Account director vs director of strategy

The differences between account directors and directors of strategy can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-8 years to become an account director, becoming a director of strategy takes usually requires 8-10 years. Additionally, a director of strategy has an average salary of $145,870, which is higher than the $114,728 average annual salary of an account director.

The top three skills for an account director include account management, project management and work ethic. The most important skills for a director of strategy are analytics, healthcare, and project management.

Account director vs director of strategy overview

	Account Director	Director Of Strategy
Yearly salary	$114,728	$145,870
Hourly rate	$55.16	$70.13
Growth rate	5%	10%
Number of jobs	132,260	65,254
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 80%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age	46	39
Years of experience	8	10

What does an account director do?

An account director is responsible for managing client accounts, monitoring budgets, and sales forecasting. Their goal is to maintain stable account management strategies, meet clients' demands, develop healthy professional partnerships that would generate revenues, increase profitability, and achieve the organization's long-term goals objectives. Account directors supervise the account management staff, ensuring the project's successful completion with the highest efficiency and accuracy. An account director also plans training programs to maximize their performance and productivity, especially when dealing with deadlines and clients' requests.

What does a director of strategy do?

A director of the strategy works together with senior managers in a company to determine where the company is going and how it will get there. This role is frequently found in big companies. The director of the strategy directly reports to senior management and can also be a valuable member of the management lineup. The director often works with a small team consisting of analysts and support staff. The director of the strategy is also responsible for getting and assessing information about the industry and current market trends, competitors, and possible business opportunities.

Account director vs director of strategy salary

Account directors and directors of strategy have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Account Director	Director Of Strategy
Average salary	$114,728	$145,870
Salary range	Between $82,000 And $158,000	Between $107,000 And $198,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	New Jersey	California
Best paying company	BuzzFeed	McKinsey & Company Inc
Best paying industry	Professional	Media

Differences between account director and director of strategy education

There are a few differences between an account director and a director of strategy in terms of educational background:

	Account Director	Director Of Strategy
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 80%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Southern California	University of Georgia

Account director vs director of strategy demographics

Here are the differences between account directors' and directors of strategy' demographics:

	Account Director	Director Of Strategy
Average age	46	39
Gender ratio	Male, 50.9% Female, 49.1%	Male, 66.2% Female, 33.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	7%	10%

Differences between account director and director of strategy duties and responsibilities

Account director example responsibilities.

Manage coordination with HCP agencies for launch.
Manage the development and creation of print and broadcast advertising and in-store merchandising.
Manage relationships with all GPO pharmacy, medical device, and physician preference teams.
Manage client accounts as well as introducing cross selling into other verticals to increase the portfolio.
Manage RFP / RFI process and drive all opportunities that provide a consultative, long-term solution and support.
Increase clients SEO rankings and achieve first page placement both locally and nationally for highly search phrases for a client.

Director of strategy example responsibilities.

Manage RFP and RFI processes.
Lead the re-engineering of the overall DTC marketing process.
Lead SaaS business divesture negotiations, system and customer transition.
Plan, develop, lead and manage Medicare programs and medicare-relate studies.
Manage design team in creating new UI concepts and designs for online projects.
Manage the organization's data visualization program and social media presence, increasing the number of unique website visits.

Account director vs director of strategy skills

Common account director skills

Account Management, 9%
Project Management, 7%
Work Ethic, 7%
Healthcare, 7%
Digital Marketing, 5%
Email Marketing, 4%

Common director of strategy skills

Analytics, 9%
Healthcare, 8%
Project Management, 8%
Business Development, 5%
Client Facing, 4%
Digital Transformation, 4%

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Account Director vs Director Of Strategy

Updated January 8, 2025

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