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The differences between application development directors and systems managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-8 years to become both an application development director and a systems manager. Additionally, an application development director has an average salary of $151,898, which is higher than the $107,156 average annual salary of a systems manager.
The top three skills for an application development director include application development, architecture and java. The most important skills for a systems manager are customer service, project management, and patients.
| Application Development Director | Systems Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $151,898 | $107,156 |
| Hourly rate | $73.03 | $51.52 |
| Growth rate | 16% | 16% |
| Number of jobs | 100,053 | 145,551 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 8 | 8 |
The applications development director focuses on ensuring the smooth and productive development process of strategies and applications used in a company. The development director manages a team of developers who will improve, upgrade, and, if needed, replace existing systems and applications currently used in the company. The development director's role is essential for continuing the company's productivity, which is why this position is only open for people with relevant experience in application development and managerial skills. A development director's added tasks are to work with all related departments in the company, collate their application needs, and integrate those inputs to come up with an application that resolves all company problems.
A systems manager is responsible for monitoring the operations of the information technology department, evaluating staff performance, developing strategic procedures to maximize productivity, and identifying business opportunities that would generate more revenues and profitability for the company. Systems managers inspect company networks to ensure the efficiency of the technology systems, conducting regular diagnostic tests, and installing upgrades to boost optimization. A systems manager must have excellent knowledge of the technology industry, as well as a strong command in programming languages and system codes to maintain the security of the company's database.
Application development directors and systems managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Application Development Director | Systems Manager | |
| Average salary | $151,898 | $107,156 |
| Salary range | Between $116,000 And $198,000 | Between $75,000 And $152,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | ServiceNow | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Technology |
There are a few differences between an application development director and a systems manager in terms of educational background:
| Application Development Director | Systems Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Business |
| Most common college | Carnegie Mellon University | Carnegie Mellon University |
Here are the differences between application development directors' and systems managers' demographics:
| Application Development Director | Systems Manager | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 84.0% Female, 16.0% | Male, 76.8% Female, 23.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.7% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 10.0% Asian, 13.4% White, 64.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 6.7% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 10.1% Asian, 12.6% White, 65.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |