HR Jobs in Washington, DC

Observed government pay for local HR specialists is strong: mean annual wage was $105,580, median was $100,830, the 25th percentile was $76,070, and the 75th percentile was $131,510 in the Washington metro. HR managers sit materially higher, with a local median of $177,960. Current posting data is directionally similar but broader: advertised salary ranges center on about $80k to $112k, with a wider 25th-75th band of about $60k to $160k.

Full September 2026 market report

Advertised pay

Across the 239 openings that disclose pay, the advertised range midpoint runs $70,285 at the 25th percentile, $87,500 at the median and $113,650 at the 75th. These are advertised ranges, not earned pay.

Active openings as of November 10, 2026

Senior roles | Entry level | Remote | Posted this week

Live from the Callings.ai index of over 13 million postings, refreshed hourly and re-checked here nightly. Roles that close are dropped at the next refresh.

Showing 30 of 250+ openings.

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What our analysts see this month

Competitive market | next 3-6 months

Washington is still a good-paying HR market, but it is not an easy one. The metro employed 24,450 human resources specialists in May 2025, with a local concentration 1.33 times the national average and a mean annual wage of $105,580. But August 2026 metro nonfarm employment was down -1.9610% year over year and Professional and Business Services employment was down -2.1022%, which usually translates into slower back-office and recruiting expansion. Recent posting data still shows more than 350 postings across more than 250 companies over the last 90 days, so openings exist, but they are spread across employers and skew toward mid-career, mostly on-site or hybrid roles.

Best positioned: Candidates with several years of recruiting, HRBP, or people-ops experience, plus ATS, sourcing, stakeholder-management, and data-analysis credibility, have the best odds, especially if they are open to hybrid or on-site work.

Main caution: The biggest trap is assuming Washington's salary levels make this an easy market; the pay is real, but remote openings are only about 15% of the sample and employer demand is fragmented rather than concentrated in a few obvious targets.

From the September 2026 market report

Who is hiring here

Counted across all 315 openings in this market. 10 of the employers below are hiring for more than one role right now.

1. Capital One Group: 9 open roles
2. Aston Carter, Inc.: 6 open roles
3. Amazon: 5 open roles
4. CACI International: 5 open roles
5. AO Garcia Agency: 4 open roles
6. Capital One: 4 open roles
7. Air Force Civilian Service: 3 open roles
8. RiVidium, Inc.: 3 open roles
9. SteerBridge, Inc.: 3 open roles
10. VTG: 3 open roles

Where the openings are

• Washington: 72
• Arlington: 33
• McLean: 25
• Baltimore: 19
• Bethesda: 12
• Herndon: 12
• Chantilly: 11
• Reston: 9

Work arrangement

on-site 195 (62%), hybrid 93 (30%), remote 25 (8%)

Where the demand is

Real opportunity is spread across many employers instead of dominated by one or two brands. Over the last 90 days, the sample shows more than 350 postings across more than 250 companies, and the employer mix is fragmented. The most consistently active named employers include Capital One Group, AO Garcia Agency, Anduril Industries, Foundation Risk Partners, Appian, Corporate Synergies, Epic, and KBR, Inc. By industry, the center of gravity is private-sector corporate hiring rather than pure agency recruiting. The most active posting pools are IT services and IT consulting at about 20%, insurance at about 15%, financial services at about 15%, software development at about 15%, and defense and space manufacturing at about 10%. In practice, that favors candidates who can talk business partnering, stakeholder management, ATS workflow, and data analysis, not just candidate outreach. Search strategy should also match how roles are staffed. About 50% of sampled roles were on-site, about 35% hybrid, and about 15% remote, while about 45% were mid-level and about 20% were entry-level. Geographic flexibility inside the DMV is a real advantage here.

• Corporate talent acquisition and HR generalist work in finance, insurance, and software (high): These industries make up a large share of the active posting mix and reward candidates who can blend recruiting execution with business-facing communication and analytics.
• Defense and mission-driven employers (moderate): Defense and space manufacturing accounts for about 10% of the local posting mix, and named employers include Anduril Industries and KBR, Inc., making this a useful lane for candidates comfortable with structured, process-heavy hiring environments.
• Generalist entry-level HR support (limited): This lane exists, but it is narrower than many candidates expect because only about 20% of sampled roles were entry-level and bachelor's requirements are common.
• Hybrid and on-site people operations (high): The market clearly favors local presence, with about 50% on-site and about 35% hybrid, so candidates who can commute regularly have a broader target list.

Where to focus: Prioritize mid-level, hybrid-capable roles in finance, software, insurance, and defense-adjacent employers where ATS, sourcing, stakeholder management, and analytics show up together.

