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Commercial director vs planning director

The differences between commercial directors and planning directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 8-10 years to become both a commercial director and a planning director. Additionally, a commercial director has an average salary of $143,615, which is higher than the $131,978 average annual salary of a planning director.

The top three skills for a commercial director include project management, kpis and healthcare. The most important skills for a planning director are project management, financial analysis, and business planning.

Commercial director vs planning director overview

Commercial DirectorPlanning Director
Yearly salary$143,615$131,978
Hourly rate$69.05$63.45
Growth rate10%10%
Number of jobs97,66751,861
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 67%Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Average age3939
Years of experience1010

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 planning director do?

Planning Directors are members of the executive team or the top management of a company. They oversee the company's plans and the strategies involved in reaching company goals. They manage the resources of the company by reviewing the budget and by overseeing human resources activities. They ensure that the company works toward its goals and that the company follows through with its plans. That being said, Planning Directors do not necessarily police the company's actions, especially if it deviates from the original plans. Instead, they steer the company towards the fulfillment of such plans. If the plan is no longer viable, they should be flexible enough to pursue new plans to achieve their goals still.

Commercial director vs planning director salary

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

Commercial DirectorPlanning Director
Average salary$143,615$131,978
Salary rangeBetween $93,000 And $221,000Between $90,000 And $192,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateMassachusettsNew York
Best paying companyEmergent BioSolutionsExelixis
Best paying industryManufacturingProfessional

Differences between commercial director and planning director education

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

Commercial DirectorPlanning Director
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 67%Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of GeorgiaUniversity of Georgia

Commercial director vs planning director demographics

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

Commercial DirectorPlanning Director
Average age3939
Gender ratioMale, 80.9% Female, 19.1%Male, 66.7% Female, 33.3%
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, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage10%10%

Differences between commercial director and planning 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.
  • Show more

Planning director example responsibilities.

  • Manage customized portfolio, define product strategy, POS and shipping forecast, and promotional plans.
  • Develop and lead marketing program to promote HMO enrollment and hospital product line services to 55k beneficiaries.
  • Champion and lead the selection and implementation of Hyperion Essbase business intelligence software.
  • Lead central team summarizing and prioritizing all DOD opportunities, enabling more efficient and effective resource allocation across several program departments.
  • Utilize ETO software for assessment and tracking.
  • Implement new CRM - ClientBase, investigate alternate consortium relationships.
  • Show more

Commercial director vs planning director skills

Common commercial director skills
  • Project Management, 9%
  • KPIs, 8%
  • Healthcare, 8%
  • Business Development, 8%
  • Customer Service, 7%
  • Lead Generation, 5%
Common planning director skills
  • Project Management, 14%
  • Financial Analysis, 7%
  • Business Planning, 6%
  • Data Analysis, 5%
  • Customer Service, 5%
  • Planning Process, 5%

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