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Business development director vs commercial director

The differences between business development directors and commercial directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 8-10 years to become both a business development director and a commercial director. Additionally, a commercial director has an average salary of $143,615, which is higher than the $117,784 average annual salary of a business development director.

The top three skills for a business development director include healthcare, CRM and patients. The most important skills for a commercial director are project management, kpis, and healthcare.

Business development director vs commercial director overview

Business Development DirectorCommercial Director
Yearly salary$117,784$143,615
Hourly rate$56.63$69.05
Growth rate10%10%
Number of jobs153,60197,667
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 74%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age3939
Years of experience1010

What does a business development director do?

A business development director specializes in crafting plans and strategies to develop the relationship between the brand, clients, and other key characters in the industry. It is their responsibility to examine and understand everything about the brand and figure out which areas require improvement or changes. They must also conduct a thorough marketing analysis and remain updated on the latest trends in the market to identify new opportunities that would improve customer satisfaction. Furthermore, they must also communicate with all clients, even appear on public gatherings to strengthen brand awareness.

What does a commercial director do?

Commercial Directors are executives who manage the performance and subsequent growth of the company. They lead activities related to the commerce side of the business. Commercial directors study the current trends in both the economic market and in the industry that the business operates in. They also study their target market. With this research, they devise ways to ensure that a company's performance will not decline as they navigate the changing market landscape. Commercial Directors should have good foresight and strong analytical skills to make sense of the current trends and how they would affect their future.

Business development director vs commercial director salary

Business development directors and commercial directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

Business Development DirectorCommercial Director
Average salary$117,784$143,615
Salary rangeBetween $72,000 And $192,000Between $93,000 And $221,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateNew MexicoMassachusetts
Best paying companyalliantgroupEmergent BioSolutions
Best paying industryFinanceManufacturing

Differences between business development director and commercial director education

There are a few differences between a business development director and a commercial director in terms of educational background:

Business Development DirectorCommercial Director
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 74%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of GeorgiaUniversity of Georgia

Business development director vs commercial director demographics

Here are the differences between business development directors' and commercial directors' demographics:

Business Development DirectorCommercial Director
Average age3939
Gender ratioMale, 72.3% Female, 27.7%Male, 80.9% Female, 19.1%
Race ratioBlack 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%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 Percentage10%10%

Differences between business development director and commercial director duties and responsibilities

Business development director example responsibilities.

  • Create and manage business development, government affairs and public relations initiatives to achieve growth objectives for this correctional healthcare company.
  • Achieve access to SVP level resulting in significant new business.
  • Manage network services, e-ticketing and packaging solutions, CRM solutions, message management, and e-provisioning/identity management/security solutions.
  • Lead centralized, electronic referral center coordinating post-acute service needs of patients discharging from multiple acute facilities in Arizona region.
  • Track all sales and marketing activities using a CRM program and analyze data to optimize business development approach and management
  • Collaborate with the marketing team to ensure laser focuse messages at all conferences and trade shows ensuring competitive logistics solution offerings.
  • Show more

Commercial director example responsibilities.

  • Monitor and manage budgets on each account to ensure high ROI and biggest bang for each buck.
  • Lead start-up of new far-east OEM partner, including selection process, technical & manufacturing management and relationship development.
  • Lead global project to commercialize expand portfolio of adhesive utilizing company synergies to establish a strong, highly-competitive distribution channel.
  • Define and implement the CRM and phone systems and infrastructure need to support commercialization efforts.
  • Create and maintain adoption measurement for SFDC resulting in increase usage of CRM tool, globally.
  • Institute metrics to document cost savings, purchase requisition turnaround, and number of POs issue.
  • Show more

Business development director vs commercial director skills

Common business development director skills
  • Healthcare, 9%
  • CRM, 5%
  • Patients, 4%
  • Customer Relationships, 4%
  • Account Management, 4%
  • Project Management, 4%
Common commercial director skills
  • Project Management, 9%
  • KPIs, 8%
  • Healthcare, 8%
  • Business Development, 8%
  • Customer Service, 7%
  • Lead Generation, 5%

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