How to hire a senior examiner

How to hire a senior examiner, step by step

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

What does a senior examiner do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your senior examiner job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a senior examiner for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   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 examiner 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 examiners.

   Type of Senior Examiner	Description	Hourly rate
   Senior Examiner	Financial examiners ensure compliance with laws governing financial institutions and transactions. They review balance sheets, evaluate the risk level of loans, and assess bank management.	$19-41
   Finance Compliance Examiner	A finance compliance examiner's main job is to check whether facilities follow and abide by appropriate procedures, security regulations, and enforceable company policies. They analyze the accuracy of financial statements, records, forms, and reports on file and meet with different management and auditors to conclude quarterly and annual financial statements... Show more	$22-49
   Field Examiner	Field examiners act as advisors and analysts at lending or banking institutions and insurance agencies who interact with the bank managers in various branches to oversee all banking operations and to create new strategies to reduce risk. The key responsibilities include ensuring compliance with the best practices involving collateral issues... Show more	$23-45

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Risk Management
   • Digital Forensics
   • Encase
   • Financial Institutions
   • Regulatory Agencies
   • Extraction
   • Risk Assessments
   • Examination Reports
   • SR
   • Audit Reports
   • Governors
   • Litigation
   • Credit Risk
   • Securities

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage country wide litigate and non-litigate claims for TPA construction program.
   • Check vitals, blood draws, EKG's, urine collects, and processing all the paper work.
   • Conduct EKG and mount for submission.
   • Provide scheduling, training, review and coordinate contact between bank and FDIC personnel.
   • Perform BSA/AML compliance examinations in assign institutions.
   • Make written recommendations to FDIC's senior executive management on least-cost litigation resolution strategies.

   More senior examiner duties

3. Make a budget

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

   Average senior examiner salary

   $59,797yearly

   $28.75 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level senior examiner salary

   $41,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 30, 2026

   Average senior examiner salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	New Jersey	$73,688	$35
   2	New York	$72,847	$35
   3	Rhode Island	$68,765	$33
   4	Utah	$68,488	$33
   5	Maryland	$68,229	$33
   6	Pennsylvania	$67,483	$32
   7	Texas	$66,833	$32
   8	District of Columbia	$65,795	$32
   9	California	$63,070	$30
   10	Virginia	$62,645	$30
   11	Iowa	$60,582	$29
   12	Colorado	$58,405	$28
   13	Massachusetts	$56,925	$27
   14	Nebraska	$56,432	$27
   15	Louisiana	$55,838	$27
   16	Illinois	$55,415	$27
   17	Michigan	$55,386	$27
   18	Wyoming	$53,959	$26
   19	Florida	$52,616	$25
   20	Arkansas	$52,207	$25

   Average senior examiner salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Federal Deposit Insurance	$116,311	$55.92
   2	Federal Reserve	$100,308	$48.23
   3	Federal Reserve Bank	$92,031	$44.25	8
   4	Accenture Federal Services LLC	$81,972	$39.41
   5	Mandiant	$81,957	$39.40
   6	Zions Ban	$80,709	$38.80
   7	FireEye	$79,524	$38.23
   8	Novetta	$78,398	$37.69
   9	UBS	$77,692	$37.35
   10	Wells Fargo	$75,371	$36.24
   11	Bank of America	$75,168	$36.14
   12	Keenan	$69,431	$33.38
   13	CBIZ	$65,088	$31.29
   14	SPX	$64,194	$30.86
   15	XOR Security	$61,968	$29.79
   16	AssuredPartners	$61,932	$29.77
   17	Raphael & Associates	$61,607	$29.62	2
   18	Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (finra)	$60,860	$29.26
   19	The Jonus Group	$60,144	$28.92	5
   20	TransPerfect	$55,502	$26.68

4. Writing a senior examiner job description

   A good senior examiner 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 examiner job description:

   Senior examiner job description example

   Zions Bancorporation, N.A. is one of the nation's premier financial services companies, consisting of a collection of great banks with combined total assets exceeding $91 billion. Zions operates banking divisions under local management teams and community identities in 11 states. This Credit Examiner is responsible for planning and conducting commercial examinations to evaluate credit-related activities across and within divisions of the bank.
   
   We are currently seeking a Sr. Credit Examiner to join our Commercial Examination team. This position will be in our Phoenix, Salt Lake City or Houston office.
   
   This position is eligible to work from home with a flexible 3/2 work schedule (subject to periodic review).
   We want to talk to you!
   
   * Lead and assist in examinations reviewing all types of commercial, energy, and commercial real estate loans for the purposes of identifying potential credit risk problems, minimizing loan losses, and ensuring conformity with corporate policy.
   * Identify credit and documentation risk, examine detailed financial data, and quickly identify evolving repayment risk patterns.
   * Assess the credit risk process, accuracy of risk grades as well as clarity, justification, and accuracy of lending decisions.
   * Communicate conclusions to management through oral and written examination reports with appropriate recommendations for corrective actions, when necessary.
   * Follow up to review that approved recommendations are instituted and complied with.
   * Tests for compliance with company policies, procedures, and banking regulations.
   * Review credit files for financial sustainability, collateral and documentation accuracy, and proper monitoring of borrower requirements.
   * Examine financial statements and spreads to review the ability to repay debt.
   * Perform monthly or quarterly assessments of losses, risk grade changes, loan field approvals, and risk grade overrides.
   * Minimal travel required, up to 10 days annually.
   * Other duties as assigned.
   
   Job Qualifications Knowledge:
   
   * An in-depth knowledge of credit risk, accounting, audit procedures, and legal and regulatory requirements.
   * Extensive knowledge of commercial and commercial real estate loan products, including: owner occupied real estate, investor real estate, construction, and commercial & industrial loans. E
   * xhibit strong communication skills verbally and through written documents.
   * Demonstrate ingenuity and creativity and problem-solving capabilities.
   * Ability to identify credit risk issues and provide accurate conclusions and recommendations.
   * Experience working with Microsoft Office, Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
   
   Qualifications:
   
   * Requires a bachelor's degree in Business, Finance or a related field. MBA, RMA CRC, or another accreditation is preferred.
   * 6-8 + years' experience performing credit analysis on lending products (commercial, commercial real estate, and energy) and conducting audit assessments or related experience is required.
   * Portfolio management experience with a large bank is also beneficial.
   * Bank regulator (commissioned) experience is preferred.
   * Combination of education and experience may meet requirements.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find senior examiners 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 examiners they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level senior examiners 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 examiner job on Zippia to find and attract quality senior examiner candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as efinancialcareers, financialjobsweb.com, careerbank, financial job bank.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting senior examiners 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 examiner

   Once you have selected a candidate for the senior examiner 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.

   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 senior examiner first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

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 examiner?