How to hire a team leader

How to hire a team leader, step by step

Here's a step-by-step team leader hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a team leader job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new team leader
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a team leader do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your team leader job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a team leader for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a team leader to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a team leader that fits the bill.

   This list presents team leader salaries for various positions.

   Type of Team Leader	Description	Hourly rate
   Team Leader	A team leader is someone who provides guidance, instruction, direction and leadership to a group of other individuals (the team) for the purpose of achieving a key result or group of aligned results.	$17-60
   Customer Service Leader	A customer service leader is responsible for managing a group of customer service staff to provide the best customer service for the company's clients, ensuring immediate action and resolution for all their inquiries and concerns. Customer service leaders regularly offer coaching opportunities for the team, identify their challenges, and provide strategic procedures to improve their interaction with the customers... Show more	$12-19
   Technician Support Team Leader	The Technician Support Team Leader is tasked with leading and training the technical support team. As a team leader, you will be required to organize scheduled staff reviews and communicate new procedures and policies with them... Show more	$30-58

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Customer Service
   • Ladders
   • Patients
   • Sales Floor
   • PET
   • Safety Procedures
   • Asphalt
   • HR
   • Product Knowledge
   • Customer Complaints
   • Payroll
   • Process Improvement
   • POS
   • Quality Standards

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage ACD metrics and methodology, including reporting to Sr. Management.
   • Set the highest standards for achieving company s KPIs, and holding staff individually accountable thereof.
   • Lead and conduct daily port operations for all DOD cargo transiting through the state of Florida.
   • Manage inventory and stock groceries, clothes and office supplies, handle supplies requests, revise logbook.
   • Implement multiple tools and utilities (KaiZen ideas) to optimize and automate various processes across the projects.
   • Manage online tasks, delegate and oversee responsibilities and projects, work with HTML coding, and update site content.

   More team leader duties

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, team leaders' average salary in iowa is 57% less than in alaska.
   • Seniority. Entry-level team leaders earn 71% less than senior-level team leaders.
   • Certifications. A team leader 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 team leader's salary.

   Average team leader salary

   $68,817yearly

   $33.09 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level team leader salary

   $37,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 16, 2026

   Average team leader salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	New York	$96,310	$46
   2	New Jersey	$93,154	$45
   3	California	$87,614	$42
   4	District of Columbia	$86,053	$41
   5	Massachusetts	$84,159	$40
   6	Maryland	$75,755	$36
   7	Virginia	$74,267	$36
   8	Washington	$73,013	$35
   9	Texas	$72,574	$35
   10	Michigan	$69,955	$34
   11	Pennsylvania	$68,407	$33
   12	North Carolina	$67,804	$33
   13	Florida	$67,745	$33
   14	Ohio	$64,586	$31
   15	Georgia	$64,294	$31
   16	Illinois	$62,550	$30
   17	Arizona	$60,527	$29
   18	Minnesota	$60,338	$29
   19	Maine	$59,236	$28
   20	Colorado	$58,881	$28

   Average team leader salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Ropes & Gray	$201,740	$96.99
   2	McKinsey & Company Inc	$192,767	$92.68
   3	Bain & Company	$180,301	$86.68
   4	Cheniere Energy	$172,913	$83.13
   5	Meta	$169,257	$81.37	29
   6	Wheels	$166,571	$80.08	1
   7	Boehringer Ingelheim	$166,039	$79.83	6
   8	Tennant	$165,321	$79.48	2
   9	Bloomberg	$163,222	$78.47	25
   10	Google	$162,759	$78.25	51
   11	Biogen	$157,944	$75.93	4
   12	BP America Inc	$157,709	$75.82	3
   13	Novartis	$156,441	$75.21	12
   14	ViacomCBS	$155,624	$74.82
   15	Apple	$152,775	$73.45	30
   16	Chevron	$151,958	$73.06
   17	Twitter	$151,603	$72.89	3
   18	AbbVie	$150,039	$72.13	20
   19	Novo Nordisk	$149,084	$71.67	1
   20	Bristol-Myers Squibb	$148,729	$71.50	18

4. Writing a team leader job description

   A team leader 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 team leader job description:

   Team leader job description example

   The RCT has regional responsibility (NAFTA) for the Stellantis account for commercial/ technical topics and customer project management
   Specific responsibilities:
   
   •Responsible for definition of regional customer strategy (e. g., product, pricing, growth, customer trends) for all relevant markets in alignment with mgmt.
   
   •Creation of Customer Relation Ship and Man-mapping: Identify key players, opinion leaders and decision makers at remaining customer levels on regional level
   
   •Support of GCT in global GCT budget-planning (cost and HC) & -tracking or responsible for RCT budget-planning & -tracking (Project /CF / Actual)
   
   •Acquisition planning and management on regional level.
   
   •Acquisition Lead in NA for the XC related products (e.g. Infotainment, Instrumentation, ADAS, SW)
   
   •Approval of business potentials, consolidation of global customer trends and requirements, market activities and competitor information; collaboration with mgmt.; volume split to customer projects and price planning, special revenues on regional level. Approval of price maintenance (into Global Price Master) on regional level
   
   •Responsible for understanding customer needs & customer processes to derive customer strategy and in implementation & execution of customer relationship management and advanced competence concerning competitive intelligence.
   
   •Approval of GB specific pre-selling activities aligned with central sales and acquisition strategy for specific OEM sourcing on reg. level: use acquisition tools (battle plan e. g. job stopper, war gaming, specific acquisition man-mapping) for relevant acquisitions
   
   •Approval of pricing strategy; quote calculation (bottom-line); customer quote letter according to customer template (legal entity) incl. dual signature; Sales Price Analysis for respective product/component; price negotiations and conclusions within released "bottom line" (product price, application/calibration costs, tooling, logistics, samples etc.) on regional level
   
   •Lead of regional project team (incl. necessary skills and competencies of project team members and contributors); project objective and targets (time, cost, spec., budget and profit, scope, quality, procurement) incl. escalation if project target is jeopardized; product change management activities (commercial clarification through customer product manager) on reg. level
   
   •Responsible for adhering to the compliance requirement. In her/his role as supervisor the RCT is responsible for preventing or hindering, through adequate supervision, violations of the Compliance Requirement in her/his area of responsibility.
   
   Leadership:
   
   •Target responsible is the Global Customer Team Leader, located in France.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right team leader 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 team leaders they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit team leaders 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 team leader job on Zippia to find and attract quality team leader candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as salesjobs, salesheads, allretailjobs.com, sales trax.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit team leaders, 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.

   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.

   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 team leader

   Once you've found the team leader 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 important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   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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How much does it cost to hire a team leader?