Design chief vs design director

The differences between design chiefs and design directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a design chief and a design director. Additionally, a design director has an average salary of $132,823, which is higher than the $103,343 average annual salary of a design chief.

The top three skills for a design chief include website design, design process and user experience. The most important skills for a design director are sketch, human centered design, and product design.

Design chief vs design director overview

	Design Chief	Design Director
Yearly salary	$103,343	$132,823
Hourly rate	$49.68	$63.86
Growth rate	3%	3%
Number of jobs	49,815	48,337
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 68%	Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Average age	38	38
Years of experience	12	12

Design chief vs design director salary

Design chiefs and design directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Design Chief	Design Director
Average salary	$103,343	$132,823
Salary range	Between $45,000 And $233,000	Between $82,000 And $212,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	California	Washington
Best paying company	Advance Tooling Concepts	Proenza Schouler
Best paying industry	-	Manufacturing

Differences between design chief and design director education

There are a few differences between a design chief and a design director in terms of educational background:

	Design Chief	Design Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 68%	Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Most common major	Graphic Design	Graphic Design
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Design chief vs design director demographics

Here are the differences between design chiefs' and design directors' demographics:

	Design Chief	Design Director
Average age	38	38
Gender ratio	Male, 74.8% Female, 25.2%	Male, 60.0% Female, 40.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.6% Asian, 10.4% White, 70.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.6% Asian, 10.4% White, 70.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	13%	13%

Differences between design chief and design director duties and responsibilities

Design chief example responsibilities.

Manage REVIT models for various BIM projects including updating, cleaning, and linking arch models for MEP design.
Create and present artwork and PowerPoint presentations for senior management, the sales and marketing group, and dealer viewing.
Compile PowerPoint presentations for trend inspiration and verification involving motion and music.
Elicit and gather user and business requirements through design sessions, brainstorming and prototyping.
Design and oversee graphics for apparel lines, integrating original style-guide art concepts with innovative detailing.
Establish agency-wide design production process guidelines, evaluate and implement new department software, and create procedures for prototyping.

Design director example responsibilities.

Delegate and manage technical and cad team; fittings; and associate designers.
Manage and grow brand s social media outlets; Facebook, twitter and Instagram.
Manage product backlog and lead agile team in shipping SaaS products from ideation to delivery.
Design, manage, and execute development of all products, from concept sketch through production.
Manage the creation and implementation of new design tools, and modifications to the RF design specifications.
Manage REVIT models for various BIM projects including updating, cleaning, and linking arch models for MEP design.

Design chief vs design director skills

Common design chief skills

Website Design, 10%
Design Process, 9%
User Experience, 7%
Product Design, 7%
CSS, 6%
Design Solutions, 6%

Common design director skills

Sketch, 12%
Human Centered Design, 8%
Product Design, 6%
User Experience, 5%
Architecture, 5%
UI, 4%

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Design Chief
Design Chief vs Design Director

Updated January 8, 2025

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