How to hire a senior information systems engineer

How to hire a senior information systems engineer, step by step

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

What does a senior information systems engineer do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The senior information systems engineer 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 information systems engineer's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, senior information systems engineers 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 presents senior information systems engineer salaries for various positions.

   Type of Senior Information Systems Engineer	Description	Hourly rate
   Senior Information Systems Engineer	Computer networks are critical parts of almost every organization. Network and computer systems administrators are responsible for the day-to-day operation of these networks.	$38-77
   Network Engineer	A network engineer is responsible for managing a network system, monitoring its performance, and upgrading its features to optimize performance and boost efficiency. Network engineers also create new systems, designing them based on clients' specifications and business needs... Show more	$29-53
   Computer Engineer	A computer engineer is someone who examines, designs, and manages computer hardware and software systems. He/She or she helps in solving issues or any concerns that may occur with the computer's hardware and software as well as assists in the innovation of computer technology... Show more	$33-63

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • NIST
   • Linux
   • DOD
   • Cloud
   • SAN
   • Commercial Off-The-Shelf
   • Unix
   • Technical Support
   • VMware
   • Windows Server
   • Tcp Ip
   • Accreditation Process
   • DNS
   • NSA

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Lead data centralization and migration project, as well as multiple OS upgrades.
   • Manage and develop PKI enable solutions that comply with security requirements, policies, and standards.
   • Manage load sharing facility on Unix servers, with 45 nodes and more than 2000 farm servers.
   • Work with account managers to plan, develop, deploy, and manage new and existing infrastructure to client sites.
   • Manage logistics of moving necessary equipment for test across country to newly designed/built NSA certify test facility.
   • Evaluate IC and DoD clouds and make recommendations for strategy to foster cloud federation.

   More senior information systems engineer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your senior information systems engineer job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A senior information systems engineer can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, senior information systems engineers' average salary in nebraska is 40% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level senior information systems engineers 50% less than senior-level senior information systems engineers.
   • Certifications. A senior information systems engineer with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a senior information systems engineer's salary.

   Average senior information systems engineer salary

   $113,965yearly

   $54.79 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level senior information systems engineer salary

   $80,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 16, 2025

   Average senior information systems engineer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$141,590	$68
   2	Arizona	$121,968	$59
   3	Washington	$121,005	$58
   4	Nevada	$117,891	$57
   5	Minnesota	$108,910	$52
   6	Pennsylvania	$107,071	$51
   7	New Jersey	$106,692	$51
   8	Maryland	$104,643	$50
   9	District of Columbia	$100,507	$48
   10	Illinois	$100,037	$48
   11	Rhode Island	$98,605	$47
   12	Texas	$98,434	$47
   13	Georgia	$96,895	$47
   14	New York	$94,376	$45
   15	Colorado	$92,473	$44
   16	Missouri	$90,450	$43
   17	Virginia	$84,267	$41
   18	Florida	$82,689	$40

   Average senior information systems engineer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati	$163,089	$78.41
   2	Sony Interactive Entertainment America	$152,877	$73.50
   3	VMware	$144,337	$69.39
   4	Darden Restaurants	$144,055	$69.26
   5	Intuitive Surgical	$138,908	$66.78	13
   6	Cadence Design Systems	$135,711	$65.25	27
   7	Infinera	$132,488	$63.70
   8	Mitchell	$130,581	$62.78
   9	Salesforce	$129,554	$62.29	31
   10	Medidata	$126,057	$60.60
   11	Randstad North America, Inc.	$125,222	$60.20	22
   12	The Home Depot	$120,957	$58.15	2
   13	Sony Electronics	$120,921	$58.14	7
   14	Mayo Clinic	$119,808	$57.60	32
   15	Jacobs Enterprises	$116,743	$56.13	134
   16	TENICA Global Solutions	$116,739	$56.12	86
   17	Delta Air Lines	$116,428	$55.98	11
   18	AT&T	$115,804	$55.67	89
   19	Aon	$113,890	$54.75	1
   20	United	$113,840	$54.73	11

4. Writing a senior information systems engineer job description

   A senior information systems engineer 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 information systems engineer job description:

   Senior information systems engineer job description example

   With over 450 locations nationwide serving customers in 50 states, Hajoca is the largest privately owned wholesale distributor in the plumbing industry. We balance the resources of a large company with the opportunities and agility of a small one. Fundamental to the heart of our family of businesses is a National Support Center where Centers of Excellence work to make our operations run seamlessly across our independent profit centers, each providing unparalleled service and integrity to residential, commercial, and industrial customers.
   
