How to hire a trust officer

How to hire a trust officer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step trust officer hiring guide:

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

What does a trust officer do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The trust officer 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

   Hiring the perfect trust officer 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 trust officers.

   Type of Trust Officer	Description	Hourly rate
   Trust Officer	Financial managers are responsible for the financial health of an organization. They produce financial reports, direct investment activities, and develop strategies and plans for the long-term financial goals of their organization.	$14-58
   Finance Administrator	A finance administrator is responsible for supporting the financial operations of an organization, handling the accuracy of financial transactions, and resolving discrepancies in the company's financial statements. Finance administrators analyze the company's financial performance, including its losses and revenues, writing financial reports, and providing recommendations for cost-reduction processes to minimize financial risks... Show more	$18-38
   Manager Finance Planning And Analysis	A manager finance planning and analysis oversees the daily operations of a company's financial planning department. They typically have administrative duties such as setting goals and guidelines, establishing timelines and budgets, delegating tasks among teams and staff, and reviewing financial reports regularly... Show more	$36-71

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Real Estate
   • Portfolio
   • Wealth Management
   • Business Development
   • Estate Planning
   • Risk Management
   • Client Relationships
   • Trust Administration
   • Probate
   • Client Service
   • Client Issues
   • Relationship Management
   • Trust Assets
   • Develop Trust

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage personal trusts, special needs trusts, conservatorships, charitable remainder trusts and estates.
   • Manage processing transfer requests of new IRA accounts and the corresponding follow up and collection activities.
   • Achieve this through aggressive sales calling on CFO's of large corporations, attorneys, CPAs and political officials.
   • Manage the day to day affairs of various personal trust relationships, IRAs, custodial accounts, powers of attorney.
   • Manage portfolio of accounts consisting of housing, transportation, education and industrial development of both municipal and corporate issuers.
   • Contact clients, financial advisors, payroll companies and CPA's regarding items in question.

   More trust officer duties

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, trust officers' average salary in wyoming is 69% less than in connecticut.
   • Seniority. Entry-level trust officers earn 75% less than senior-level trust officers.
   • Certifications. A trust officer 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 trust officer's salary.

   Average trust officer salary

   $61,493yearly

   $29.56 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level trust officer salary

   $30,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 15, 2025

   Average trust officer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	New York	$93,247	$45
   2	Massachusetts	$84,989	$41
   3	Delaware	$80,107	$39
   4	California	$77,888	$37
   5	Rhode Island	$76,467	$37
   6	Pennsylvania	$76,202	$37
   7	Michigan	$73,507	$35
   8	Virginia	$70,993	$34
   9	New Hampshire	$65,383	$31
   10	Illinois	$61,293	$29
   11	Wisconsin	$59,447	$29
   12	Nevada	$55,148	$27
   13	Ohio	$52,931	$25
   14	Indiana	$52,028	$25
   15	Minnesota	$50,859	$24
   16	Florida	$49,164	$24
   17	Arizona	$48,967	$24
   18	South Dakota	$48,423	$23
   19	North Carolina	$47,632	$23
   20	Missouri	$47,327	$23

   Average trust officer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Neuberger Berman	$141,538	$68.05	5
   2	Citi	$139,152	$66.90	42
   3	Sandy Spring Bank	$136,314	$65.54
   4	Goldman Sachs	$133,469	$64.17	3
   5	Baird	$124,275	$59.75	11
   6	HSBC Bank	$106,570	$51.24	7
   7	Raymond James Financial	$104,783	$50.38	11
   8	Autodesk	$102,274	$49.17
   9	Edward Jones	$97,179	$46.72	8
   10	Sharp Decisions	$96,982	$46.63
   11	GPAC	$94,980	$45.66
   12	Franklin Templeton	$85,065	$40.90
   13	MUFG EMEA	$81,460	$39.16
   14	Fifth Third Bank	$80,324	$38.62	30
   15	Principal Financial Group	$79,831	$38.38	2
   16	J.P. Morgan	$70,410	$33.85
   17	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$68,800	$33.08	135
   18	First Foundation	$64,879	$31.19	4
   19	U.S. Bank	$64,669	$31.09	71
   20	Leidos	$62,810	$30.20	33

4. Writing a trust officer job description

   A trust officer 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. Below, you can find an example of a trust officer job description:

   Trust officer job description example

   · 10-12 years of experience in Trust and Wealth Management.

   · Experience in administering both revocable and irrevocable trusts, estates, investment agency accounts and IRAs.

   · Ability to have quality interactions with customers.

   · Experience and success in developing trust, estate and investment business.

   · Ability to interpret written policies and procedures, and government regulations.

   · Have a thorough working knowledge of fiduciary laws and regulations. Knowledge of investments and income taxation, both personal and fiduciary.

   · Advanced written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.

   · Thorough knowledge of all bank products and services.

   · Excellent computer and technology skills with advanced working knowledge of Microsoft Office.

   Duties:

   · Participate in Board of Directors Trust Committee meetings as needed.

   · Service existing personal trust accounts, IRAs and investment accounts, including monitoring daily transactions, timely income distributions and payment of invoices

   · Gather and appraise estate assets, pay estate liabilities, file estate inventories and appropriate tax returns and distribute assets to beneficiaries.

   · Ensure safety of real estate holdings and maintaining adequate insurance.

   · Review account investment objectives and asset allocations periodically and realign portfolios as necessary. Monitor account investments and work with third party advisors.

   · Prepare and provide client and group presentations as needed.

   · Prepare and send tax information on a timely basis.

   · Initiate contact with account principals a minimum of two times per year to discuss objectives, reporting, investments, problems, concerns, etc.

   · Follow-up on requests by clients in a timely manner.

   · Represent Summit at professional, civic and community functions.

   · May be required to work flexible schedule to meet customer needs.

   · Sell and promote Trust and Wealth Management Services

   · Sell and promote bank products and services.

   · Other duties as assigned.

   Relationships:

   Internal – Moderate contact with bank customers, customer service representatives and bank employees regarding accounts, specific transactions and problem resolution.

   External – Extensive contact with clients, attorneys and CPAs regarding accounts, specific transactions, portfolio management and problem resolution.

   Summit Financial Group and the Subsidiaries are an Equal Opportunity Employer of women, minorities, protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.

   Salary Information: Salary varies, depending on experience.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find trust officers 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 trust officer job on Zippia to find and recruit trust officer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting trust officers 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.

   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 trust officer

   Once you've found the trust officer 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.

   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.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new trust officer. 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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