Chief of staff vs assistant director of operations

The differences between chiefs of staff and assistant directors of operations can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes More than 10 years to become a chief of staff, becoming an assistant director of operations takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a chief of staff has an average salary of $130,835, which is higher than the $66,975 average annual salary of an assistant director of operations.

The top three skills for a chief of staff include PET, team support and project management. The most important skills for an assistant director of operations are customer service, patients, and oversight.

Chief of staff vs assistant director of operations overview

	Chief Of Staff	Assistant Director Of Operations
Yearly salary	$130,835	$66,975
Hourly rate	$62.90	$32.20
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	124,272	144,452
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age	52	44
Years of experience	-	6

What does a chief of staff do?

A chief of staff primarily supports an executive through performing various administrative tasks. Most of their responsibilities revolve around collaborating with other executive support personnel to devise strategies that will help the company, responding to inquiries and correspondence, approving communications letters, managing schedules, setting appointments, and serving as an advisor to the executive. Furthermore, when it comes to issues and disputes, the chief of staff must be quick to conduct research and perform damage control to help the executive and the company rise from the occasion.

What does an assistant director of operations do?

An assistant director of operations is responsible for overseeing the effectiveness of the department's operational processes, ensuring that the policies provide the highest customer satisfaction and outputs. Assistant directors of operations strategize goals and objectives to reach departmental targets according to business functions and requirements. They also identify training opportunities and programs to increase the productivity and efficiency of the staff. An assistant director of operations monitors the cost and expenses report, allocates resources, and develop business plans that would increase revenues for the business.

Chief of staff vs assistant director of operations salary

Chiefs of staff and assistant directors of operations have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Chief Of Staff	Assistant Director Of Operations
Average salary	$130,835	$66,975
Salary range	Between $85,000 And $200,000	Between $41,000 And $108,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	New York, NY
Highest paying state	California	New York
Best paying company	Lyft	The Art Institute of Chicago
Best paying industry	Start-up	Government

Differences between chief of staff and assistant director of operations education

There are a few differences between a chief of staff and an assistant director of operations in terms of educational background:

	Chief Of Staff	Assistant Director Of Operations
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Chief of staff vs assistant director of operations demographics

Here are the differences between chiefs of staff' and assistant directors of operations' demographics:

	Chief Of Staff	Assistant Director Of Operations
Average age	52	44
Gender ratio	Male, 62.0% Female, 38.0%	Male, 67.1% Female, 32.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 7.8% White, 76.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 6.1% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.0% Asian, 6.3% White, 67.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	12%	10%

Differences between chief of staff and assistant director of operations duties and responsibilities

Chief of staff example responsibilities.

Lead headquarters (HQ) operations staff.
Manage the G3's fiscal year budget planning, formulation, and execution.
Supervise the G2 administrative section and maintain and manage the G2 budget and material resources.
Manage the predeployment training and the deployment process to receiving commands, and subsequent redeployment and deactivation.
Manage budgets of $75,000 to $22 million paying keen attention to cost containment and ROI.
Credit for managing and improving the HAZMAT program, which serve as a benchmark example for the base community.

Assistant director of operations example responsibilities.

Supervise and manage the deployment and redeployment of assign forces and equipment.
Provide leadership to manufacturing organization by aligning overall KPIs to achieve near term and long term business objectives.
Provide daily oversight of the college fiscal and administrative business operations ensuring compliance with federal/state/university guidelines.
Create and maintain payroll budget through cost-effective operating procedures.
Process audit information/donations, update payroll information, revise employee handbook
Devise training and inspection methodologies in concert with DoD for modeling/simulation and exercise programs.

Chief of staff vs assistant director of operations skills

Common chief of staff skills

PET, 15%
Team Support, 11%
Project Management, 8%
Oversight, 7%
Direct Reports, 6%
Marketing Campaigns, 6%

Common assistant director of operations skills

Customer Service, 17%
Patients, 11%
Oversight, 10%
Human Resources, 7%
Project Management, 6%
Direct Supervision, 6%

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Chief Of Staff vs Assistant Director Of Operations

Updated January 8, 2025

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