How to hire a state director

How to hire a state director, step by step

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

What does a state director do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the state director you need to hire. Certain state director 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 state 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.

   This list shows salaries for various types of state directors.

   Type of State Director	Description	Hourly rate
   State Director	Top executives devise strategies and policies to ensure that an organization meets its goals. They plan, direct, and coordinate operational activities of companies and organizations.	$28-80
   Owner	Owners, in the most basic sense, own the business, company, or organization. They are responsible for building the business... Show more	$28-64
   Chief Of Staff	A chief of staff primarily supports an executive through performing various administrative tasks. Most of their responsibilities revolve around collaborating with other executive support personnel to devise strategies that will help the company, responding to inquiries and correspondence, approving communications letters, managing schedules, setting appointments, and serving as an advisor to the executive... Show more	$40-96

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Oversight
   • Public Policy
   • Government Officials
   • Phone Calls
   • Government Agencies
   • Professional Development
   • Policy Development
   • Medicaid
   • State Agencies
   • Business Development
   • Community Outreach
   • Government Affairs
   • Coalition Building
   • Medicare

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Work inform statewide staff tour in summer of 2014 and lead to many positive news articles and editorials.
   • Recruit, train, and manage state-wide advocacy volunteers, mobilizing them to promote AARP's social impact agenda.
   • Establish and develop relationships with ERP and consulting vendors with the goal of maximizing comparative advantage and cost efficient solution development.
   • Modify billing rates and win Medicare approval.
   • Help campus campaign coordinators gain members on campus as well as host events and monthly meetings.
   • Supervise faculty, counselors, peer mentors, administrative assistant, tutors, and program coordinators.

   More state director duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your state director job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A state director 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 state director in South Dakota may be lower than in New Jersey, and an entry-level state director usually earns less than a senior-level state director. Additionally, a state director 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 state director salary

   $100,102yearly

   $48.13 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level state director salary

   $59,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 20, 2025

   Average state director salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	New York	$150,660	$72
   2	California	$133,641	$64
   3	Washington	$128,944	$62
   4	District of Columbia	$126,104	$61
   5	Maryland	$125,827	$60
   6	Nevada	$124,302	$60
   7	Massachusetts	$106,731	$51
   8	Arizona	$94,791	$46
   9	Oregon	$93,685	$45
   10	Colorado	$93,630	$45
   11	Texas	$92,286	$44
   12	Michigan	$89,788	$43
   13	North Carolina	$88,154	$42
   14	Florida	$86,816	$42
   15	Georgia	$85,976	$41
   16	Alabama	$84,524	$41
   17	Illinois	$83,055	$40
   18	Ohio	$81,364	$39
   19	Wisconsin	$79,292	$38
   20	Minnesota	$77,814	$37

   Average state director salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Pwc	$165,343	$79.49	178
   2	MasterBrand Cabinets	$154,449	$74.25
   3	Stand Together	$153,447	$73.77	3
   4	AmeriHealth Caritas	$147,733	$71.03
   5	HashiCorp	$146,860	$70.61
   6	Halliburton	$146,735	$70.55
   7	Wells Fargo	$140,793	$67.69	22
   8	Grant Thornton	$139,957	$67.29	64
   9	Prudential Bank	$137,069	$65.90	2
   10	Colgate-Palmolive	$135,688	$65.23
   11	AARP	$135,413	$65.10	2
   12	Fortune Brands Home & Security	$133,369	$64.12
   13	Liberty Mutual Insurance	$131,994	$63.46
   14	Moss Adams	$129,755	$62.38
   15	Black & Veatch	$129,107	$62.07	8
   16	KPMG LLP	$125,474	$60.32	264
   17	Cohen & Company	$123,306	$59.28
   18	NextGen America	$116,947	$56.22
   19	No Labels	$115,822	$55.68
   20	Weaver	$113,621	$54.63	6

4. Writing a state director job description

   A state director 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 state director job description:

   State director job description example

   Color is a health technology company that makes population-scale healthcare programs accessible, convenient, and cost-effective for everyone. We have raised $100 million in Series E funding, bringing our valuation to $4.6 billion and our total raised amount to $378 million. We work with governments, public health institutions, employers, and national health initiatives around the world to provide the tools for preventive health and infectious disease management, including testing, vaccinations, and other services.
   
