Free Esthetician Job Description Templates
Free esthetician job description templates: standard, spa, medical, licensed entry-level, and master. Download as DOCX for your salon.
Esthetician Job Description Templates
5 free templates by setting and license level. Download as DOCX or copy-paste.
The esthetician job description gets written by a salon or spa owner at a specific moment: the books are full enough to justify another set of hands, and the owner needs to find a licensed skincare professional fast, without an HR department to lean on. The generic templates online give one boilerplate version that ignores the things this hire actually turns on, the state license that must be verified, the difference between a spa role and a clinical med-spa role, the commission structure estheticians compare closely, and the scope-of-practice limits that vary by state.
At FirstHR, we build for small businesses that hire without an HR department, and beauty and wellness is exactly that kind of vertical: a few-chair salon or a growing med-spa, run by an owner wearing every hat. The five templates below cover the settings small skincare businesses actually staff: the standard salon esthetician, the spa version, the medical or med-spa version, the entry-level licensed version for new graduates, and the master esthetician version for the states that offer that tier. Each carries the license and compliance language generic templates skip. Fill in the brackets and post. For the general principles behind any posting, the guide to writing a job description covers the fundamentals.
What Does an Esthetician Do?
An esthetician is a licensed skincare professional who performs facials, waxing, and skin treatments, analyzes skin and recommends care, sells skincare products, and maintains strict sanitation, all under a state license. The occupation is classified federally as skincare specialists, and the O*NET profile for the role captures the daily task mix, from treatment delivery to client education and recordkeeping.
For the employer writing the posting, two facts shape everything. First, this is a licensed role, so the posting must require an active state license and the business must verify it before the first shift. Second, the setting writes the daily job: a spa esthetician is part of a guest-experience operation, a medical esthetician works under clinical supervision on advanced treatments, and an entry-level licensed esthetician is building skills and a client base. The five templates on this page split along exactly those lines.
Esthetician Job Duties
Esthetician job duties center on skincare services, client and retail work, sanitation and safety, and the operations of running a station. The setting shifts the weights, guest experience in spas, clinical procedures in med-spas, skill-building at entry level, but the four categories hold across nearly every esthetician role. These are the duties grouped the way the templates use them.
A strong posting grounds these in your specifics: the actual services offered, the commission structure, the sanitation standards your state requires, and the booking system in use. For a structured way to scope any role before posting, the guide to defining job responsibilities walks through the process, and for the broader hire, the small business hiring guide covers the surrounding steps.
Esthetician vs Medical Esthetician vs Cosmetologist
These three roles overlap in the public mind but differ in license, scope, and setting, and getting the distinction right keeps a posting both accurate and compliant.
| Factor | Esthetician | Medical esthetician | Cosmetologist |
|---|---|---|---|
| License | State esthetics license | Esthetics license (not a separate class in most states) | State cosmetology license |
| Setting | Salon, day spa | Med-spa, dermatology, surgery practice | Salon, full-service |
| Core scope | Facials, waxing, skin treatments | Advanced treatments under medical supervision | Hair, plus some skin and nails |
| Supervision | Independent within license | Physician or nurse oversight | Independent within license |
| Best template | Standard or Spa | Medical / Med-Spa | See cosmetologist templates |
The practical takeaway: use this page's standard or spa templates for a salon or day spa esthetician, the medical template for a clinical setting, and if the role you are really hiring covers hair and broader services, the cosmetologist job description templates fit better. The front-desk hire that often comes alongside is covered by the receptionist templates.
Which Template Should You Use?
Pick the template by setting and license level. All five share the same skeleton, but the matched version reads more credibly to the licensed professionals this role needs and keeps the scope language compliant. Use this guide to choose.
5 Free Esthetician Job Description Templates
Download all five as a single Word document or copy individual templates. Each follows the same structure: business context, position overview, key responsibilities, required and preferred qualifications, schedule and compensation, and how to apply, with the license requirement and pay structure built in. Fill in the brackets before you post.
Template 1: Standard Esthetician
The universal default: facials, waxing, skin analysis, and retail, with the state license required and an hourly-plus-commission structure. Start here if you are unsure.
Template 2: Spa Esthetician
The guest-experience version: hospitality standards, body treatments, membership and package upsells, and evening or weekend availability stated.
Template 3: Medical / Med-Spa Esthetician
The clinical version: chemical peels, microdermabrasion, device-assist under supervision, pre- and post-procedure care, and scope-of-practice language.
Template 4: Licensed Esthetician (Entry-Level)
The new-grad version: license verification, on-the-job training, mentorship, and building a first client base, with a junior wage band.
Template 5: Master Esthetician
The senior version: advanced peels, laser and IPL, lead or mentor duties, and a higher comp band, tied to the master license offered in only a few states.
