How to hire a senior director, operations

How to hire a senior director, operations, step by step

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

What does a senior director, operations do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The senior director, operations 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

   Hiring the perfect senior director, operations also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   Here's a comparison of senior director, operations salaries for various roles:

   Type of Senior Director, Operations	Description	Hourly rate
   Senior Director, Operations	Top executives devise strategies and policies to ensure that an organization meets its goals. They plan, direct, and coordinate operational activities of companies and organizations.	$49-103
   Operations Manager, District	A district operations manager is a managerial professional who manages the daily operations of stores within the assigned district as well as provides support to managers in ensuring quality and budget performance. The district operations manager must work with the store management to create and implement action plans to address deficiencies discovered during a store audit... Show more	$29-51
   Operations Program Manager	The role of operations program managers is to help improve organizational efficiency, particularly in the areas of administrative, financial, and programmatic operations. Their key duties and responsibilities include overseeing the collection, analysis, and reporting of data, overseeing and leading teams to achieve business goals, and managing the development and execution of operational procedures... Show more	$37-75

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Customer Service
   • Oversight
   • Continuous Improvement
   • SR
   • Project Management
   • Process Improvement
   • Direct Reports
   • Logistics
   • Customer Satisfaction
   • KPIs
   • Business Operations
   • Financial Performance
   • Sigma
   • Human Resources

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Design and manage systems and processes to deliver consistent, scalable and compliant with SOX and other regulations.
   • Manage PMO with responsibility for performance management, resource and portfolio management.
   • Manage new product co-development program with a major medical device company that enable remote surgical oversight and support.
   • Finance and billing accountability across Medicaid, manage care commercial insurance, insurance verification, contract management, and benefits administration.
   • Introduce KPIs to raise performance in business development, supply chain, and CRM - aligning CRM with long-term strategy.
   • Steer RapidApp, a mid-size mobile SaaS platform, through the acquisition process.

   More senior director, operations duties

3. Make a budget

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

   Average senior director, operations salary

   $149,771yearly

   $72.01 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level senior director, operations salary

   $103,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 5, 2025

   Average senior director, operations salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Washington	$198,154	$95
   2	California	$189,830	$91
   3	Virginia	$174,561	$84
   4	District of Columbia	$159,796	$77
   5	Colorado	$156,113	$75
   6	Massachusetts	$155,997	$75
   7	New York	$152,504	$73
   8	Rhode Island	$150,221	$72
   9	North Carolina	$147,091	$71
   10	New Jersey	$145,962	$70
   11	Texas	$143,230	$69
   12	Wisconsin	$140,809	$68
   13	Oregon	$140,016	$67
   14	Illinois	$136,446	$66
   15	Delaware	$132,346	$64
   16	Ohio	$132,037	$63
   17	Michigan	$129,310	$62
   18	Arizona	$129,052	$62
   19	Maryland	$127,879	$61
   20	Georgia	$125,241	$60

   Average senior director, operations salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Genentech	$189,931	$91.31	17
   2	City of New York	$189,841	$91.27	3
   3	DoorDash	$188,462	$90.61	50
   4	Sally Beauty Holdings	$184,139	$88.53	5
   5	Course Hero	$183,986	$88.45
   6	D2iQ	$181,387	$87.21
   7	99 Cents Only Stores	$180,851	$86.95
   8	Greystar Real Estate Partners	$180,469	$86.76	7
   9	Integrated DNA Technologies	$179,333	$86.22
   10	Kaiser Permanente	$178,625	$85.88	56
   11	Capgemini	$177,523	$85.35	21
   12	Minted	$177,500	$85.34
   13	Walmart	$177,216	$85.20	630
   14	Anaplan	$176,911	$85.05	10
   15	RingCentral	$176,147	$84.69	3
   16	Corcept Therapeutics	$175,006	$84.14	3
   17	Fanatics	$174,556	$83.92	54
   18	Sutro Biopharma	$174,426	$83.86
   19	Amazon	$174,332	$83.81	947
   20	Children's Minnesota	$173,159	$83.25

4. Writing a senior director, operations job description

   A good senior director, operations job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a senior director, operations job description:

   Senior director, operations job description example

   Senior Director, Practice Operations
   We are looking for a growth-minded, analytical, and innovative leader to join our Practice Operations team to help us accelerate our growth and long term strategic impact.
   
