How to hire a senior sourcing specialist

How to hire a senior sourcing specialist, step by step

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

What does a senior sourcing specialist do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the senior sourcing specialist you need to hire. Certain senior sourcing specialist roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   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 sourcing specialist 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.

   The following list breaks down different types of senior sourcing specialists and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Senior Sourcing Specialist	Description	Hourly rate
   Senior Sourcing Specialist	Buyers and purchasing agents buy products and services for organizations to use or resell. They evaluate suppliers, negotiate contracts, and review the quality of products.	$28-49
   Landman	Landmen are referred to as the public-facing side of a gas, mineral, and oil exploration and production team. They are professionals who interact and negotiate directly with landowners for the acquisition of gas and oil drilling leases... Show more	$25-61
   Buyer	A buyer's duties include product sourcing and comparing resources for the best product range that would suit the specific needs of the business. Buyers must have excellent communication and negotiation skills to evaluate items that most likely benefit the customer and improve the sales of daily operations with cost-efficient products... Show more	$17-36

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Linkedin
   • HR
   • Applicant Tracking Systems
   • Strategic Sourcing
   • CRM
   • Healthcare
   • Cloud
   • Supplier Performance
   • Supplier Selection
   • Supplier Relationships
   • Supplier Management
   • Market Research
   • Cost Reduction
   • Facebook

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage PPV activity and respond with corrective action when need.
   • Lead an RFP which include 18 suppliers and develop a model to qualify the best.
   • Manage and track candidates according to OFCCP guidelines for internal/external candidates which result in compliance with the program.
   • Develop cross functional sourcing teams to accomplish vendor selection for increase competitiveness through the RFP, RFI and RFQ processes.
   • Generate candidate pipeline by sourcing passive candidates using company database, LinkedIn, marketing campaign leads, personal/professional networking leads/referrals.
   • Work with HUMINT, CI, SIGINT, and OSINT (open source intelligence).

   More senior sourcing specialist duties

3. Make a budget

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

   $79,213yearly

   $38.08 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level senior sourcing specialist salary

   $60,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 20, 2025

   Average senior sourcing specialist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$103,524	$50
   2	New York	$89,967	$43
   3	Washington	$89,566	$43
   4	New Jersey	$88,997	$43
   5	Massachusetts	$88,282	$42
   6	Texas	$86,458	$42
   7	Connecticut	$85,234	$41
   8	Oregon	$84,529	$41
   9	Pennsylvania	$83,398	$40
   10	Illinois	$83,164	$40
   11	Missouri	$82,893	$40
   12	North Carolina	$82,507	$40
   13	Maryland	$81,399	$39
   14	Virginia	$79,731	$38
   15	Wisconsin	$79,231	$38
   16	Michigan	$79,004	$38
   17	Georgia	$75,895	$36
   18	Tennessee	$73,971	$36
   19	Ohio	$73,710	$35
   20	Minnesota	$72,341	$35

   Average senior sourcing specialist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	PayPal	$128,189	$61.63	1
   2	Square	$115,899	$55.72
   3	Uber Technologies	$110,228	$52.99
   4	Western Digital	$106,588	$51.24	45
   5	The Walt Disney Company	$106,444	$51.17	4
   6	Applied Materials	$106,084	$51.00
   7	Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc.	$105,795	$50.86
   8	Edwards Lifesciences	$102,355	$49.21
   9	Help Scout	$101,293	$48.70
   10	BNY Mellon	$99,928	$48.04
   11	AIG	$99,850	$48.00	2
   12	Gilead Sciences	$98,572	$47.39	3
   13	Amazon	$96,092	$46.20	26
   14	Best Buy	$96,024	$46.17
   15	Activision Blizzard	$95,847	$46.08
   16	Harley-Davidson	$94,622	$45.49
   17	The TJX Companies	$93,965	$45.18
   18	Qualcomm	$93,439	$44.92	1
   19	Exterran Corporation HQ	$93,029	$44.73
   20	Charles Schwab	$92,303	$44.38

4. Writing a senior sourcing specialist job description

   A senior sourcing 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 sourcing specialist job description:

   Senior sourcing specialist job description example

   At Pentair, you will work along-side passionate problem-solvers who are committed to the future and are focused on creating a healthier world for all. With approximately 11,250 global employees serving customers in more than 150 countries, we work to help improve lives and the environment around the world. We bring water to life!
   
   Pentair recently acquired Manitowoc Ice, a leading provider of commercial ice makers, allowing us to enhance and deliver our total water management offerings to an expanded network of channel partners and customers, further establishing Pentair as a leader in a vast and growing industry.
   
   As Senior Sourcing Specialist, you will coordinate and manage the sourcing and supplier processes within a plant or local product line. This is done through managing sourcing activities for indirect and direct, brand-specific suppliers, using standard sourcing processes and systems. This is a remote opportunity with 25% travel.
   You will:
   Assists in the attainment of GMO direct and indirect savings projects as well as Sourcing actions and NPI gate requirements based on the global NPI process, ensuring overall prices meet or exceed plant savings goals. Contributes to the development and execution of sourcing strategies, monitoring market movements, negotiating contracts and agreements, working with a broad base of business groups, and resolving issues with suppliers.Manages the supplier readiness matrix for plant NPI projects and ensures timely task completion, with Supply Chain Manager support as needed.Position works closely with the Supply Chain Manager supporting more strategic, complex, or specialized categories.Works in parallel with Materials/Supply Chain/Operations on 1) Resolving short- and medium-term supply disruptions, by coordinating the problem identification and initial assessment; 2) Coordinating the internal response to each supply disruption and establishing the cross-functional connections and teams needed to fully define each problem and outline a path to resolution, mitigation, and/or interim supply; 3) Developing processes and tools which enhance and accelerate the responses to supply disruptions.
   
   Key Qualifications:
   4+ years of progressive experience in Supplier ManagementBusiness experience with a proven track record preferably in high volume, repetitive, manufacturing sourcing Prior purchasing experience and industry knowledge, preferably in FSG major commodity category areas.Good quantitative, analytical, and financial skills.Ability to effectively negotiate and influence.
   
   #LI-Remote
   Diversity and Inclusion:
   With our expanding global presence, cross-cultural insight and competence are essential for our ongoing success. We believe that a diverse workforce contributes different perspectives and creative ideas that enable us to continue to improve every day. Race, gender, ethnicity, country of origin, age, personal style, sexual orientation, physical ability, religion, life experiences and many more factors contribute to this diversity.
   We take ongoing action to improve the diversity of our workforce by:
   Ensuring leadership involvement and ownership Attracting and retaining diverse talent at all levels Fostering a globally aware, inclusive culture Ensuring our practices are fair and non-discriminatory

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find senior sourcing specialists 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.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your senior sourcing specialist job on Zippia to find and recruit senior sourcing specialist candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit senior sourcing specialists, 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 sourcing specialist

   Once you've selected the best senior sourcing 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 important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new senior sourcing specialist. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are 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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