Chief of staff vs managing director

The differences between chiefs of staff and managing directors 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 a managing director takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a chief of staff has an average salary of $130,835, which is higher than the $129,690 average annual salary of a managing director.

The top three skills for a chief of staff include PET, team support and project management. The most important skills for a managing director are healthcare, portfolio, and business development.

Chief of staff vs managing director overview

	Chief Of Staff	Managing Director
Yearly salary	$130,835	$129,690
Hourly rate	$62.90	$62.35
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	124,272	81,022
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 a managing director do?

A Managing Director oversees workflow and progress, making sure that all operations align within the company or organization's mission or set of goals. They are responsible for crafting strategies, devising effective business plans, and executing guidelines that would nurture a company's growth, and as well as to be the driving force that would direct employees to the company's objectives. Furthermore, a Managing Director must coordinate with those in a higher position, such as the members of the board.

Chief of staff vs managing director salary

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

	Chief Of Staff	Managing Director
Average salary	$130,835	$129,690
Salary range	Between $85,000 And $200,000	Between $72,000 And $233,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	New York, NY
Highest paying state	California	New York
Best paying company	Lyft	Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
Best paying industry	Start-up	Finance

Differences between chief of staff and managing director education

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

	Chief Of Staff	Managing Director
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 managing director demographics

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

	Chief Of Staff	Managing Director
Average age	52	44
Gender ratio	Male, 62.0% Female, 38.0%	Male, 73.5% Female, 26.5%
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 managing director 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.

Managing director example responsibilities.

Create and manage the social media presence via a festival page on Facebook.
Manage all consulting resources and have overall P/L responsibilities for the Atlanta office.
Manage the lessee and lessor relationships regarding exchange seat leases with major markets, such as NYSE, AMEX, CBOE.
Manage denials and expedite managed care appeals (reimbursement reconsideration).
Manage payroll processing for thousands of industrial temporary workers and bill respective clients.
Manage the Ketera SaaS relationship for IBM with engagement development and profitability responsibilities.

Chief of staff vs managing director skills

Common chief of staff skills

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

Common managing director skills

Healthcare, 7%
Portfolio, 7%
Business Development, 6%
Oversight, 6%
Project Management, 5%
Customer Service, 5%

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Chief Of Staff vs Managing Director

Updated January 8, 2025

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