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How to hire a senior engineering team leader

Senior engineering team leader hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring senior engineering team leaders in the United States:

  • The median cost to hire a senior engineering team leader is $1,633.
  • It takes between 36 and 42 days to fill the average role in the US.
  • HR departments typically allocate 15% of their budget towards recruitment efforts.
  • Small businesses spend $1,105 per senior engineering team leader on training each year, while large companies spend $658.
  • It takes approximately 12 weeks for a new employee to reach full productivity levels.
  • There are a total of 3,865 senior engineering team leaders in the US, and there are currently 117,595 job openings in this field.
  • Bedford, NH, has the highest demand for senior engineering team leaders, with 3 job openings.

How to hire a senior engineering team leader, step by step

To hire a senior engineering team leader, you should clearly understand the skills and experience you are looking for in a candidate, and allocate a budget for the position. You will also need to post and promote the job opening to reach potential candidates. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to hire a senior engineering team leader:

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

    The senior engineering team leader 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?

    Hiring the perfect senior engineering team leader 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.

    This list shows salaries for various types of senior engineering team leaders.

    Type of Senior Engineering Team LeaderDescriptionHourly rate
    Senior Engineering Team LeaderArchitectural and engineering managers plan, direct, and coordinate activities in architectural and engineering companies.$42-78
    Research And Development ManagerA research and development manager is responsible for supervising project development procedures to support business operations and identify business opportunities that would pave the way for more revenue resources and profits. Research and development managers monitor the production plans from the conceptualization to the final outputs, inspecting inconsistencies and flaws in every phase and revising strategies as needed to achieve the required specifications and requirements... Show more$37-83
    Design ManagerA design manager is responsible for creating graphic and digital designs, following clients' specifications, and managing project deliverables efficiently. Design managers work closely with the marketing and public relations department, developing strategies to promote the brand to the target audience... Show more$33-72
  2. Create an ideal candidate profile

    Common skills:
    • Project Management
    • C++
    • Java
    • UI
    • SR
    • Architecture
    • Infrastructure
    • Database
    • Windows
    • Product Development
    • DOD
    • AWS
    • Technical Leadership
    • Customer Service
    Check all skills
    Responsibilities:
    • Design and develop automation framework using python and perforce API to automate daily integration work.
    • Provide senior management skills and technical leadership in support of spacecraft development programs for DoD and NASA customers.
    • Design FW to verify HW, HW debugging.
    • Migrate the servers distribute globally to linux VMs in stages.
    • Test of android software bugs, UI issues and network issues.
    • Supervise all QA activities on a web-base service to search Lexis-Nexis, Internet, and Intranet resources.
    More senior engineering team leader duties
  3. Make a budget

    Including a salary range in your senior engineering team leader job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A senior engineering team leader salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

    For example, the average salary for a senior engineering team leader in West Virginia may be lower than in California, and an entry-level senior engineering team leader usually earns less than a senior-level senior engineering team leader. Additionally, a senior engineering team leader with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

    Average senior engineering team leader salary

    $121,139yearly

    $58.24 hourly rate

    Entry-level senior engineering team leader salary
    $89,000 yearly salary
    Updated January 31, 2026

    Average senior engineering team leader salary by state

    RankStateAvg. salaryHourly rate
    1California$156,809$75
    2Nevada$150,959$73
    3Arizona$131,865$63
    4Washington$130,936$63
    5Illinois$121,342$58
    6Massachusetts$118,574$57
    7Maryland$114,718$55
    8Texas$112,462$54
    9Pennsylvania$111,647$54
    10District of Columbia$110,525$53
    11Wisconsin$110,448$53
    12Virginia$109,190$53
    13New York$108,206$52
    14Oklahoma$108,109$52
    15Ohio$105,103$51
    16Michigan$104,846$50
    17Georgia$104,205$50
    18Missouri$101,975$49
    19North Dakota$101,156$49
    20Colorado$99,340$48

