How to hire a senior executive

How to hire a senior executive, step by step

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

What does a senior executive do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

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

   Here's a comparison of senior executive salaries for various roles:

   Type of Senior Executive	Description	Hourly rate
   Senior Executive	Secretaries and administrative assistants perform clerical and administrative duties. They organize files, prepare documents, schedule appointments, and support other staff.	$30-82
   Corporate Manager	A corporate manager is responsible for leading the corporate team in operational processes and ensuring that the company provides the highest satisfaction for the clients. Corporate managers identify business opportunities through data and statistical analysis and review of current market trends to generate more revenue resources and increase the company's profitability... Show more	$37-71
   Management Consultant	A management consultant's responsibility focuses on conducting an in-depth analysis of a company or business, including its target market. Through their findings, they can devise strategies that will help the business grow and attain a significant profit... Show more	$34-65

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Customer Service
   • Project Management
   • SR
   • Healthcare
   • Human Resources
   • Macro
   • Strong Analytical
   • Culinary
   • Business Development
   • Product Development
   • Direct Reports
   • Financial Statements
   • Executive Management
   • Professional Development

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Work with other team leads for integration of the software for deployment to QA area.
   • Manage releases to multiple prod and non-prod environments using HPSD tool base in ITIL standards.
   • Manage vendor selection, purchasing, budgeting, and asset management ensuring positive ROI on capital and expense dollars.
   • Manage teaching hospitals and non-profit community healthcare institutions pharmaceutical supply chain operations (end-to-end services).
   • Rationalize the portfolio through decommissioning and consolidation of legacy applications to accomplish annual cost savings of 900K.
   • Manage a team responsible for designing service-orient application architecture, standards and best practices guidelines, security and data access frameworks.

   More senior executive duties

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, senior executives' average salary in alaska is 57% less than in connecticut.
   • Seniority. Entry-level senior executives earn 63% less than senior-level senior executives.
   • Certifications. A senior executive 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 executive's salary.

   Average senior executive salary

   $104,507yearly

   $50.24 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level senior executive salary

   $63,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 15, 2025

   Average senior executive salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Connecticut	$132,915	$64
   2	New York	$127,238	$61
   3	California	$124,066	$60
   4	District of Columbia	$114,703	$55
   5	Washington	$113,614	$55
   6	North Carolina	$111,524	$54
   7	Rhode Island	$110,496	$53
   8	Georgia	$109,943	$53
   9	Nevada	$109,421	$53
   10	Massachusetts	$108,923	$52
   11	Pennsylvania	$106,642	$51
   12	Virginia	$104,147	$50
   13	Oregon	$103,317	$50
   14	Illinois	$102,634	$49
   15	Texas	$101,139	$49
   16	Florida	$99,582	$48
   17	Ohio	$98,114	$47
   18	Minnesota	$97,085	$47
   19	Michigan	$95,061	$46
   20	Arizona	$92,407	$44

   Average senior executive salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Intuit	$149,241	$71.75	11
   2	Amazon	$144,934	$69.68	122
   3	SAP	$144,145	$69.30	122
   4	Microsoft	$139,823	$67.22	31
   5	ServiceNow	$138,520	$66.60	152
   6	Mayo Clinic	$138,183	$66.43	8
   7	Unity Technologies	$136,786	$65.76
   8	American Media	$135,611	$65.20
   9	Nutanix	$134,223	$64.53
   10	Zymeworks	$132,677	$63.79
   11	Morgan Stanley	$130,232	$62.61	22
   12	Point B	$128,047	$61.56
   13	Pinterest	$127,037	$61.08
   14	Cerner	$126,206	$60.68
   15	Visa	$123,533	$59.39	12
   16	Elanco	$121,902	$58.61	1
   17	ANZ Australia	$119,993	$57.69
   18	Juniper Networks	$119,855	$57.62
   19	Splunk	$119,674	$57.54
   20	LUFKIN Industries	$119,348	$57.38

4. Writing a senior executive job description

   A senior executive 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 executive job description:

   Senior executive job description example

   CampusWorks is looking for Business Process Review and Optimization Consultants for Finance, Human Resources, Student Services, Financial Aid and Advancement areas to work with our teams in assisting our clients in fully leveraging their ERP/CRM systems feature and functionality (Colleague/Banner/Jenzabar/Salesforce/Slate/Etc.). The ideal candidate will have expertise in process and system reviews and implementations within higher education in one of the functional areas listed above.
   
   Location: This position may require the consultant to potentially be on client site which can be located anywhere in the United States and or Canada and also work remotely.
   Travel: Up to 50%
   Job Type: Full-Time
   Remote
   Key AccountabilitiesRequirements Demonstrated ability to lead organizational change and the full adoption of technology to enable organizational operations and efficiency5+ years' experience leading, managing or directing functional areas of an organization and/or with ERP/CRM implementation Solid leadership skills, including facilitating diverse groups, creating consensus building and preparing the organization and individuals for change and ongoing continuous improvement Business process review experience, including reviewing and recommending policy changes, staffing, and organizational alignment changes, and realignment of roles and responsibilities when appropriate Demonstration of superior communication skills and the ability to provide a consultative approach to end clients Demonstrated experience facilitating the diverse needs of functional areas, students, faculty, staff and leadership across higher education organizations.Demonstrated ability to map current and desired processes with detail showing the various process steps and who is performing each step.This includes mapping out very complex and at times dysfunctional processes that have arisen over time in an organization.
   Experience and EducationPreferred Minimum of 5 years related experience with demonstrated experience in the higher education environment.
   KSA's - Knowledge,Skills and Abilities Prior work as: Finance/HR/Student Services/Advancement Business Analyst working with ERP/CRM products
   What You Can Expect from Us
   At CampusWorks, we don't just help our clients succeed; we help our employees succeed. Competitive pay, robust benefits for full-time employees, and professional development opportunities are a few of the many reasons that CampusWorks is a great place to build your career. Our employees enjoy:
   
   Meaningful work. Our employees often tell us that their work gives them a sense of purpose because it makes a difference in the lives of students and educators.
   A CEO who cares. Chairman and CEO Liz Murphy has made it her mission to create a culture that appreciates and takes good care of its people. As a result, being an employee of CampusWorks feels like being a member of a big family.
   A virtual and onsite workplace. In an effort to reduce our environmental footprint, CampusWorks became a virtual company in 2012. As such, our team members are located across the U.S. and Canada, where they work from their home offices and at client sites.
   Flexibility. We value work-life balance because we know that happy employees create happy customers. T hat's why CampusWorks offers both full-time and part-time 1099 consulting career opportunities to fit life's unique demands.
   A company that gives back. Every year CampusWorks proudly supports numerous charitable fundraising initiatives that align with our vision to make higher education accessible to everyone.
   
   There are many things our employees love about working for CampusWorks, but don't take our word for it. Hear what they have to say. Read employee testimonials»
   
   About CampusWorks
   Founded in 1999, CampusWorks is dedicated to helping higher education overcome business and technological challenges that stand in the way of student success and completion. We work with community colleges, technical colleges, four-year public and private institutions, multi-college districts, and statewide higher education systems to tackle problems big and small. Our services are rooted in systems thinking and reach across the institution-from Student Services to Human Resources to Finance to Academics-to achieve transformative results.
   
   AAP/EEO Statement: CampusWorks, Inc. provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) and Affirmative Actions (AA) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, amnesty or status as a covered veteran in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

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

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit senior executives, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   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 executive

   Once you've decided on a perfect senior executive 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 important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   To prepare for the new senior executive 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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