How to hire a senior project director

How to hire a senior project director, step by step

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

What does a senior project director do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The senior project director 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

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   Hiring the perfect senior project director 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 project director salaries for various roles:

   Type of Senior Project Director	Description	Hourly rate
   Senior Project Director		$32-70
   Consultant/Project Manager	Consultants/project managers act as planners, leaders, and advisors in business enterprises. These professionals facilitate meetings and establish positive relationships with vendors, management, and clients... Show more	$35-65
   Director, Special Projects	The primary responsibility of a director of special projects is to ensure the successful conclusion of construction-related projects. Special project directors lead, organize, and perform corporate projects outside their duties... Show more	$43-88

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Project Management
   • Business Operations
   • Product Development
   • Client Satisfaction
   • Strategic Direction
   • Business Development
   • ERP
   • Proposal Development
   • Client Relationships
   • Risk Management
   • Customer Satisfaction
   • Project Scope
   • C-Level
   • Life Cycle

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Lead the team through the technical and commercial evaluation of bids and selection of the LSTK EPC contractor.
   • Manage a wide variety of quantitative and qualitative consumer insights studies in the automotive, healthcare, and consumer products industries.
   • Manage content enter into Salesforce.
   • Manage multiple research databases, perform data entry and conduct cost-effectiveness statistical analysis using SPSS.
   • Manage qualitative projects from study design through analysis for consumer package goods, business-to-business, healthcare and pharmaceutical research projects.
   • Develop and maintain SharePoint InfoPath forms.

   More senior project director duties

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, senior project directors' average salary in nebraska is 51% less than in alaska.
   • Seniority. Entry-level senior project directors earn 54% less than senior-level senior project directors.
   • Certifications. A senior project director 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 project director's salary.

   Average senior project director salary

   $99,266yearly

   $47.72 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level senior project director salary

   $67,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 19, 2025

   Average senior project director salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Washington	$144,438	$69
   2	California	$143,634	$69
   3	Texas	$119,694	$58
   4	Maryland	$117,555	$57
   5	Virginia	$116,922	$56
   6	Oregon	$112,944	$54
   7	Florida	$112,166	$54
   8	Georgia	$109,986	$53
   9	New Jersey	$107,543	$52
   10	Pennsylvania	$101,158	$49
   11	Michigan	$100,356	$48
   12	Connecticut	$100,244	$48
   13	District of Columbia	$99,768	$48
   14	Wisconsin	$97,536	$47
   15	New York	$91,828	$44
   16	Minnesota	$90,873	$44
   17	Indiana	$90,196	$43
   18	Missouri	$89,874	$43
   19	Arkansas	$88,753	$43
   20	Colorado	$88,610	$43

   Average senior project director salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Amazon	$132,655	$63.78	159
   2	Buckeye Partners	$123,789	$59.51
   3	NTT Data International L.L.C.	$120,862	$58.11	23
   4	Moderna	$117,898	$56.68	2
   5	NJ Transit	$116,123	$55.83
   6	Jhpiego	$115,401	$55.48
   7	Larsen & Toubro Infotech Limited Inc	$111,557	$53.63
   8	Hines Corporation	$111,257	$53.49
   9	Exelixis	$110,214	$52.99	3
   10	Applied Materials	$110,070	$52.92	22
   11	Albemarle	$109,613	$52.70
   12	Academy For Educational Development	$109,322	$52.56
   13	Avalara	$106,949	$51.42
   14	Sanofi US	$106,444	$51.17	51
   15	Dun & Bradstreet	$106,164	$51.04
   16	Supernus Pharmaceuticals	$102,046	$49.06
   17	ASR Group	$101,034	$48.57
   18	Kinsley Power Systems	$100,642	$48.39	2
   19	Parexel International	$100,436	$48.29	56
   20	Brightstar	$100,251	$48.20	1

4. Writing a senior project director job description

   A job description for a senior project director role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a senior project director job description:

   Senior project director job description example

   The Project Leadership function at Parexel is a critical part of driving success for our clients and advancing clinical research projects. As a part of the Global Project Leadership organization, your work has a direct impact on the projects, teams, and clients you work with, while helping deliver projects to the benefit of the patients we serve.
   
   Parexel’s defined Biotech Division offers opportunities for seasoned Project Management professionals with a strong background running global clinical trials in a variety of therapeutics including Oncology, Rare Disease, Gene- Cell Therapy. This group focuses specifically on Biotech clients and providing all areas of support to accommodate their unique needs. This is a great opportunity for those in the industry who prefer the flexibility, creatively and problem-solving mindset to successfully support this type of clients.
   
   Parexel currently has Home Based Biotech Project Leadership opportunities at all levels to fit your experience and career goals.
   
   Individuals selected for these roles will provide leadership to project teams and manage the day to day operations while striving to achieve operational excellence through on time delivery within budget and to the highest quality with the goal to exceed client expectations
   
   Successful candidates possess an undergraduate degree in a clinical or health related field: advanced degree preferred, along with at minimum, 2+ years' experience leading Global Clinal Trials in Project Management within a CRO (preferred), Biotech or Pharma company. These positions also require experience in project scheduling, managing resources and budgets and coordinating team activities, as well as experience with the full clinical development process through regulatory submissions. Additional years of experience will be required for the more senior roles of Senior Project Leader, Associate Project Director and Project Director.
   
   To excel in this role, flexibility, problem solving capabilities and strategic vision are qualities that propel our Project Leadership team member’s growth. In addition, you need to be detailed-oriented, computer proficient and possess superior interpersonal and organizational skills.
   
   Employment is contingent on disclosure of your COVID-19 vaccination status and, if relevant, proof of vaccination.
   #LI-REMOTE

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

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

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with senior project director candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   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 project director

   Once you've found the senior project director candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   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 project director. 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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