Commercial director vs managing director

The differences between commercial directors and managing directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 8-10 years to become a commercial director, becoming a managing director takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a commercial director has an average salary of $143,615, which is higher than the $129,690 average annual salary of a managing director.

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

Commercial director vs managing director overview

	Commercial Director	Managing Director
Yearly salary	$143,615	$129,690
Hourly rate	$69.05	$62.35
Growth rate	10%	6%
Number of jobs	97,667	81,022
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age	39	44
Years of experience	10	6

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.

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.

Commercial director vs managing director salary

Commercial directors and managing directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Commercial Director	Managing Director
Average salary	$143,615	$129,690
Salary range	Between $93,000 And $221,000	Between $72,000 And $233,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	New York, NY
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	New York
Best paying company	Emergent BioSolutions	Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Finance

Differences between commercial director and managing director education

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

	Commercial Director	Managing Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Georgia	University of Pennsylvania

Commercial director vs managing director demographics

Here are the differences between commercial directors' and managing directors' demographics:

	Commercial Director	Managing Director
Average age	39	44
Gender ratio	Male, 80.9% Female, 19.1%	Male, 73.5% Female, 26.5%
Race ratio	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%	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	10%	10%

Differences between commercial director and managing director duties and responsibilities

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.

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.

Commercial director vs managing director skills

Common commercial director skills

Project Management, 9%
KPIs, 8%
Healthcare, 8%
Business Development, 8%
Customer Service, 7%
Lead Generation, 5%

Common managing director skills

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

Commercial Director vs. similar jobs

Commercial Director related careers

Commercial Director related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Executive Management Industry
Commercial Director
Commercial Director vs Managing Director

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse executive management jobs