How To Become A Department Director: What It Is and Career Path

What is a department director and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

A department director is in charge of the efficient running of the department. Your job as a department director is to set goals for the department and oversee the attainment of those goals and objectives. The department director manages and directs staff operations to ensure maximum productivity, time management, and prepare strategic plans using technological aids, financial projections, and research analysis. You will also monitor staff welfare, call for brainstorming meetings, establish budgets, assign duties, and represent the company at external events or meetings. You must obtain the absolute best from your team and optimize the resources provided.

A department director must have a bachelor's degree and a minimum level of experience in that department. Soft skills like empathy, emotional intelligence, team leadership, and communication skills are extremely important, as they determine the output from your team. Department directors function in healthcare, transportation, and almost every industry. They earn up to $51 per hour or $105,459 per year.

ScoreDepartment DirectorUS Average

Salary

7.5

Avg. Salary $97,804

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.1

Growth rate 28%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.72%

Asian 7.93%

Black or African American 10.45%

Hispanic or Latino 14.25%

Unknown 4.26%

White 62.39%

Gender

female 47.24%

male 52.76%

Age - 47

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 47

Stress level

7.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.9

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a department director

Explore department director education requirements

Most common department director degrees

Bachelor's

56.9 %

Master's

20.3 %

Associate

11.8 %

Start to develop specific department director skills

Skills	Percentages
Patient Care	14.85%
Patients	13.75%
Healthcare	12.58%
Oversight	7.89%
Human Resources	5.21%

Complete relevant department director training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New department directors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a department director based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real department director resumes.

Research department director duties and responsibilities

Manage and direct bureau operations, and provide oversight of criminal investigations of statewide importance.
Establish and develop relationships with ERP and consulting vendors with the goal of maximizing comparative advantage and cost efficient solution development.
Ensure compliance with all CMS regulations.
Provide public education in the areas of fire department capabilities and history as well as CPR classes.

Get department director experience

Generally, it takes 4-6 years to become a department director. The most common roles before becoming a department director include staff nurse, director team lead and registered nurse.

Prepare your department director resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your department director resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a department director resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable department director resume templates

Build a professional department director resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your department director resume.