Roles worth searching next

• HRIS / Workday analyst: Local demand already values ATS, data analysis, and workflow discipline, and national HR skill signals increasingly reward HRIS platform fluency.
• Customer success or implementation consultant for HR tech: HR teams are adopting more AI and systems tooling, which creates roles for people who can translate recruiting and people workflows into software rollouts.
• Compliance or privacy analyst for hiring and workforce data: More states now have privacy laws affecting HR data and AI hiring tools, creating adjacent work around governance, audit, and policy execution.
• Operations or program manager for workforce initiatives: Candidates who already run onboarding launches, policy rollouts, hiring workflows, or cross-functional workforce projects can reposition that work into program management.

What postings ask for

• Applicant tracking systems (ATS) (table_stakes | immediate): ATS is the most common hard-skill cluster in local postings at about 20%, so lacking hands-on ATS experience is an avoidable screen-out. Who: Entry-level candidates, career switchers, and recruiters coming from small firms with informal tooling.
• Data analysis and HR analytics (differentiator | immediate): Data analysis appears in about 15% of local postings, and broader HR guidance says data literacy has become a daily requirement. Who: Mid-career recruiters, HR generalists, and people-ops candidates who want stronger interview traction.
• Sourcing and full-cycle recruiting (table_stakes | immediate): Sourcing and full-cycle recruiting show up repeatedly in local postings, which matters because the market is fragmented and employers expect recruiters to own more of the funnel. Who: Recruiters, agency-to-in-house movers, and sales-adjacent switchers.
• PHR or SHRM-CP (differentiator | near-term): These are the most common named certifications in local postings, with PHR appearing about 10% of the time and SHRM-CP about 5%. Who: Generalist HR candidates, career switchers, and applicants without well-known employer brands on their resume.
• HRIS platform proficiency (differentiator | near-term): National skill guidance highlights proficiency in platforms such as Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, Oracle, ADP, BambooHR, and Gusto as a key HR demand area in 2026. Who: People-ops candidates, generalists moving toward systems work, and anyone targeting larger employers.
• AI fluency in HR and recruiting (premium | near-term): AI fluency is a rising HR skill, 92% of CHROs expect deeper AI integration, and HR professionals with AI skills are reported to command salary premiums of 20% to 35%. Who: Mid-career candidates targeting strategic recruiting, people analytics, HR transformation, or operations roles.

Questions about this market

What do Human Resources, Recruiting & People Operations roles pay in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV?

Observed government pay for local HR specialists is strong: mean annual wage was $105,580, median was $100,830, the 25th percentile was $76,070, and the 75th percentile was $131,510 in the Washington metro. HR managers sit materially higher, with a local median of $177,960. Current posting data is directionally similar but broader: advertised salary ranges center on about $80k to $112k, with a wider 25th-75th band of about $60k to $160k. This is a better-paying HR market than the national benchmark. The U.S. median for HR specialists was $75,940 in May 2025, versus $100,830 locally. Even so, Washington pays above average across occupations generally, with the metro-wide mean hourly wage at $44.20 versus $50.76 for HR specialists.

Where is demand for Human Resources, Recruiting & People Operations roles in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV concentrated?

Real opportunity is spread across many employers instead of dominated by one or two brands. Over the last 90 days, the sample shows more than 350 postings across more than 250 companies, and the employer mix is fragmented. The most consistently active named employers include Capital One Group, AO Garcia Agency, Anduril Industries, Foundation Risk Partners, Appian, Corporate Synergies, Epic, and KBR, Inc. By industry, the center of gravity is private-sector corporate hiring rather than pure agency recruiting. The most active posting pools are IT services and IT consulting at about 20%, insurance at about 15%, financial services at about 15%, software development at about 15%, and defense and space manufacturing at about 10%. In practice, that favors candidates who can talk business partnering, stakeholder management, ATS workflow, and data analysis, not just candidate outreach. Search strategy should also match how roles are staffed. About 50% of sampled roles were on-site, about 35% hybrid, and about 15% remote, while about 45% were mid-level and about 20% were entry-level. Geographic flexibility inside the DMV is a real advantage here.

Which employers are hiring the most Human Resources, Recruiting & People Operations talent in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV?

Recent postings show the most activity from Capital One Group (10 postings), AO Garcia Agency (10 postings), Anduril Industries, Inc. (10 postings), Foundation Risk Partners, Corp. (5 postings), Appian (5 postings). See the full market report for the complete employer landscape.

Can Human Resources, Recruiting & People Operations roles in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV be done remotely?

Of recent postings, 15% are remote and 35% hybrid, with 50% on-site. Use the Remote filter above to see only remote openings.

How current are these listings?

Openings come from the Callings.ai live index of over 13 million jobs, refreshed hourly. This page searches postings from the last 30 days; run the search yourself to filter by anything else in plain language.

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