License, Skills, and Requirements to Include
Esthetician requirements lead with the license, because it is both a legal gate and the first thing a serious candidate expects to see. The SHRM job description tools describe a good job description as a plain-language summary of a position's tasks, duties, and responsibilities, and for this role plain language means stating the license, the real services, and the pay structure clearly. The difference shows in how the bullets are written.
| Weak requirement | Strong requirement |
|---|---|
| Must be licensed | Active [State] esthetician license, verified before the first shift; license number requested in the application |
| Experience with skincare | Performs facials, waxing, and skin analysis; [0 to 2 / 1 to 3 / 3 to 5+] years matched to the role |
| Knowledge of sanitation | Follows state infection-control standards; sterilizes tools and resets rooms between clients |
| Good with clients | Builds a client base through rebooking; recommends products and packages |
| Flexible schedule | Available for [evenings / weekends]; states the real schedule the role requires |
Keep the must-have list at the active license, the core services, sanitation knowledge, and the real schedule; push advanced certifications, software, and an existing client following to preferred. And keep every line job-related and neutral, since the EEOC rules on job advertisements prohibit postings that express a preference based on protected characteristics. For clinical roles, define advanced duties against what your state permits rather than against the title.
How to Write an Esthetician Job Description
A strong esthetician posting takes about fifteen minutes once you settle the setting, the license level, and the pay structure. Here is the process the templates are built around.
Esthetician Salary
Esthetician pay combines a base wage with commission and tips, so anchor on the federal median and build the real offer from the commission structure your business runs.
Build your offer from that anchor: set a base hourly range against your local market, then add the commission on services and retail and explain how tips work, because total earnings, not the base alone, are what candidates compare. Entry-level licensed estheticians price toward the lower end, medical and master estheticians toward the upper end given the advanced training and, where it applies, the tiered license. Publish the structure in the posting: pay transparency raises application rates, several states now require a range, and stating the commission openly attracts the candidates who are motivated by the retail and rebooking a small salon depends on.
Hiring an Esthetician Without an HR Department
Chains and franchises hire estheticians into systems: a corporate HR team that verifies licenses, standard pay grids, and compliance checklists. An independent salon or a growing med-spa makes the same hire with none of that machinery, usually the owner doing it directly between clients. Here is how to make it safely.
After You Hire: Onboarding an Esthetician
Esthetician onboarding has a compliance layer most hires do not. The standard paperwork comes first: the offer with the pay and commission structure stated, the I-9, tax forms, and state reporting, plus the role-specific step of verifying the state license against the board and storing it with a renewal reminder. Then the ramp: sanitation and infection-control protocols reviewed and documented on day one, your service protocols and product lines trained, and the booking and point-of-sale systems set up, so the new esthetician takes clients confidently and on protocol from the start, because those early experiences shape rebooking and retail. For the broader beauty-vertical onboarding flow, the new hire paperwork guide covers the documents, and the training new employees guide covers running the protocol training with sign-offs.
The documents around the hire follow the usual sequence: the offer letter template for the terms, commission, and tips, the employment contract template where confidentiality and policy terms live, the onboarding checklist template for the first weeks, and the training plan template for the sanitation and service protocols with sign-offs. FirstHR connects all of it, e-signature for the offer, document storage for the signed file and the license verification, training assignments with completion records, and the onboarding checklist, in one place built for salons and spas without an HR department.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does an esthetician do?
An esthetician, classified federally as a skincare specialist, is a licensed professional who provides cleansing and other face and body treatments to improve a client's skin and appearance. Core duties include facials, exfoliation, masks, and skin treatments, skin analysis and treatment recommendations, waxing and hair removal, and recommending and selling skincare products. Sanitation and infection control are a constant responsibility, since the work involves direct skin contact and shared tools. Many estheticians also build and maintain their own client base, which is why retail sales, rebooking, and client relationships are part of the job rather than extras. The setting shapes the rest: a spa esthetician emphasizes guest experience and body treatments, a medical esthetician works in a clinical setting under supervision on advanced treatments, and a master esthetician in the states that offer that license performs advanced procedures and often leads a team. Federal data reports about 97,400 skincare specialists employed in 2024, with employment projected to grow 7 percent through 2034.
What are the main duties of an esthetician?
Esthetician duties fall into four areas. Skincare services: performing facials, exfoliation, masks, and treatments, conducting skin analysis, and providing waxing and hair removal. Client and retail: educating clients on at-home skincare, recommending and selling products and service packages, and building a loyal client base through great service and rebooking. Sanitation and safety: following infection-control standards required by the state, sterilizing tools, resetting rooms between clients, and keeping the station compliant, which is non-negotiable in skincare work. Operations: booking and confirming appointments, keeping accurate client records, and managing product inventory at the station. The weight shifts by setting, a spa esthetician spends more time on guest experience and body treatments, a medical esthetician on clinical procedures under supervision, and an entry-level esthetician on building skills and a client base, but the four areas appear in nearly every esthetician role.
