How to hire a senior advisor

How to hire a senior advisor, step by step

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

What does a senior advisor do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the senior advisor you need to hire. Certain senior advisor roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   A senior advisor's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, senior advisors 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 senior advisors and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Senior Advisor	Description	Hourly rate
   Senior Advisor		$41-77
   Business Development Internship	A business development intern is responsible for supporting the organization's goals and objectives in providing the best services to clients and ensuring a smooth flow of operations with maximum productivity and efficiency. Business development interns observe the operational processes of the department and perform duties under the supervision of a direct manager or tenured staff... Show more	$12-20
   Business Development Consultant	The role of business consultants is to provide an analysis of a company on its business practices and make recommendations for long-term goals. This role is also connected with various duties and responsibilities, including reviewing the company's financial statements, engaging in research on how to improve the company's offers, and developing new business models... Show more	$25-65

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Healthcare
   • Project Management
   • Risk Management
   • Customer Service
   • Infrastructure
   • PowerPoint
   • Global Health
   • Patients
   • Java
   • SQL
   • Human Resources
   • Process Improvement
   • CRM
   • Business Development

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage evaluations and assessments to enhance USAID's utilization of information for decision making in designing and managing programs.
   • Lead the team evaluating technologies for the next generation access API.
   • Develop and manage detailed and tailor raining packages for USMC personnel.
   • Manage CVS source code repository for multiple projects on Linux platform.
   • Task manage project migration from IBM AIX system to RedHat Linux platform.
   • Assist QA in managing changes to test environment and develop test plans, including test cases & scripts.

   More senior advisor duties

3. Make a budget

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

   Average senior advisor salary

   $119,558yearly

   $57.48 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level senior advisor salary

   $87,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 16, 2025

   Average senior advisor salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$139,022	$67
   2	Rhode Island	$130,450	$63
   3	Connecticut	$130,196	$63
   4	New York	$129,845	$62
   5	Maryland	$129,677	$62
   6	District of Columbia	$129,597	$62
   7	Washington	$127,934	$62
   8	Massachusetts	$123,979	$60
   9	Virginia	$123,227	$59
   10	Illinois	$120,162	$58
   11	Arizona	$120,115	$58
   12	North Carolina	$116,381	$56
   13	Pennsylvania	$115,302	$55
   14	Texas	$114,133	$55
   15	Georgia	$112,722	$54
   16	Ohio	$112,426	$54
   17	Missouri	$111,207	$53
   18	Indiana	$107,950	$52
   19	Tennessee	$107,561	$52
   20	Nebraska	$106,628	$51

   Average senior advisor salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Kirkland & Ellis	$164,191	$78.94	3
   2	Malaria No More	$160,635	$77.23
   3	Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation	$156,310	$75.15	3
   4	Enbridge	$155,590	$74.80	11
   5	King & Spalding	$153,538	$73.82
   6	Public Health Institute	$148,180	$71.24
   7	McKinsey & Company Inc	$146,221	$70.30	1
   8	Boehringer Ingelheim	$145,494	$69.95	4
   9	Mercy Corps	$144,047	$69.25
   10	BP America Inc	$142,638	$68.58
   11	Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors	$141,800	$68.17
   12	Eli Lilly and Company	$140,357	$67.48	20
   13	Jhpiego	$139,403	$67.02
   14	Palo Alto Networks	$139,339	$66.99
   15	AbbVie	$139,032	$66.84
   16	Us Medical Management	$138,876	$66.77
   17	GameStop	$138,190	$66.44	16
   18	Occidental Petroleum	$137,448	$66.08	2
   19	Boston Consulting Group	$136,455	$65.60	18
   20	ConocoPhillips	$136,257	$65.51

4. Writing a senior advisor job description

   A senior advisor 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. To help get you started, here's an example of a senior advisor job description:

   Senior advisor job description example

   The job profile for this position is Infrastructure Engineering Senior Advisor, which is a Senior Contributor Career Track Role.
   
   Responsible for the installation, implementation, performance, testing, and integrity of a large IBM MQ environment
   Responsible for MQ Support on z/OS Sysplex, running Queue Sharing Groups and on AIX and Linux Responsible for MQ Support for MQ Clusters, Uniform Clusters, and Multi-instance Queue Manager Work with Development, Operations, and other technical teams on new and existing MQ project implementations Maintain IBM MQ system options for optimum performance and availability. Assist with the development and maintenance of MQ standards and procedures. Work with internal and external clients in implementing MQ solutions and problem resolution. Working with operation teams to quickly resolve incidents and automate operational processes such as IPLs, Queue Manager recycles, and dump processing. Developing MQ platform design and architecture.
   
   Requirements:
   Ability to provide L3 escalation support. At least 8+ years of hands-on experience supporting MQ in large IBM z/OS / AIX/Linux environment. At least 8 years of experience with ZOS, AIX, RHEL Knowledge on AS400 and Windows is a plus Experience MQ SSL implementation Experience with MQ Client and MQ Resource Adapter Experience with MQ High Availability - Queue Sharing Group, Multi-Instance Queue Manger Experience with mainframe software installation, maintenance and support Experience with automation framework/language/engine like Ansible is a plus Experience with monitoring and dashboarding tools like IR360, Splunk, Tivoli, and other system management tools is a plus. Must have strong communication and documentation skills
   
   Education:
   Four-year college degree in Computer Science/Management or equivalent education
   
   Note:
   100% Remote Role 8am-5pm EST M-F

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

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

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit senior advisors, 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.

   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.

   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 advisor

   Once you've found the senior advisor candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   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 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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