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The differences between application development directors and technical managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-8 years to become an application development director, becoming a technical manager takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, an application development director has an average salary of $151,898, which is higher than the $116,619 average annual salary of a technical manager.
The top three skills for an application development director include application development, architecture and java. The most important skills for a technical manager are project management, infrastructure, and architecture.
| Application Development Director | Technical Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $151,898 | $116,619 |
| Hourly rate | $73.03 | $56.07 |
| Growth rate | 16% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 100,053 | 116,732 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Average age | 47 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 8 | 2 |
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 technical manager is responsible for maintaining the company's information systems database and analyzing technology system matters to ensure its efficiency and accuracy in supporting business operations. Technical managers perform network checks regularly to assess any possible malfunctions that might compromise the company's cybersecurity. They carefully analyze business and clients' specifications on working with systems integration, responding to end-users' concerns and inquiries. A technical manager must have excellent knowledge of the information technology systems industry, as well as a strong command on network codes to conduct adjustments and manage network infrastructure.
Application development directors and technical managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Application Development Director | Technical Manager | |
| Average salary | $151,898 | $116,619 |
| Salary range | Between $116,000 And $198,000 | Between $84,000 And $161,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | ServiceNow | A.T. Kearney |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between an application development director and a technical manager in terms of educational background:
| Application Development Director | Technical Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Business |
| Most common college | Carnegie Mellon University | Carnegie Mellon University |
Here are the differences between application development directors' and technical managers' demographics:
| Application Development Director | Technical Manager | |
| Average age | 47 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 84.0% Female, 16.0% | Male, 83.7% Female, 16.3% |
| 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, 8.0% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 6.4% White, 65.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 14% |