Department administrator vs administrative specialist

The differences between department administrators and administrative specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a department administrator and an administrative specialist. Additionally, a department administrator has an average salary of $49,768, which is higher than the $38,758 average annual salary of an administrative specialist.

The top three skills for a department administrator include patient care, patients and financial reports. The most important skills for an administrative specialist are customer service, data entry, and powerpoint.

Department administrator vs administrative specialist overview

	Department Administrator	Administrative Specialist
Yearly salary	$49,768	$38,758
Hourly rate	$23.93	$18.63
Growth rate	5%	-8%
Number of jobs	84,441	71,227
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 54%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Average age	43	50
Years of experience	2	2

What does a department administrator do?

Department administrators are professionals who are responsible for performing administrative and clerical tasks for a specific department within an organization. These administrators are required to prepare financial statements for clients while evaluating revisions through feedback with stakeholders. They must work with the human resources department to recruit and identify workers for retraining and skill upgrades. Department administrators must also develop and streamline departmental policies and processes so that they can ensure efficiency, productivity, and accountability.

What does an administrative specialist do?

An administrative specialist is in charge of various clerical tasks to support supervisors and management staff. Their responsibility is to act as the main point of contact among clients through answering calls and responding to inquiries, managing schedules, arranging appointments and travel, addressing complaints and resolving internal issues, managing payroll, and keeping an organized database. Furthermore, an administrative specialist can also conduct research and analysis, prepare reports and other forms of documentation, and coordinate workflow in a particular area.

Department administrator vs administrative specialist salary

Department administrators and administrative specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Department Administrator	Administrative Specialist
Average salary	$49,768	$38,758
Salary range	Between $34,000 And $72,000	Between $25,000 And $58,000
Highest paying City	South San Francisco, CA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	Alaska	California
Best paying company	MacArthur Foundation	Meta
Best paying industry	Energy	Technology

Differences between department administrator and administrative specialist education

There are a few differences between a department administrator and an administrative specialist in terms of educational background:

	Department Administrator	Administrative Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 54%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	California State University - Bakersfield	Western Carolina University

Department administrator vs administrative specialist demographics

Here are the differences between department administrators' and administrative specialists' demographics:

	Department Administrator	Administrative Specialist
Average age	43	50
Gender ratio	Male, 30.3% Female, 69.7%	Male, 24.4% Female, 75.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% Asian, 8.8% White, 64.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 3.8% White, 65.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	9%	6%

Differences between department administrator and administrative specialist duties and responsibilities

Department administrator example responsibilities.

Manage calendars, correspondence, logs, reports and maintain documentation in Prolog.
Lead implementation of local area network and upgrade of scheduling, billing and A/R software.
Manage patient records ensuring confidentiality and compliance with all HIPAA regulations.
Initiate and manage the implementation of facilities management oversight of external properties.
Direct Medicaid health plan management division activities (manage care program operations, quality improvement, and contract administration).
Verify vendor quotes and resolve invoice discrepancies.

Administrative specialist example responsibilities.

Participate in committee meetings by preparing minutes and presentation summaries, planning meeting agendas, and organizing and managing meeting logistics.
Process incoming and outgoing medical records with newly implement HIPAA requirements.
Maintain personnel records, electronic databases, oversee and administer department SharePoint website.
Redesign and reformat PowerPoint presentations, customize individual client presentations for specific look & feel.
Create and successfully implement a new faculty form to collect necessary information for payroll forms.
Conduct training of new personnel using spreadsheets & PowerPoint presentations to ensure compliance of organizational policies & procedures.

Department administrator vs administrative specialist skills

Common department administrator skills

Patient Care, 10%
Patients, 10%
Financial Reports, 7%
Human Resources, 6%
Payroll, 6%
Departmental Policies, 5%

Common administrative specialist skills

Customer Service, 14%
Data Entry, 6%
PowerPoint, 6%
Office Procedures, 5%
Patients, 5%
Payroll, 4%

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Department Administrator vs Administrative Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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