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

What is a deputy director and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

The deputy director is responsible for ensuring the effective implementation of the organization's business management and functions. He/She works closely with and reports to the executive director. He/She develops organizational goals and monitors progress towards achieving them. Asides from that, he/she manages the financial budget and expenses of the organization, cutting costs where necessary. Furthermore, he/she works with other executive members to provide for the organization's needs. Other duties may include project development and management, client relations, human resource management, and general administration, among others.

To become a deputy director, you need an MBA from a prominent university. You need to have at least fifteen years of experience in a senior management position in a non-profit organization or government agency. You must possess communication, organization, analytical, decision-making, creativity, interpersonal, and time management skills. The average salary of a deputy director is $109,599. It varies between $98,280 and $118,201.

ScoreDeputy DirectorUS Average

Salary

7.6

Avg. Salary $100,190

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

1.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.65%

Asian 7.66%

Black or African American 3.76%

Hispanic or Latino 7.78%

Unknown 3.89%

White 76.26%

Gender

female 35.39%

male 64.61%

Age - 52

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 - 52

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.0

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a deputy director

Explore deputy director education requirements

Most common deputy director degrees

Bachelor's

62.1 %

Master's

23.5 %

Associate

5.7 %

Start to develop specific deputy director skills

Skills	Percentages
Oversight	11.27%
Policy Development	6.30%
Customer Service	6.11%
Human Resources	5.75%
Project Management	5.27%

Research deputy director duties and responsibilities

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Establish and lead engineering-wide functions such as technical publications, source code management and release processes, and QA.

Get deputy director experience

Generally, it takes more than 10 years to become a deputy director. The most common roles before becoming a deputy director include director, program manager team lead and project manager.

Prepare your deputy director resume

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

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