2025

What is the Average Onboarding Specialist Salary?

Searching for the average salary of the onboarding specialist? Then, we are here for you.

The demand for onboarding specialists is increasing day by day due to the need for more smooth and efficient employee transitions. The customer onboarding specialist makes sure that new employees feel welcomed, oriented, and acclimated to their new positions. They facilitate the integration of new workers into the company culture.

Being a well-paid career, many individuals aspire to become onboarding specialists. According to Glassdoor, the average salary of an onboard specialist is $52,263 in the U.S. per year. The salary can differ as per the company’s size, location, and niche. However, the salary ranges from $51,000 to $78,000.

The broad salary range for the onboard specialist salary is due to several factors, like the size of the company, its location, and the market. If you are an employer or a job seeker, it is beneficial to know the average salary of an onboarding specialist. This article offers you a comprehensive overview of the average onboarding specialist salaries in different parts of the world.

Average Onboarding Specialist Salary Based on Positions

The onboarding specialist industry has a few different job titles like every other industry. The salary and responsibilities keep increasing as you move up the career ladder. Here are a few job titles in the onboarding specialist industry, along with their estimated annual salaries:

Entry-Level Onboarding Specialist: $51,005

Fresh graduates and individuals with no experience usually start their careers as entry-level onboarding specialists. Their job is to help new employees fill out paperwork and adjust to the company culture. They must have excellent people skills and ability to handle multiple tasks at one time.

HR Onboarding Manager: $78,046

After working as an entry-level onboarding specialist for a few years, employers might promote you to an HR onboarding manager. They manage a team of client onboarding specialists in this role. HR onboarding managers develop company policies, procedures, and programs related to employee onboarding.

Senior Onboarding Specialist: $67,521

Senior client onboarding specialist develops and implements employee onboarding programs. They train and mentor new onboarding specialists. They also collaborate with different departments to ensure a smooth transition for new employees. They have years of experience in resolving conflicts, making them an invaluable asset to any company.

Customer Onboarding Specialist: $71,292

A customer onboarding specialist develops and implements programs to help new customers understand the company’s products and services. They answer customer questions and help them resolve issues, thus building a solid connection between organizations and customers. The customer onboarding specialist enhances service satisfaction and contributes to increasing customer loyalty.

Physician Onboarding Specialist: $68,278

A physician onboarding specialist is responsible for helping new physicians transition into their roles. They provide support and guidance to new hires, build relationships with hospitals and other medical facilities, and arrange meetings of new hires with senior staff.

Director of Onboarding: $193,486

The director of onboarding is responsible for leading the entire employee onboarding process. They develop and implement employee onboarding programs, train and mentor new onboarding experts, and oversee the whole process.

Onboarding Specialist Salary Based on Locations

The geographical location is among the main factors that affect the onboarding specialist salary. The living expenses and the cost of doing business differ from place to place. For example, the cost of living is high in New York City, while it is somewhat low in Houston.

The demand for onboarding specialists in an area also influences the salary of a client onboarding specialist. If the demand is high, the salary is also high. Let’s look at the detailed salary data of onboarding specialists in various regions.

U.S. Southern Coast

The onboarding specialist salaries in various cities in the U.S. South cost are:

  • Los Angeles: $70,000
  • San Francisco: $78,000

New York

A customer onboarding Specialist earns the most in New York, with an average total pay of $71,000, the same as the national average salary of onboarding specialists.

New Zealand

In New Zealand, the average onboarding specialist salary is $60,250 per year.

Australia

A client onboarding specialist’s salary ranges between $60,000 – and $80,000 in Australia.

Europe

The base salary of onboarding specialists varies widely in various regions of Europe. Let’s learn how much a customer onboarding specialist makes in some of the major countries:

  • Berlin: €40,000
  • Spain: €27,260
  • London: £32,736
  • Barcelona: €27,000
  • Madrid: €26,515
  • Munich: €56,168
  • Brussels: €84,596
  • Dublin: €47,500
  • Paris: €35,000

Onboarding Specialist Salary Based on Industries

Because recruitment is an ongoing process, onboarding experts are essential assets. When the recruiter hires staff, the onboarding specialist oversees the other approach to make an employee part of the organization. Let’s examine the several industries in which an onboarding specialist finds work opportunities:

  • Vanguard: $65,000 per year
  • Software service providers: $61,560 per year
  • Uber: $33 per hour
  • Mind-body: $23-33 per hour
  • Vacasa: $21-29 per hour

Education

Education and experience are the most important aspects when it comes to showing an employer you are an ideal candidate for the role of customer onboarding specialist. Let’s learn about the qualifications of an onboarding specialist:

College Diplomas

An onboarding specialist must have at least a Bachelor’s degree. Most employers prefer to hire an onboarding specialist with a degree in human resources, business administration, or a related field. Holding a Master’s degree in organizational leadership or human resources management is also preferable. These degrees prepare you to handle the complexities of the job and any type of customer.

