HR Coordinator Job Description and Salary

An HR coordinator handles the day-to-day administration of a company's HR processes. The role usually reports to an HR manager or HR generalist. Core duties are onboarding new hires, keeping HRIS records accurate, scheduling interviews, processing benefits changes and answering routine employee questions. It is often an entry point into HR. This page gives you an editable template, pay data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and a comparison with related roles.

HR coordinator job description template

Replace the bracketed text. If the role leans heavily toward recruiting or benefits, move those duties to the top of the list so candidates see the focus.

About the role

We are hiring an HR Coordinator to run the administrative side of HR for our [number]-person company in [location or remote]. You will report to the [HR Manager / Head of People] and be the first contact for employee questions about benefits, time off and HR policies. Most of your week will go to onboarding, HRIS updates, interview scheduling and benefits changes. We use [BambooHR / Rippling / ADP Workforce Now / Workday] for HR records and [ATS name] for recruiting. The pay range is [$X-$Y].

Responsibilities

• Send offer letters and new-hire paperwork, and book orientation and first-day logistics with IT and the hiring manager
• Complete Form I-9 verification on time; USCIS requires employers to finish Section 2 within three business days of the employee's first day of paid work (USCIS)
• Enter new hires, job changes, pay changes, manager changes and terminations in the HRIS, and check records against payroll each cycle
• Schedule interviews, send candidate confirmations and update candidate status in the ATS
• Process benefits enrollments and qualifying life-event changes, and pass carrier questions to the benefits broker
• Answer routine employee questions on pay dates, leave balances and policy, and pass complex or sensitive issues to the HR manager
• Run offboarding: final paperwork, equipment return, access removal requests and exit survey
• Pull monthly reports on headcount, turnover and open requisitions
• Help prepare compliance filings and audits, such as I-9 audits and, for private employers with 100 or more employees, the annual EEO-1 report (EEOC)
• Keep personnel files complete and restricted to people who need access

Requirements

• [0-2] years in HR, recruiting coordination or office administration
• Experience entering and checking data in an HRIS, ATS or payroll system
• Accurate with details across many small tasks each day
• Handles confidential information carefully
• Clear, polite written communication with employees and candidates
• Comfortable with spreadsheets (sorting, filtering, basic formulas)
• Bachelor's degree in HR or business preferred, or equivalent experience

What an HR coordinator's week looks like

At a growing company, most of the week goes to four areas. Onboarding takes the largest share when hiring is busy: every new hire needs paperwork, an I-9, HRIS setup and a planned first day. HRIS maintenance is steady work, because every promotion, transfer, address change and departure has to be entered and checked before payroll runs. Recruiting support means scheduling interviews and keeping the ATS current. The rest is a stream of employee questions, most of them about pay, leave and benefits.

The work is process-heavy, and that is the point of the role. A coordinator who knows why each step exists, such as why I-9 deadlines matter or why payroll depends on clean HRIS data, is ready to move up to a generalist role.

HR coordinator vs. HR assistant vs. HR generalist

Titles overlap. Some companies call a pure administrative role "coordinator"; others give coordinators work that looks like a generalist's. Describe the actual work in the posting.

HR coordinator salary

BLS has no occupation called HR coordinator. Depending on the scope of the job, coordinators are counted in one of two occupations. A role that is mainly administrative support fits Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping (SOC 43-4161). A role that runs HR processes and makes routine decisions fits Human Resources Specialists (SOC 13-1071). Use the one that matches your posting.

Sources: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, HR specialists, May 2025; BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, information clerks (includes HR assistants), May 2025; percentiles for HR assistants from BLS OEWS national estimates, May 2025. Most coordinator roles sit between the HR assistant median and the HR specialist median. The specialist figures include experienced generalists and recruiters, so the upper end of that range is above typical coordinator pay.

Pay varies by location. BLS publishes both occupations' wages by metropolitan area in the OEWS tables, which is the best free source for setting a local range.

Career path from HR coordinator

• HR generalist: the most common next step, taking ownership of employee relations, policy and compliance work
• Recruiter: for coordinators who enjoy the hiring side; interview scheduling is good preparation. See our recruiter job description.
• Benefits specialist: for coordinators who have handled enrollment and life-event changes
• HRIS analyst or administrator: for coordinators who like building reports and fixing data
• HR manager: usually after time as a generalist, or sooner at a small company that grows quickly

Interview questions for HR coordinator candidates

1. 1Walk me through how you would prepare for a new hire starting on Monday, from signed offer to the end of their first day.
2. 2You notice an employee's pay rate in the HRIS does not match their offer letter. What do you do?
3. 3An employee asks you about a coworker's salary. How do you respond?
4. 4Tell me about a process you ran repeatedly in a past job. How did you keep track of every step?
5. 5How would you handle three hiring managers who all want interview slots on the same afternoon?
6. 6Which HRIS, ATS or payroll systems have you used, and what did you do in them day to day?

Listen for concrete steps and for when the candidate would escalate. A coordinator who knows what to pass to the HR manager is as valuable as one who can do each task.

Frequently asked questions