What does an Assistant Director do?
Assistant directors are employees in show business who directly support directors. They may be working on a film, television show, or theatre production. Assistant directors are the second-in-command on the set. They take over for the director when he/she or she is unable to work. Assistant directors should be familiar with the script and the scenes. They are usually heavily involved in the conception of the production. They ensure that the plans are executed well by assisting in the selection of the cast and crew, production sets, and other set providers. They also make sure that shoot days or performance days go without a hitch by ironing out all the details in advance and preparing alternatives.
Assistant director responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real assistant director resumes:
- Manage purchasing, A/P, A/R and budget management.
- Manage care for k-5 kids before and after school.
- Establish and develop relationships with ERP and consulting vendors with the goal of maximizing comparative advantage and cost efficient solution development.
- Manage delivery of quality early childhood education programs by establishing an environment of learning and maintaining the integrity of the programs.
- Coordinate new student Facebook group and create twitter handle to increase applicant and prospective student awareness for admissions news and events.
- Direct oversight of airport security programs and operations and responsible for business management functions including human resources, finance and procurement.
- Prepare financial statements using QuickBooks, perform budget analysis, implement internal controls, and ensure compliance with all regulatory agencies.
- Serve as the MDS coordinator.
- Handle all accounts receivable and payable using QuickBooks.
- Operate finances, record keeping and set-up LLC.
- Install hvac equipment -service -refrigeration-walk-in reach in coolers and freezers.
- Maintain state license, accreditation, CACFP and DOH standards.
- File and update all annual business licenses including LLC filing requirements.
- Leverage social media by creating and handling a twitter page to promote the movie.
- Compile invoices for billing of tuition assistance, vocational rehabilitation and third party payers.
Assistant director skills and personality traits
We calculated that 15% of Assistant Directors are proficient in Customer Service, CPR, and Child Care. They’re also known for soft skills such as Creativity, Time-management skills, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Assistant Directors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 15%
Developed new ways to identify, recruit and train member service representatives to ensure optimal customer service and reach organizational goals.
- CPR, 7%
Trained event volunteers in multiple safety considerations and instructed in CPR procedures.
- Child Care, 7%
Provided developmental opportunities to increase child care effectiveness and continually sought to provide a stimulating learning environment for the children.
- Oversight, 7%
Participated in team expansion strategy as area of oversight grew and ability to market this consultancy service to outside companies increased.
- Payroll, 6%
General supervised accounting activities; including general ledger, organizational budgeting, financial reporting, accounts receivable/payable, payroll and taxes.
- Alumni, 5%
Leveraged industry standard best practices as a way to motivate and encourage alumni participation while providing ongoing support and training.
"customer service," "cpr," and "child care" are among the most common skills that assistant directors use at work. You can find even more assistant director responsibilities below, including:
Creativity. One of the key soft skills for an assistant director to have is creativity. You can see how this relates to what assistant directors do because "because a script may be interpreted in different ways, directors must decide on their approach and on how to represent the script’s ideas for the production." Additionally, an assistant director resume shows how assistant directors use creativity: "reviewed financial reports including: inventory, revenue, labor and accounts payable. "
Communication skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of assistant directors is communication skills. This skill is critical to many everyday assistant director duties, as "producers and directors must convey information and ideas clearly in order to coordinate many people to finish a production on time and within budget." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "tracked data, communications, sales, following up on accounts receivables and generating financial reports. "
Leadership skills. A big part of what assistant directors do relies on "leadership skills." You can see how essential it is to assistant director responsibilities because "directors instruct actors and help them portray their characters in a believable manner." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical assistant director tasks: "provide oversight and co-leadership of residence halls housing approximately 2400 undergraduate students. "
The three companies that hire the most assistant directors are:
- KinderCare Education218 assistant directors jobs
- Ernst & Young96 assistant directors jobs
- Regis University
63 assistant directors jobs
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Compare different assistant directors
Assistant director vs. Program supervisor
A program supervisor is an individual who coordinates and monitors the scheduling and technical performance of company programs. Program supervisors aid in negotiating contracts and are responsible for any contractual changes. They recommend changes to the plans to improve process efficiency and develop solutions to any program problems. Program supervisors work under a manager's supervision and the role requires a bachelor's degree with relevant job experience. They are also independent at the same time and can collaborate with other staff members.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, assistant director responsibilities require skills like "child care," "payroll," "alumni," and "human resources." Meanwhile a typical program supervisor has skills in areas such as "autism," "social work," "developmental disabilities," and "mental health." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
On average, program supervisors reach higher levels of education than assistant directors. Program supervisors are 6.8% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Assistant director vs. Senior program associate
A senior program associate performs a variety of tasks for an organization, including conducting clinical documentation audits, overseeing and approving all treatment and discharge plans, and implementing process improvements. As a senior program associate, you will be responsible for assisting units in developing proposals and collaborating with internal and external stakeholders in producing materials such as reports and brochures. In addition, you will also be responsible for preparing and submitting reports on time and working closely with the finance department in developing needed financials.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, assistant director responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "customer service," "child care," "oversight," and "payroll." Meanwhile, a senior program associate has duties that require skills in areas such as "phone calls," "program management," "data collection," and "data analysis." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Senior program associates earn similar levels of education than assistant directors in general. They're 3.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Assistant director vs. Director of after school program
A director of after school programs oversees and directs childcare centers in communities. They take the lead in setting goals and guidelines, conducting research and analyses to identify the students' interests and needs, developing programs that provide recreational activities and academic support, supervising the recruitment and training of employees, and monitoring the daily operations to ensure everything runs smoothly and efficiently. Moreover, a director of after school programs empowers staff to reach program goals and implements policies and standards to provide a safe and healthy environment for the students.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, assistant directors are more likely to have skills like "customer service," "oversight," "payroll," and "alumni." But a director of after school program is more likely to have skills like "social work," "youth development," "doh," and "hr."
Most directors of after school program achieve a similar degree level compared to assistant directors. For example, they're 3.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Assistant director vs. Director of program development
A director of program development is an executive professional who is responsible for managing an information technology (IT) department that is involved in the creation of an entire information system and all related software. This director must provide project management for clients and submit proposals regarding the structure of its units. The director must coordinate professional development with staff members who are working offsite. This director must also develop community outreach campaigns to meet the company grant funding initiatives.
Types of assistant director
Updated January 8, 2025