   About the Role
   The Senior Director, Practice Operations is a highly visible and key leadership position that will lead the cross functional planning efforts and spearhead new business initiatives across our global product & practice organizations. In this key role, you will help guide and influence Rapid7's growth and product strategies, providing critical insights, ideas and initiatives to activate and accelerate growth while maximizing customer adoption & achievement with our technology platform. You will be leading our long-range practice planning and strategy efforts in partnership with our go-to-customer teams and Finance teams, acting as a business partner across the entire organization, as well as working closely with Product leadership, Engineering leadership Sales and our senior practice leaders. You must be adept at fostering relationships across teams, have exceptional communication skills, and ability to lead and influence in a fast-paced, matrix, and highly collaborative environment.
   
   We are looking for someone with passion, energy, intellect and drive that can bring fresh ideas, an analytical mind, and a dedication to growing a dynamic, evolving business. You could be the leader that can help this team achieve massive impact!
   
   In this role, you will:
   Build, develop and lead the Practice Operations team.Lead quantitative and qualitative evaluation of growth opportunities across the products & practice organization, both new and ongoing.Build complex business and financial models, incorporating company and financial data, to help the leadership team make investments and growth decisions, while unlocking business insights and initiatives to improve the overall health of the business.Drive annual and long-range Product Planning and the Rapid7 Operational Plan, including assessment of product & practice performance, growth opportunities, customer and market potential, and investment decisions.Partner with the Practice & Product leadership teams, the Rapid7 Executive team and different stakeholders in the organization to plan and execute on resource and investment allocation across initiatives.Identify and assess critical strategic needs, and partner to drive actions with business as well as proactively monitor impact and performance.Proactively communicate drivers and targets, and drive cadence to understand and evaluate requests and expected outcomes to accelerate growth while improving investment leverage within the organization.Partner with product & practice teams to develop build, buy, partner strategies as well as supporting key technology partnerships with cloud service providers.Assist with M&A activity, partnership strategies and direct/indirect business development initiatives.
   
   The skills you'll bring include:
   10+ years of experience in business operations, corporate strategic planning and/or financial operations. Management consulting, growth/private equity and/or venture capital experience strongly preferred.Undergraduate in Business, Finance, or related field required; MBA strongly preferred.Demonstrated success in business plan development, operational planning, analytics, and strategy development, preferably in a fast-growing technology company. Knowledge and understanding of technology businesses, experience with product driven growth engines in a multi-product portfolio company. Resilient & resourceful individual that enjoys leading teams to solve complex problems. Quick learner who is naturally curious and thrives in the face of the unexpected, ambiguity, and change. Impact-oriented with a demonstrated record of driving cross-functional initiatives that impact top-line growth and leverage. Superior quantitative and qualitative analytical skills. Demonstrated ability to build complex analytical models while simplifying messaging.Proven management experience developing and growing high performing individuals Demonstrated ability to work cross-functionally to drive impact through influence and collaboration across multiple functions and levels of an organization. Willingness to roll up one's sleeves and “pick up a shovel.”Comfortable working in a fast-paced team with changing priorities.Strong interpersonal and communication skills, including establishing credibility, trust, and building influential relationships with partners in the business.Strong work ethic and customer service mentality.
   
   We know that the best ideas and solutions come from multi-dimensional teams. Teams reflecting a variety of backgrounds and professional experiences. If you are excited about this role and feel your experience can make an impact, please don't be shy - apply today.
   
   All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

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

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting senior directors, operations 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.

   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 director, operations

   Once you have selected a candidate for the senior director, operations 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.

   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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