Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between chief communications officers and communications leads can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a chief communications officer, becoming a communications lead takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a chief communications officer has an average salary of $115,086, which is higher than the $96,988 average annual salary of a communications lead.
The top three skills for a chief communications officer include crisis communications, external communications and CCO. The most important skills for a communications lead are project management, strategic communications, and HR.
| Chief Communications Officer | Communications Lead | |
| Yearly salary | $115,086 | $96,988 |
| Hourly rate | $55.33 | $46.63 |
| Growth rate | 8% | 12% |
| Number of jobs | 80,711 | 20,413 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Average age | 42 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 6 |
A chief communications officer oversees internal relations and researches public employees. Most of the chief communications officers spend a massive amount of time interacting with the chief marketing officers of their organization. They are responsible for management issues and may offer risk management in industries that are prone to hazard, risk, and product failure. They provide wise counsel to the senior team whenever major decisions are debated. They act in many ways as representatives of many publics who are not in the room when these decisions are made. These officers also help the organization translate strategy to action.
The global senior program manager acts as a coordinator for the organization's projects and performs various tasks including supervision, account management, daily staff assignments, budget planning, cost control, and tracking program expenses by collaborating with various global departments to enhance all global programs. He/she should have excellent analytical, decision-making, leadership, and organization skills and knowledge about project management to be able to oversee and organize activities to ensure its compliance with the organization's goals.
Chief communications officers and communications leads have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Chief Communications Officer | Communications Lead | |
| Average salary | $115,086 | $96,988 |
| Salary range | Between $63,000 And $208,000 | Between $67,000 And $139,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | California |
| Best paying company | - | Meta |
| Best paying industry | - | Internet |
There are a few differences between a chief communications officer and a communications lead in terms of educational background:
| Chief Communications Officer | Communications Lead | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Most common major | Communication | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between chief communications officers' and communications leads' demographics:
| Chief Communications Officer | Communications Lead | |
| Average age | 42 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 59.5% Female, 40.5% | Male, 41.4% Female, 58.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.0% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 9.1% Asian, 5.1% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 11.8% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.0% Asian, 5.1% White, 62.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% |
| LGBT Percentage | 16% | 14% |