How to hire a senior project specialist

How to hire a senior project specialist, step by step

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

What does a senior project specialist do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The senior project specialist 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 project specialist's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, senior project specialists 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 project specialist salaries for various roles:

   Type of Senior Project Specialist	Description	Hourly rate
   Senior Project Specialist		$32-53
   Project Manager/Team Lead	Project Managers are responsible for managing and overseeing the operations of a project from inception to completion. Their duties include defining project scope, developing a project plan, creating work breakdown structures to distribute resources, and communicating responsibilities to all project team members and vendors... Show more	$39-66
   Project Manager & Leader	A project manager leader is responsible for monitoring the overall project management and staff operations, ensuring the efficiency and accuracy of project deliverables to meet the client's requirements, and achieving the highest customer satisfaction. Project managers/leaders implement strategic procedures to minimize costs while maximizing operational productivity... Show more	$35-66

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Project Management
   • PowerPoint
   • Status Reports
   • Program Management
   • Digital Marketing
   • Project Scope
   • Process Improvement
   • Microsoft Project
   • Customer Satisfaction
   • Issue Resolution
   • Sigma
   • Client Expectations
   • Logistics
   • Lean Six Sigma

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Lead team that develop an integrate database with a web-base user interface that allow repair crews in locating information and equipment.
   • Create, document and maintain work instructions prior to any new PMO process implementation.
   • Work on sharepoint as a data repository to upload the documents for different projects and sort it by phase.
   • Develop and maintain project SharePoint site.
   • Coordinate project team and/or customer meetings including logistics and materials require.
   • Skil in operation management, planning, logistics and resource optimization.

   More senior project specialist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your senior project specialist job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A senior project specialist 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 project specialist in Tennessee may be lower than in Idaho, and an entry-level senior project specialist usually earns less than a senior-level senior project specialist. Additionally, a senior project specialist 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 project specialist salary

   $87,213yearly

   $41.93 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level senior project specialist salary

   $67,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 20, 2026

   Average senior project specialist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$105,766	$51
   2	Arizona	$94,608	$45
   3	New Jersey	$93,858	$45
   4	Virginia	$93,820	$45
   5	Texas	$93,363	$45
   6	Connecticut	$93,035	$45
   7	Pennsylvania	$89,799	$43
   8	Georgia	$85,270	$41
   9	Florida	$84,349	$41
   10	New Hampshire	$83,650	$40
   11	North Carolina	$83,102	$40
   12	Massachusetts	$82,491	$40
   13	Maryland	$81,842	$39
   14	Illinois	$81,811	$39
   15	Iowa	$81,703	$39
   16	Arkansas	$81,579	$39
   17	Ohio	$79,788	$38
   18	New York	$79,641	$38
   19	Michigan	$79,019	$38
   20	Oklahoma	$77,835	$37

   Average senior project specialist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Amazon	$132,416	$63.66	249
   2	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$122,675	$58.98	130
   3	Sephora	$120,383	$57.88	1
   4	PGIM	$119,357	$57.38	1
   5	Mercy Corps	$119,156	$57.29	3
   6	BNY Mellon	$115,797	$55.67
   7	Norwegian Cruise Line	$114,338	$54.97
   8	Eclaro	$112,884	$54.27
   9	Equinix	$112,008	$53.85	4
   10	Louis Vuitton	$110,288	$53.02
   11	Walmart	$109,756	$52.77	55
   12	Forum Energy Technologies	$109,614	$52.70	2
   13	The Computer Merchant	$109,559	$52.67
   14	Henry Schein	$109,371	$52.58	3
   15	Cigna	$108,495	$52.16
   16	AT&T	$108,429	$52.13	17
   17	Insurance Incorporated	$107,024	$51.45
   18	Southern California Edison	$106,867	$51.38	17
   19	Nestlé	$105,840	$50.88	9
   20	Chick-fil-A	$104,730	$50.35	21

4. Writing a senior project specialist job description

   A senior project specialist 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 project specialist job description:

   Senior project specialist job description example

   Job Title
   Project Management Sr Professional I (Non Technical)
   
   Job Purpose
   The Implementations Project Specialist is responsible for the installation project management of clients onto Fiserv EFT platforms. This position will schedule and coordinate the key activities with internal departments, external vendors and clients to ensure the client installation process is completed on time and in accordance with client requirements.Job Functions and Responsibilities:• Act as primary project contact for clients and internal groups.• Provide continuous project feedback and status updates to key stakeholders.• Develop project plans and related task lists as necessary, update plans accordingly.• Work with client to determine parameter settings and key parameters into proprietary databases.• Manage multiple implementation tasks with other internal groups to ensure project completion in accordance with client requirements.• Develop and maintain professional client relationships and manage expectations with respect to live dates and other key timelines.• Maintain accurate and complete documentation including parameters, network paperwork, and documentation for all client interaction.• Provide occasional after hour support of client implementations.• Work with resource managers to create capacity plan and resource forecasting.• Work with project managers and project teams to ensure internal project audit points are managed and tracked.• Develop and maintain consistent standards for project status reporting for internal and external purposes.Basic Qualifications for Consideration:• Proficient computer skills including MS-Office Suite (Excel, Outlook and Word, Visio and reporting tools).• Strong organization skills and attention to detail.• Strong customer services skills with the ability to maintain professionalism under pressure.• Strong verbal and written communication skills with the ability to communicate within all levels of clients and internal staff.• Strong sense of accountability and follow through, effective problem solving skills as well as a commitment to positive solutions and the client experience.• Team player with the ability to work independently.• Ability to provide after hours support for client implementations.
   Preferred Skills, Experience, and Education:• Bachelors degree preferred or equivalent work experience required.• Three years work experience in an implementations capacity or environment.
   
   This role is not eligible to be performed in Colorado.
   
   Please note that salary ranges provided for this role on external job boards are salary estimates made by outside parties and may not be accurate.
   
   Thank you for considering employment with Fiserv. Please:
   
   Apply using your legal name Complete the step-by-step profile and attach your resume (either is acceptable, both are preferable).
   
   Fiserv is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer, and it is the Company's policy to make all employment decisions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, age, sex, national origin, veteran status, disability (as long as the individual is able to perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation), and any other characteristic protected by Law.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

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

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting senior project specialists 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.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   While interviews are great, you will only sometimes learn enough from a conversation with a senior project specialist applicant. In those cases, having candidates complete a test project can go a long way in figuring out who's the most likely to succeed in the role. If you aren't a technical person and don't know how to design an appropriate test, you can ask someone else on the team to create it or take a look at these websites to get a few ideas:

   • 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 project specialist

   Once you've selected the best senior project specialist candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the 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 project specialist. 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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