all over the financial spectrum and across all our divisions: Global Finance, Corporate Treasury, Risk Management, Human Resources, Compliance, Legal, and within the Corporate Administrative Office. You'll be part of a team specifically built to meet and exceed our evolving technology needs, as well as our technology controls agenda.
   
   When you work at JPMorgan Chase& Co., you're not just working at a global financial institution. You're an integral part of one of the world's biggest tech companies. In 20 technology centers worldwide, our team of 50,000 technologists design, build and deploy everything from enterprise technology initiatives to big data and mobile solutions, as well as innovations in electronic payments, cybersecurity, machine learning, and cloud development. Our $10B+ annual investment in technology enables us to hire people to create innovative solutions that will are transforming the financial services industry.
   
   At JPMorgan Chase & Co. we value the unique skills of every employee, and we're building a technology organization that thrives on diversity. We encourage professional growth and career development and offer competitive benefits and compensation. If you're looking to build your career as part of a global technology team tackling big challenges that impact the lives of people and companies all around the world, we want to meet you.
   
   JPMorgan Chase & Co., one of the oldest financial institutions, offers innovative financial solutions to millions of consumers, small businesses and many of the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients under the J.P. Morgan and Chase brands. Our history spans over 200 years and today we are a leader in investment banking, consumer and small business banking, commercial banking, financial transaction processing and asset management.
   
   We recognize that our people are our strength and the diverse talents they bring to our global workforce are directly linked to our success. We are an equal opportunity employer and place a high value on diversity and inclusion at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of any protected attribute, including race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital or veteran status, pregnancy or disability, or any other basis protected under applicable law. In accordance with applicable law, we make reasonable accommodations for applicants' and employees' religious practices and beliefs, as well as any mental health or physical disability needs.
   
   The health and safety of our colleagues, candidates, clients and communities has been a top priority in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. JPMorgan Chase was awarded the "WELL Health-Safety Rating" for all of our 6,200 locations globally based on our operational policies, maintenance protocols, stakeholder engagement and emergency plans to address a post-COVID-19 environment.
   
   As a part of our commitment to health and safety, we have implemented various COVID-related health and safety requirements for our workforce. Employees are expected to follow the Firm's current COVID-19 or other infectious disease health and safety requirements, including local requirements. Requirements include sharing information including your vaccine card in the firm's vaccine record tool, and may include mask wearing. Requirements may change in the future with the evolving public health landscape. JPMorgan Chase will consider accommodation requests as required by applicable law.
   
   Equal Opportunity Employer/Disability/Veterans

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right senior administrator for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with senior administrators they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit senior administrators who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your senior administrator job on Zippia to find and recruit senior administrator candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as dice, engineering.com, stack overflow, it job pro.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit senior administrators, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   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.

   Sometimes, it's not enough to interview senior administrator candidates, so you can ask them to do a test project. If you are not a technical person and don't know what a test project should be, you can use these websites:

   • 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 senior administrator

   Once you have selected a candidate for the senior 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 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 senior 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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