Steps to Become an Onboarding Specialist

Understanding human resources and business operations allows candidates to find out what different roles expect and how to fulfill those requirements. This knowledge will help you be a more effective client onboarding specialist and improve your promotion chances.

Certification and Guides

In addition to your degree, you must consider getting a certification as a customer onboarding specialist. Certifications show the student has the necessary expertise and knowledge to perform the job effectively. Different certifications are available, so choose one relevant to your experience and qualifications.

HR University

HR University offers top-rated HR certifications to help you develop your onboarding specialist skills and earn a handsome salary. Enroll right now to excel in your career path:

Human Resources Certifications

AirSlate Academy

AirSlate offers an online course that covers all the essential topics for a customer onboarding specialist. The experts of AirSlate Academy designed the course to give you the knowledge important for the client onboarding specialist role.

New Employee Onboarding Certificate Program

The Association for Talent Development (ATD) designed the New Employee Onboarding Certificate Program to help onboarding experts learn the essential expertise for the role. The program helps develop a custom onboarding plan for the firm and learn how to implement it effectively.

Recruiting, Hiring, and Onboarding Employees

Coursera offers the Recruiting, Hiring, and Onboarding Employees course, which covers the entire onboarding process from start to finish, including finding and recruiting, onboarding, and retaining the best candidates.

Onboarding and Retention Certificate Course

The Association for Advancing Physician and Provider Recruitment (AAPPR) developed this course to help candidates widen their skillset in the field of onboarding and retention. This course helps them learn about best practices, current trends, and strategies to improve their skills in this field.

Final Remarks

To summarize, the average salary of an onboarding specialist salary is similar to that of an onboarding manager. They work full-time as part of a company’s HR department, while some find part-time work opportunities. Note that salaries vary based on several factors, including experience level, skill set, employer, and location. You can refer to the above-mentioned average salaries across the world.

FAQs

Following are the most frequently asked questions and answers related to onboarding specialist:

What does an onboarding specialist do?

The responsibilities of an onboarding specialist include helping new staff members adjust to their roles, providing resources and information to them, and assisting them with any of their questions or concerns. They educate new workers on the knowledge, skills, and standards they can use to be successful in their new roles.

An onboarding specialist works with the human resources department to ensure new employees transition into their new roles. They develop training sessions, orientation materials, and communication plans to support new employees in adjusting to their new workplace.

Do you need a degree to be an onboarding specialist?

Yes, you need a degree to be an onboarding specialist. The educational requirements for an onboarding specialist can vary depending on the firm. However, many companies prefer candidates with a bachelor’s degree in human resources, business administration, or a related field. Some companies also accept an associate degree or equivalent experience.

Knowledge of human resources enables you to understand better the expectations of the role and how to meet them. This knowledge will help you be a more effective onboarding specialist and improve your promotion chances. Knowledge of business administration also enables you to understand the complexities of the job and how to handle them.

What is a client onboarding specialist?

Client onboarding specialists are responsible for the successful onboarding of new clients. They work with the sales team to ensure that new customers have a positive experience with the company and they utilize the company’s products or services effectively.

As their job title says, client onboarding specialists develop and implement customer onboarding plans, train new clients on the company’s products or services, and answer any questions that new clients have.

Why be an onboarding specialist?

An onboarding Specialist is the architect of first impressions, forming the new experiences that can set the tone for an employee’s journey within a firm. In this role, they serve as a go-to guide for new workers, responsible for ensuring they feel informed, valued, and equipped to succeed.

 

If you are looking to get an HR role, feel free to take our HR Certification Courses, where you will learn techniques to develop your skillset in human resources, build your HR network, form an interesting CV, and come up with a successful job search plan.

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Josh Fechter
Josh Fechter is the founder of HR.University. He's a certified HR professional and has managed global teams across 5 different continents including their benefits and payroll. You can connect with him on LinkedIn here.