How to find the hiring manager for a job

Start with the job ad, which sometimes names the hiring manager or the team. If it doesn't, search LinkedIn people for the likely job title at that company, check the company's team page, then confirm the person's role from two places before you write to them.

What "hiring manager" means

The hiring manager is the person who will manage whoever gets the job. That is often not the recruiter, who screens candidates, and not HR. For a senior role it may be a director or a department head; for a junior role it is usually the team lead. You are looking for the person whose team has the vacancy.

You rarely need the exact person. A recruiter named on the posting or a manager one level above the role is still a reasonable person to email. What matters is that the person is close to the hire, so your note doesn't land with someone who has no say in it. For how the right contact changes with company size and role level, see hiring manager or recruiter: who to contact.

Step 1: Read the job ad closely

Before you search anywhere else, read the whole posting. Look for:

• A named contact. "Questions? Contact Jordan in Talent" tells you who runs the process, even if it isn't the manager.
• A reporting line. "Reports to the Head of Marketing" gives you a job title to search for.
• A team or department name. "Join our Payments Platform team" narrows who could be hiring.
• A posting email address. Some ads use an address such as careers@ or a recruiter's direct address.
• Location and seniority. These help you tell the right "Engineering Manager" from the other six at a large company.

Write down the exact title and team. You will use both in every search that follows.

Step 2: Search LinkedIn for the title at that company

LinkedIn's own help page explains that you can use All filters on a people search to narrow by criteria that include Current company, Locations, Degree of connections and Keywords, and that you can type a company, role, title or location straight into the search bar for a more conversational search. It also notes that this style of search does not support quotes, and that Boolean search is available if you want exact keyword matching, as LinkedIn's help page on searching for people describes (as of October 2026).

In practice:

1. Search for the title from the ad, for example "head of marketing".
2. Open the People tab and choose All filters.
3. Under Current company, select the employer. Use current company rather than past company, so you don't land on someone who left.
4. Add a location if the role is tied to one office.
5. Try variants: "director of", "head of", "lead", "manager" plus the function.

Check each profile's current role and start date. A profile that hasn't been updated can show someone in a job they no longer hold.

If you have a mutual connection with someone on the team, that is a better route than a cold email. The same help page lists Degree of connections and Connections of as filters, so you can see who you already know near the role.

Step 3: Use search operators to find the company's own pages

Google's search help lists operators that make a search more precise. Among them, quotes search for an exact word or phrase, and "site:" in front of a domain limits results to that site, with no space after the colon, according to Google Search Help (as of October 2026). You can use those two to look inside an employer's own site, or inside LinkedIn, without scrolling through unrelated results.

Some searches to adapt, with your own company and title:

Results vary, and search engines may not show every profile or page. Treat what you find as a lead to confirm, not an answer.

Step 4: Check other places people list their roles

• The company's website. Team, leadership, about and careers pages sometimes list managers and department heads, especially at smaller companies.
• The company's LinkedIn page. Search for the company, then look for employees who list it as their current company.
• Recruiter posts. Hiring managers and recruiters often share openings on LinkedIn. Search the exact job title and "hiring" to find the post.
• Conference and meetup pages. Speaker lists often include titles and employers.
• Blogs, podcasts and press. Interviews often name the person leading a team.
• Your own network. Ask a former colleague or classmate who works there who runs the team. A short, specific question gets better answers than "do you know anyone?"

Step 5: Confirm you have the right person

A name that looks plausible is not enough. Before you write, check at least two of these:

1. Title fits the ad. The person's title is the one the job reports to, or one level above it.
2. Team matches. Their profile or the company site places them in the same function as the vacancy.
3. Currently employed there. The profile shows the company as a current role, with a recent start date or recent activity.
4. Location matches. If the role is in one city, the manager is likely in the same region or reports into it.
5. Another source agrees. The company site, a recent post or a mutual contact names the same person for that team.

If two people could both be the manager, pick the more likely one and mention the role clearly in your email, so it can be forwarded easily.

Finding their email address

Once you have a name, you still need a way to reach them. Check these in order:

• An address shown in the job ad, on the team page or on the person's public profile.
• The format other staff at the company use, if it's visible on the company's own pages, such as press contacts or published articles.
• A LinkedIn message, if you can't find an email. LinkedIn's own help page notes that the actions available on a profile depend on that member's settings and may include View profile, Follow or Connect, so what you can do varies by person.

Don't guess at addresses and send to several variants. A message to the wrong person is a poor first impression, and sending to many guesses looks careless.

What to do when you can't find anyone

At a very large company, many people can share a job title and a team. At a very small one, the person may not be on LinkedIn at all. In either case:

• Contact the recruiter named in the ad or the company's general careers address.
• Ask someone who works there who runs the team.
• Apply through the employer's form anyway. Contact is an addition to an application, not a replacement for it.

Getting it slightly wrong is rarely fatal. In replies to Applier's own introductions in October 2026, about a quarter of the people who answered passed the email to, or named, the person or team who owned the role: a manager in another region sent it to the right regional director, and a project manager forwarded it to the manager running the hire. Here's what 981 introductions got back.

Write a short, specific note

When you reach the person, keep it brief. Say which role you applied for, give one sentence on why you fit, and make it easy to reply. Our hiring manager email templates give you an introduction and two follow-ups to adapt, subject lines for emailing a hiring manager covers the first line they see, and the guide to emailing the hiring manager after applying covers whether and when to write. For timing after you send, see when to follow up after a job application.

How Applier handles this

After Applier submits an application on the employer's own site, it finds people on the hiring team and writes each a short introduction from your own Gmail: 1 contact per application on Starter and during the free trial, 2 on Pro and 3 on Max. Each introduction carries the resume tailored to that job as a PDF, and follow-ups go in the same thread 3 and 7 business days later, stopping as soon as the person replies.

A job's page in your dashboard shows the people Applier emailed. Introductions start in Review mode, where you see who each one is for and approve or decline it before it's sent. Gmail is needed for this; here's what Applier does in your Gmail. See every Applier feature.

A quick checklist

1. Read the ad for names, titles, team and reporting line.
2. Search LinkedIn people by title with Current company selected.
3. Use site: and quoted searches for the company's own pages.
4. Check the company site, posts and your network.
5. Confirm title, team, current employment and location.
6. Find a contact method that is public or shown by the person.
7. Send one short note, then follow up on a schedule.

Related guides

• Hiring manager or recruiter: who to contact after you apply
• Should you email the hiring manager after applying?
• When to follow up after a job application

Frequently asked questions

Is the hiring manager the same as the recruiter?

Not usually. The hiring manager will manage whoever gets the job, while a recruiter screens candidates and runs the process. If you can't confirm the manager, a recruiter named in the ad is a reasonable person to contact.

How do I find someone at a company on LinkedIn?

Search for the job title, open the People tab, choose All filters and select the company under Current company. LinkedIn's help page also lists location, degree of connections and keywords as filters. Check each profile's current role before you rely on it.

What if I can't find the hiring manager?

Contact the recruiter named in the ad or the company's careers address, or ask someone who works there who runs the team. Apply through the employer's form anyway, since contacting someone adds to an application rather than replacing it.

Sources

1. Search for people on LinkedIn, LinkedIn Help, 2026
2. Refine Google searches, Google Search Help, 2026