   Apply to join Color and do the most meaningful work of your career. If you are not sure that you're 100% qualified but are up for the challenge - we want you to apply!
   What we offer:
   💰 Competitive salary
   ✨ Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, life, and disability benefits. Including employer HSA contributions.
   📈 401k match
   📝 Monthly lunch, phone, and wifi stipend for remote employees
   🏝 Generous vacation policy, paid holidays, and company-wide recharge days
   💌 Monthly stipend to spend on your well being
   🍼 Equal paid parental leave for birthing and non-birthing parents
   🧬 Four complimentary clinical-grade genetic testing kits for you and your family
   
   You will have the exciting opportunity to build a team that will help shape and deliver on a strategy to build mind share and adoption of Color services focused on the Central U.S. State and Local Governments. Your responsibilities will include engaging with C-suite customers and prospects across Public Sector organizations to deepen our relationships, helping sales advance their business, working with strategic industry partners, attending and speaking at industry events to drive thought leadership, leading the process to guide our government solutions, and creating significant business opportunities for Color. You will provide insight and feedback to core services teams to help evolve future Color offerings for more rapid adoption by customers.
   
   The ideal candidate will have both business/consulting experience and experience working with public sector customers, with demonstrated sales experience interacting at the government CxO/VP level, with a deep understanding of public health. The candidate should have a solid experience working with partners in the healthcare space. The candidate should have a demonstrated ability to think strategically and analytically about business, product, and technical challenges, with the ability to build and convey compelling value propositions, and work cross-organizationally to build consensus. The candidate will have a proven track record of leading and driving multiple complex industry initiatives to meet business and sales objectives, a customer-obsessed and collaborative approach, strong data and metrics bias, a good understanding of the healthcare industry, and a passion for helping state and local customers transform healthcare delivery using Color's services.
   Our Ideal Candidate Will Have/Be:5+ years of work/sales experience in consulting, product management, product marketing, business development, and/or transformation roles in public sector, across government verticals.3+ years of experience in healthcare technology or technical sales.Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.
   Nice to Have:Passion for the government industry - good understanding of how governments and the public sector industry procure, operate and the unique characteristics in healthcare Experience with U.S. state and local governments.Client-facing experience and the ability to execute peer-to-peer engagements with senior level Government CxO's.Experience working closely with National Institutes of Health (NIH), Health and Human Services (HHS), Medicare/Medicaid, Veteran Affairs (VA), or state Department of Healths.Experience working with U.S. partners.Exceptional interpersonal and communication (both written and verbal) skills. Experience communicating with both technical and non-technical stakeholders across multiple teams.Excellent problem-solving skills and adept at simplifying complexity and developing scalable propositions.Proven track record of taking ownership and driving sales results Ability to effectively lead and work with a variety of organizations, management levels, cultures, and personalities.Ability to author original text including detailed account plans, strategies, and sales forecasts that help drive key decisions and ownership Experience using Salesforce (reports and CRM).Master's degree or equivalent experience Self-starter and self-motivated with an entrepreneurial spirit and the ability to collaborate to solve complex business challenges.
   #LI-MM1
   #LI-CRE
   #LI-REMOTE
   
   Color is an equal opportunity employer. In accordance with anti-discrimination law, it is the purpose of this policy to effectuate these principles and mandates. Color prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type and affords equal employment opportunities to employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Color conforms to the spirit as well as to the letter of all applicable laws and regulations. We are also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified applicants with disabilities in our recruitment process.
   
   Mandatory Vaccination Policy Disclosure
   COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement: Color requires anyone working onsite or visiting Color's offices to confirm they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 unless a medical or religious accommodation is timely requested and approved. Please reach out if you have questions or concerns about this policy and how it may apply to your candidacy for a role with Color.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right state director for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

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

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit state directors, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   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 state director

   Once you've selected the best state director 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.

   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 state director 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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