Who Is the Hiring Manager for This Job? How to Tell

The hiring manager for a job is the person the new hire will report to. They own the open seat, decide what the job really needs, usually interview the finalists, and make the final call. In most cases that's the direct supervisor of the role, like a Nurse Manager for a staff nurse or an Accounting Manager for a staff accountant. It's usually not the recruiter or HR, though they work closely together.

I've been a recruiter for about 20 years, agency and corporate. Here's how I'd tell who the hiring manager is for any job you're looking at.

The hiring manager vs everyone else on the hiring team

A hiring decision involves a handful of people. It helps to know who does what.

• Hiring manager. The future boss. They asked for the job to be filled, they know the gap on the team, and they pick the person.
• Recruiter. Runs the search: posts the job, screens applicants, schedules interviews and moves people forward. Could be in-house, HR, or at an agency. I'm one of these.
• HR. At bigger companies, handles offers, background checks and onboarding. At small ones, HR often is the recruiter.
• Interviewers. Teammates or peers who give input. They don't usually make the call.
• The manager's boss. Signs off on budget or senior hires. Rarely the one to write to for a staff job.

LinkedIn even has a name for this group. Its help page says that on a job's details page, members "will see the 'Meet the Hiring Team' feature," and can message the people listed, "including the job poster." That box is useful, but it often shows only the recruiter.

The rule of thumb: who would the job report to?

Ask yourself, "If I got this job, whose one-on-ones would I be in?" That person is almost always the hiring manager.

It changes with the setting and the size of the employer:

• Staff RN at a hospital: the Nurse Manager of that unit. At a nursing home: the Director of Nursing.
• Paralegal at a law firm: often a supervising attorney or a paralegal manager. At a small firm, the partner.
• Software engineer: an Engineering Manager. At a startup, maybe the CTO or a founder.
• Retail associate: the Store Manager or an Assistant Store Manager.
• Administrative assistant: the Office Manager, or the executive they'll support.
• Help desk technician: the IT Manager at a mid-size company, a Service Desk Manager at a larger one.
• Sales representative: a Sales Manager or Regional Sales Manager for that territory.

The smaller the company, the higher the hiring manager sits. At a 30-person business, the owner or general manager may be the hiring manager for nearly every job.

Clues in the job ad

You can often work it out from the ad itself:

• "Reports to" lines name the title directly.
• Team names ("Joining our Revenue Cycle team") tell you which manager to look for.
• Location points to the local leader, though at large employers the manager may sit at headquarters.
• "You'll partner with" or "support" often names the boss, especially for assistant roles.
• Seniority words like "Senior" or "Lead" can mean the role reports a level higher than usual.

When it's not clear

Some jobs are genuinely ambiguous. A few common cases:

• Big companies with layers. A Data Analyst might report to an Analytics Manager who reports to a Director. Write to the manager closest to the work, not the director.
• Several people with the right title. Pick the one whose location and team fit best. If you're wrong, a manager who isn't handling the job will usually forward a good note to the colleague who is.
• Jobs from staffing agencies. The hiring manager is at the client company, and the ad may hide its name on purpose. Your contact is the agency recruiter. See is this job from a staffing agency.
• Brand-new teams. The manager may not be hired yet. Then the next level up is doing the hiring.

Why the recruiter still matters

Plenty of advice tells you to find the hiring manager and skip the recruiter. I'd never tell you that. The recruiter is the person whose job is to fill the seat, and we're on your side.

I usually recruit for 15 to 20 jobs at once, each with hundreds and hundreds of applicants. When a candidate emails me directly, it stands out. I read it, I often call them, and I forward the good ones to the hiring manager. It works the other way too. Hiring managers forward me candidates who reached out to them, and many of those people got interviews and offers. With applications per job up 102% since late 2022, according to Greenhouse, a note to each of them is how you get out of the pile.

A worked example

Jennifer Walsh sees an ad for a Patient Access Representative at a hospital. It says "Join our Patient Access team in the Emergency Department." No name.

She reasons it out: front-desk registration in a hospital usually reports to a Patient Access Supervisor or Manager, often by department. A search for "Patient Access Manager" plus the hospital's name turns up a current manager, Lisa Moreno. The job post lists a recruiter, Dana Price. Jennifer applies, then writes to Lisa:

Subject: Patient Access Representative application, Jennifer Walsh

Hi Ms. Moreno,

I applied today for the Patient Access Representative opening in the Emergency Department. I've spent two years registering patients and verifying insurance at a busy urgent care, including nights and weekends. I'd welcome a short conversation about what your team needs most. My resume is attached.

Thank you, Jennifer Walsh (555) 010-7714

She sends Dana a shorter version, then sets a reminder to follow up once in a week.

What to do today

1. Ask, "Who would this job report to?" and write down the likely title.
2. Reread the ad for a "reports to" line, team name and location.
3. Check the job post's hiring team box for the recruiter or manager.
4. Search for the title at that company and location, and confirm they're current.
5. Send short, separate notes to the hiring manager and the recruiter.

For the full search method, see how to find the hiring manager for a job.

A faster way to see who's behind a job

If you don't know who to write to, paste the job link at emailthehiringmanager.com. It looks for the most likely hiring manager and the recruiter for that job and tells you why it picked each one. Names are free. It isn't always right, so use the clues above to check its work.

Common questions

Is the hiring manager the same as HR?

Usually not. HR or a recruiter runs the process, and the hiring manager is the person the new hire will work for. At a very small company, one person can do both jobs.

Is the person who posted the job the hiring manager?

Sometimes. More often the poster is a recruiter or HR person. Check their title. If it's on the same team as the job and says Manager, Director or Lead, they may be the hiring manager.

Who is the hiring manager for a job posted by a staffing agency?

The hiring manager works at the agency's client, which the ad often doesn't name. Your contact is the agency recruiter, who talks to that manager directly.

Related guides

• Should I Email the Recruiter After Applying? A Recruiter Answers
• How to Email a Hiring Manager After Applying (With Samples)

Sources

• LinkedIn job pages can show a hiring team
• The hiring team box includes the job poster
• Applications per job have doubled