What is the difference between an esthetician and a medical esthetician?
The difference is the setting and the scope of treatments, not a separate license in most states. A standard esthetician works in a salon or spa performing facials, waxing, and non-medical skin treatments. A medical esthetician works in a clinical setting, a med-spa, dermatology office, or plastic surgery practice, under the supervision of a physician or nurse, and performs more advanced treatments such as chemical peels, microdermabrasion, and assisting with laser or IPL devices, plus pre- and post-procedure skincare. Crucially, medical esthetician usually describes where and how the person works rather than a higher license class: the advanced treatments are governed by each state's scope-of-practice rules and supervision requirements. When writing a med-spa posting, name the specific treatments and the supervision structure, and confirm what your state allows an esthetician to perform, rather than assuming the medical title expands their legal scope.
What is the difference between a licensed esthetician and a master esthetician?
A licensed esthetician holds the standard state esthetics license earned after a state-approved program and exam, which covers facials, waxing, and basic skin treatments. A master esthetician holds a higher, tiered license that authorizes advanced treatments, and that tier exists in only a handful of states: Washington, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, and Washington DC. In those states the master license generally requires additional training hours and allows advanced services such as certain peels, microdermabrasion, and device-based treatments. In the rest of the country there is no master esthetician license, so the standard esthetician license plus any state-permitted advanced certifications defines the scope. For employers, the practical point is to use the master esthetician template only if you operate in a state that offers the credential, and elsewhere to define advanced duties against the standard license and your state's scope-of-practice rules.
What license does an esthetician need, and do I need to verify it?
An esthetician must complete a state-approved esthetics or cosmetology program and pass a state exam to earn an active license, and the license is state-specific rather than national, so a license valid in one state does not automatically transfer to another. As the employer, you are responsible for confirming the candidate holds an active license before they perform any services. The practical sequence: state in the posting that an active state license is required, ask for the license number in the application, verify it against your state board's online license lookup before the first shift, store the verification in the employee file, and re-check at each renewal so a lapse does not go unnoticed. This applies equally to new graduates and experienced hires. Practicing skincare without a valid license exposes the business to fines and liability, which makes verification a compliance step rather than an optional courtesy.
How much does an esthetician make, and should I offer commission?
Federal data reports a median wage of about $19.98 per hour, or roughly $41,560 per year, for skincare specialists as of May 2024, with the highest earners well above that, though the federal figure excludes self-employed estheticians and does not capture tips and commission. In practice, esthetician pay usually combines an hourly or base rate with commission on services and retail products, plus tips, and that structure is close to standard in salons and spas. Commission is worth offering because it aligns the esthetician's earnings with the rebooking and retail sales the business depends on, and strong estheticians often expect it. The practical approach for a small business: set a base hourly range anchored to local market and the federal median, add a clear commission percentage on services and product sales, and state the full structure in the posting. Several states now require a pay range in job postings, and transparency widens your applicant pool either way.
Can I use the same job description for a day spa and a med-spa?
No, and using one for the other causes real problems. A day spa esthetician role centers on facials, waxing, body treatments, and guest experience, all within the standard license and with no medical supervision. A med-spa role adds advanced clinical treatments such as chemical peels and device-assisted procedures performed under physician or nurse supervision, requires a higher experience bar, and depends on state scope-of-practice rules. Posting a generic esthetician description for a med-spa understates the clinical responsibilities and may attract candidates without the needed training, while posting a med-spa description for a day spa overstates the role and narrows your pool unnecessarily. Use the spa template for spa settings and the medical template for clinical settings, and adjust the specific treatments and supervision language to match what your state allows. This page provides both so you can pick the right one rather than forcing a single version to cover both.
What happens after I hire an esthetician?
Once a candidate accepts, the standard new-hire paperwork comes first, the offer letter with the pay and commission structure stated, the I-9 with documents verified, the W-4 and state tax forms, and state new hire reporting, plus the role-specific step that protects a skincare business: the license verified against the state board and stored in the file, with a renewal reminder set. Then the ramp: sanitation and infection-control protocols reviewed and documented on day one, your service protocols and product lines trained, and the booking and point-of-sale systems set up. A short structured onboarding gets a new esthetician taking clients confidently and on protocol faster, which matters because their early client experiences shape rebooking and retail from the start. FirstHR handles the paper layer for small salons and spas: e-signature for the offer, document storage for the signed file and the license verification, training assignments with completion records for sanitation and service protocols, and the onboarding checklist in one place, built for businesses without an HR department.