Account leader vs account director

The differences between account leaders and account directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become an account leader, becoming an account director takes usually requires 6-8 years. Additionally, an account director has an average salary of $114,728, which is higher than the $108,843 average annual salary of an account leader.

The top three skills for an account leader include account management, customer service and business development. The most important skills for an account director are account management, project management, and work ethic.

Account leader vs account director overview

	Account Leader	Account Director
Yearly salary	$108,843	$114,728
Hourly rate	$52.33	$55.16
Growth rate	6%	5%
Number of jobs	135,207	132,260
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 80%
Average age	44	46
Years of experience	4	8

What does an account leader do?

Account leaders are assigned to work on specific client accounts and assist these clients with their needs. They should treat their clients as partners. This would help them forge a better working relationship with clients. Account leaders should have high business acumen and a strong grasp of the current industry landscape. They should be familiar with the company's products and services and which product or service best fits the clients' needs. Account leaders should also know how to retain clients and maintain the client base. They may do this by regularly checking up on clients, making clients feel valued, and mitigating any challenges that may arise.

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.

Account leader vs account director salary

Account leaders and account directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Account Leader	Account Director
Average salary	$108,843	$114,728
Salary range	Between $75,000 And $157,000	Between $82,000 And $158,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	New Jersey	New Jersey
Best paying company	Point B	BuzzFeed
Best paying industry	Professional	Professional

Differences between account leader and account director education

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

	Account Leader	Account Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 80%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Southern California

Account leader vs account director demographics

Here are the differences between account leaders' and account directors' demographics:

	Account Leader	Account Director
Average age	44	46
Gender ratio	Male, 48.4% Female, 51.6%	Male, 50.9% Female, 49.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.8% Asian, 12.2% White, 64.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	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%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between account leader and account director duties and responsibilities

Account leader example responsibilities.

Develop and manage CRM databases for major retailers.
Lead the design and development team for Claro Colombia, the largest telecommunication company in LatAm.
Develop RFP responses and consistently demonstrate flawless execution to achieve continual growth in each account.
Utilize PeopleSoft ERP financials, purchasing, inventory, and human resources modules.
Supervise team of 3 and serve as group liaison for all Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) documentation to external and internal auditors.
Analyze financial statements and prepare financial reports and reconcile bank statements and payroll accounts.

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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.

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Account leader vs account director skills

Common account leader skills

Account Management, 14%
Customer Service, 13%
Business Development, 6%
Project Management, 6%
Reconciliations, 4%
Digital Marketing, 4%

Common account director skills

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

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Updated January 8, 2025

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