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Business development manager vs project manager

The differences between business development managers and project managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a business development manager has an average salary of $100,769, which is higher than the $91,578 average annual salary of a project manager.

The top three skills for a business development manager include customer service, CRM and healthcare. The most important skills for a project manager are project management, project scope, and customer service.

Business development manager vs project manager overview

Business Development ManagerProject Manager
Yearly salary$100,769$91,578
Hourly rate$48.45$44.03
Growth rate10%8%
Number of jobs215,309167,116
Job satisfaction-4.17
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 74%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age3947
Years of experience10-

What does a business development manager do?

A business development manager's duties include identifying business opportunities, developing effective models and strategies to improve business performance, searching for potential clients to generate income and attract partnerships. A business development manager must have extensive knowledge of the market trends and adjust strategies as needed to meet the needs of the client. Excellent communication, decision-making, critical thinking, and leadership skills are just some of the key factors that business development managers should possess to communicate and negotiate with the clients.

What does a project manager do?

Project managers oversee a specific project related to the organization's business. They manage the whole project from inception to evaluation. They initiate planning with involved departments, follow-through on the plans, ensure smooth execution of the plans, and evaluate the project for further improvements should these be needed. In line with this, project managers also ensure that the project is cost-efficient and well within the budget. They also manage the different work teams involved in the project and ensure that things are running smoothly on this aspect as well.

Business development manager vs project manager salary

Business development managers and project managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Business Development ManagerProject Manager
Average salary$100,769$91,578
Salary rangeBetween $67,000 And $151,000Between $64,000 And $129,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyShearman & SterlingThe Citadel
Best paying industryFinanceTechnology

Differences between business development manager and project manager education

There are a few differences between a business development manager and a project manager in terms of educational background:

Business Development ManagerProject Manager
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 74%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of GeorgiaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Business development manager vs project manager demographics

Here are the differences between business development managers' and project managers' demographics:

Business Development ManagerProject Manager
Average age3947
Gender ratioMale, 68.6% Female, 31.4%Male, 68.9% Female, 31.1%
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, 7.7% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.9% Asian, 9.0% White, 65.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage10%10%

Differences between business development manager and project manager duties and responsibilities

Business development manager example responsibilities.

  • Manage Seo of websites and campaigns.
  • Manage the provisioning and implementation of the cloud solutions for different customers.
  • Lead worldwide development for high traffic facilities; markets include Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific.
  • Manage the global support team and are responsible for cost reduction for the UK ready meals facility.
  • Assist in leading a team of BDM's to achieve revenue, attrition, and value add service goals.
  • Leverage in-depth knowledge of complex manage security solutions as well as extensive technical knowledge of security hardware and software.
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Project manager example responsibilities.

  • Schedule and manage the GCP audit process.
  • Define, develop and manage metrics and KPIs systems for new product business group.
  • Manage the application process for the FDA medical device, minority and small business certifications.
  • Manage multiple projects and resources simultaneously while mentoring, coaching and implementing best practices, SOX and HIPAA compliance standards.
  • Lead teams using the Informatica ETL tool for the design and development of multiple financial and risk enterprise data warehouses.
  • Administer and manage Salesforce requirements.
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Business development manager vs project manager skills

Common business development manager skills
  • Customer Service, 8%
  • CRM, 7%
  • Healthcare, 5%
  • Business Relationships, 4%
  • Customer Relationships, 3%
  • Project Management, 3%
Common project manager skills
  • Project Management, 23%
  • Project Scope, 6%
  • Customer Service, 6%
  • Infrastructure, 5%
  • Status Reports, 4%
  • Risk Management, 3%

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