How to hire a senior clinician

How to hire a senior clinician, step by step

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

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1. Identify your hiring needs

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

   Type of Senior Clinician	Description	Hourly rate
   Senior Clinician	Mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists help people manage and overcome mental and emotional disorders and problems with family and other relationships. They listen to clients and ask questions to help the clients understand their problems and develop strategies to improve their lives.	$21-35
   Child And Family Therapist	Child and family therapists are therapists who specialize in treating traumatized children due to neglect or abuse. They always formulate various techniques and activities to treat their patients and help improve the affected family's quality of living while maintaining confidentiality and following HIPAA laws and agency policies and procedures... Show more	$17-38
   Family Therapist	A Family Therapist works with couples and families to help ameliorate marital and family issues. They can work in hospitals, treatment programs, government agencies, health organizations, and private practices.	$17-32

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Social Work
   • Patients
   • Substance Abuse
   • Group Therapy Sessions
   • Clinical Services
   • Mental Health
   • Individual Therapy
   • Clinical Supervision
   • Professional Development
   • Rehabilitation
   • Crisis Intervention
   • Discharge Planning
   • Clinical Assessments
   • Mental Illness

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Utilize strengths base approach as well as DBT and CBT techniques.
   • Develop rehabilitation programs for assign offenders or inmates, establishing rules of conduct, goals, and objectives.
   • Assist in providing parenting skills training, individual skill building, individual and family rehabilitation, and case management.
   • Facilitate DBT groups and offer training and support to clinicians around understanding the concepts and principles of this treatment approach.
   • Assess patients assign and evaluate their needs to assure for a successful customize recovery.
   • Provide education to patients and families, health professionals and lay community through professional presentations.

   More senior clinician duties

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, senior clinicians' average salary in south carolina is 40% less than in pennsylvania.
   • Seniority. Entry-level senior clinicians earn 41% less than senior-level senior clinicians.
   • Certifications. A senior clinician 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 senior clinician's salary.

   Average senior clinician salary

   $57,908yearly

   $27.84 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level senior clinician salary

   $44,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 19, 2025

   Average senior clinician salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Pennsylvania	$70,371	$34
   2	Texas	$67,460	$32
   3	Alaska	$64,737	$31
   4	New Jersey	$64,047	$31
   5	California	$61,464	$30
   6	Rhode Island	$60,959	$29
   7	New York	$60,658	$29
   8	Maryland	$58,718	$28
   9	Georgia	$56,564	$27
   10	Colorado	$56,294	$27
   11	Connecticut	$54,614	$26
   12	Massachusetts	$54,193	$26
   13	Iowa	$53,927	$26
   14	Indiana	$53,290	$26

   Average senior clinician salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Wellpath	$70,848	$34.06	12
   2	Southcentral Foundation	$63,732	$30.64	9
   3	Deer Oaks Behavioral Health	$63,088	$30.33	83
   4	Univ Of Colorado-Colorado Spgs	$61,957	$29.79
   5	RWJBarnabas Health	$60,934	$29.30	6
   6	PHMC	$60,868	$29.26	4
   7	Emerson Hospital	$59,387	$28.55	2
   8	Vitaver and Associates	$59,113	$28.42
   9	Community Health Network	$58,701	$28.22	33
   10	Minnesota State Fair	$58,250	$28.00	20
   11	Vinfen	$58,088	$27.93	22
   12	Ventura County Community Foundation	$58,059	$27.91
   13	Community Renewal Team Inc	$57,866	$27.82	2
   14	Res-Care Premier	$57,662	$27.72	60
   15	NIH Research & Consulting	$57,655	$27.72
   16	University of Iowa Center for Advancement	$57,575	$27.68	28
   17	UPMC	$57,519	$27.65	86
   18	VIP Community Services	$57,459	$27.62	4
   19	Spectrum Center Schools	$57,064	$27.43
   20	County Of Ventura	$56,754	$27.29

4. Writing a senior clinician job description

   A senior clinician 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 clinician job description:

   Senior clinician job description example

   Under direction, the 2932 Senior Behavioral Health Clinician performs essential duties that include, but are not limited to the following:
   
   Supervises one or more Class 2930 Behavioral Health Clinician/2931 Marriage, Family and Child Counselor and/or unlicensed support personnel by preparing and maintaining work schedules, performance appraisals; coordinating activities of a multidisciplinary team; and monitor productivity of staff;
   
   Supervises the psychosocial assessment of client/patients for behavioral health services in behavioral health and/or primary care settings; monitors process to ensure clients/patients are referred to appropriate care provider; reviews forms and procedures related to the intake process; and prepares written care summaries for the purpose of coordinating care;
   
   Performs clinical evaluations in the more difficult individual cases by participating in the interviewing, diagnosing and disposition of these cases, including referring to other staff members or disciplines for further treatment;
   
   Performs regular and effective treatment in the more difficult and complex cases by applying intensive casework and psychotherapy techniques for the benefit of
   
   client/patient; observes client/patient's condition and reactions; determines degree of danger presented to patient and others;
   
   May conduct group psychotherapy and case management on a scheduled basis in connection with administering direct treatment to patients; observes evaluates and analyzes changes; determines treatment goals at successive intervals during treatment process;
   
   Charts and assures staff's charting of medical records according to departmental and regulatory standards, both written and electronic;
   
   Organizes community health education outreach and consultation involving the development of workshops and seminars, training and coordination of programs and services; acts as consultant to other agencies and participates in negotiation and development of outreach services; and
   May perform Quality Improvement activities such as chart audit and compliance review.
   
   The 2932 Senior Behavioral Health Clinician performs related duties as required.
   
   Nature of work requires carrying out, interpreting and enforcing existing legal provisions, policies, methods and procedures in connection with psychiatric welfare work; achieving considerable economies and/or preventing considerable losses through enforcing careful and judicious interpretations of various legal provisions, methods and procedures in approving and recommending assistance; making regular contacts with employees, supervisors, applicants, recipients, their families, other departments, community organizations and others concerned; gathering and checking detailed psychiatric, financial, personal and confidential information.
   
   Nature of duties involves normal physical effort and manual dexterity with occasional accident and injury hazards and exposure to disagreeable element when dealing with mentally ill or emotionally disturbed persons.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find senior clinicians 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 senior clinician job on Zippia to find and recruit senior clinician 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 clinicians, 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.

   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 clinician

   Once you have selected a candidate for the senior clinician 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 good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new senior clinician. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are 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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