   Our Technology team is at the forefront of keeping our business on the front edge of the future of supply chain and distribution. We have a technology roadmap that will transform our business and we are growing our team to lead this effort.
   
   A Hajoca Senior Systems Engineer is responsible for the strategy, design, implementation, maintenance, and monitoring of all Hajoca IT infrastructure, particularly pertaining to servers, storage, operating systems, and their respective underlying networking, DR, and high availability configurations. This includes server-side and cloud technologies. The Senior Systems Engineer will work closely with business partners to develop and implement solutions that align with business goals. This is a hands-on, senior level technical role that requires excellent technical skills and proven attention to details, processes, and discipline within a production enterprise environment. This position reports directly to the Infrastructure Operations Manager.
   Key Responsibilities - Develop, implement, and maintain all areas of server and storage technology including all hardware maintenance, monitoring, troubleshooting, and support. - Manage and support the organization's Windows (Active Directory, Group Policy, etc.), Linux, and VMware vSphere infrastructure. Ensure that performance and reliability are maintained. - Administer and support the organization's cloud environments, including (but not limited to) Office 365 and Microsoft Azure. - Administer and support the organization's backup and recovery infrastructure - Be apprised of industry best practices and procedures to provide strategy and support for infrastructure. This includes but is not limited to critical updates, security patches, troubleshooting, high availability, and upgrades. - High level management of applications. Work with application owners to ensure applications are available and hosted utilizing industry best practices. Assist in troubleshooting after responsible parties have exhausted their resources. - Work closely with network, security, development, application, and support teams in implementation of infrastructure components supporting emerging technologies and applications. - Participate in the planning and implementation of DR scenarios and testing. - Assist in information gathering during acquisitions. Work closely with other teammates to plan and execute migration activities for networks/server/client-side technologies. - Assumes technical leadership role in problem resolution and root cause analysis. - Maintains effective external relationships with vendors, consultants, and service providers; leverages these relationships to ensure that the best fit solutions and resources are available to the company. - Serve as final escalation point for issues that cannot be resolved by other support tiers or other teams' support personnel. - Ensure a world class customer support experience for our Profit Centers, which includes courteous responses in a timely fashion for all requests. Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities - Advanced knowledge of all relevant Operating Systems (Windows, Linux, VMware ESXi, etc.) - Advanced knowledge of Windows Server, Active Directory, and related services - Advanced knowledge of virtualization infrastructure (e.g. VMware vSphere) - Experience administering Office 365, SharePoint Online, Microsoft Exchange (hybrid configuration), and Microsoft Azure - Experience in the design, implementation, and support of public cloud infrastructure (e.g. Azure, AWS, etc.) - Functional knowledge of core networking concepts including TCP/IP, DHCP, DNS, load balancing, VLAN segmentation, and network traffic capture and analysis - Ability to build and maintain a positive working relationship with vendors, customers, and co-workers - Ability to research, analyze data, and solve complex technical and process-related problems - Ability to prioritize work projects and multi-task - Excellent interpersonal skills and professional demeanor - Excellent customer service, verbal and written communication skills Education, Training, Experience Required - Bachelor's degree in Information Systems, or related field, or equivalent industry experience - 4+ years of relevant IT industry experience - Advanced technical knowledge of infrastructure products, practices, and procedures - Proven project management experience Preferred - Relevant industry recognized certifications - Experience in a senior level technical role - Experience mentoring peers
   
   Hajoca Corporation is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer (Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled).
   
   All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected category pursuant to federal, state or local laws and will not be discriminated against on the basis of any such categories/status. Hajoca values diversity, equity and inclusion and this policy applies to all employment practices at Hajoca. Hajoca is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities including, but not limited to, during the application process. Please let us know if you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability.
   
   We are a drug free workplace. Employment is contingent upon pre-employment drug screening, and successful completion of a background investigation subject to any federal, state and local laws.
   
   Other details
   Pay Type Salary Travel Required Yes Travel % 10 Telecommute % 90 Required Education Bachelor's Degree
   Apply Now

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5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find senior information systems engineers 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.

   To find senior information systems engineer candidates, you can consider the following options:

   • Post your job opening on Zippia or other job search websites.
   • Use niche websites that focus on engineering and technology jobs, such as dice, engineering.com, stack overflow, it job pro.
   • Post your job on free job posting websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit senior information systems engineers, 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 to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   Sometimes, it's not enough to interview senior information systems engineer candidates, so you can ask them to do a test project. If you are not a technical person and don't know what a test project should be, you can use these websites:

   • TestDome
   • CodeSignal
   • Testlify
   • BarRaiser
   • Coderbyte

   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 information systems engineer

   Once you have selected a candidate for the senior information systems engineer 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 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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