    Average senior engineering team leader salary by company

    RankCompanyAverage salaryHourly rateJob openings
    1Atlassian$164,692$79.187
    2Nordstrom$146,673$70.526
    3BNP Paribas$141,837$68.19
    4Bank of the West$141,492$68.03
    5Motion Recruitment$140,236$67.422
    6Camden Kelly$135,446$65.12
    7NextGuest$133,294$64.08
    8Mahle Behr Manufacturing Management Inc$133,294$64.08
    9Sandia National Labs$132,030$63.482
    10WorldLink$129,770$62.39
    11Techtronic Industries TTI$127,044$61.0814
    12Caterpillar$126,505$60.82106
    13State Street$122,488$58.898
    14Cerner$120,954$58.15
    15Ent Credit Union$119,952$57.67
    16MathWorks$119,205$57.31
    17Hardesty & Hanover$117,462$56.47
    18York County School of Technology Practical Nursing$117,367$56.43
    19Moffatt & Nichol$116,122$55.8312
    20Johnson & Johnson$115,171$55.3711
  4. Writing a senior engineering team leader job description

    A senior engineering team leader 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 engineering team leader job description:

    Senior engineering team leader job description example

    • Typically requires a Bachelor's in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM) and 10 years of prior relevant experience OR an Advanced Degree in a related field and 7 years of prior relevant experience. In absence of a degree, 14 years of relevant experience is required.
    • A minimum of five (5) years of experience performing hands on structural and quartz lamp testing.
    • A minimum of five (5) years of experience with instrumentation to include accelerometers, force transducers, thermocouples, strain gages, load cells, or displacement transducers.
    • A minimum of five (5) years of experience with data acquisition system hardware and software such as Dewesoft, DEWETRON, Somat, or National Instrument's LabVIEW.
    • Expert or mastery level knowledge of work area, typically obtained through advanced education combined with experience.
    • U.S. Citizenship status is required as this position needs an active U.S. Security Clearance as of day one of employment.

    Qualifications We Value:

    • Masters or Ph.D. in the aforementioned degree field.
    • Previous experience leading teams.
    • Demonstrated strong problem-solving skills.
    • Strong communication skills including effective written, verbal, and listening.
    • High situational awareness and ability to effectively work multiple projects simultaneously.
    • Experience developing and evaluating requirements and able to evaluate test issues and define solutions.
    • Experience developing strategies in support of organizational efficiency improvements.
    • Working knowledge of test equipment troubleshooting processes.
    • Deep knowledge of project management.
    • Advanced knowledge of related disciplines within work area and ability to identify links and potential impact on projects, programs or systems.

    What We Offer :

    Whether you're just starting out on your career journey or are an experienced professional, we offer a robust total rewards package that goes above and beyond with compensation; healthcare, wellness, retirement and work/life benefits; career development and recognition programs. Some of the superior benefits we offer include parental (including paternal) leave, flexible work schedules, achievement awards, educational assistance and child/adult backup care.

    Additional Details:

    This position requires the eligibility to obtain a security clearance. Non-US citizens may not be eligible to obtain a security clearance. The Defense Industrial Security Clearance Office (DISCO), an agency of the Department of Defense, handles and adjudicates the security clearance process. More information about Security Clearances can be found on the US Department of State government website here:

    Raytheon Technologies is An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status, age or any other federally protected class.

  5. Post your job

    To find the right senior engineering team leader 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 engineering team leaders they would recommend.
    • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit senior engineering team leaders 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 engineering team leader job on Zippia to find and recruit senior engineering team leader candidates who meet your exact specifications.
    • Use field-specific websites.
    • Post a job on free websites.
  6. Interview candidates

    Recruiting senior engineering team leaders 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.

    Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to 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 engineering team leader

    Once you've decided on a perfect senior engineering team leader candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your 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.

    Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new senior engineering team leader. 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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How much does it cost to hire a senior engineering team leader?

Recruiting senior engineering team leaders involves both the one-time costs of hiring and the ongoing costs of adding a new employee to your team. Your spending during the hiring process will mostly be on things like promoting the job on job boards, reviewing and interviewing candidates, and onboarding the new hire. Ongoing costs will obviously involve the employee's salary, but also may include things like benefits.

You can expect to pay around $121,139 per year for a senior engineering team leader, as this is the median yearly salary nationally. This can vary depending on what state or city you're hiring in. If you're hiring for contract work or on a per-project basis, hourly rates for senior engineering team leaders in the US typically range between $42 and $78 an hour.

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