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Development manager vs project manager

The differences between development managers and project managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a development manager has an average salary of $110,678, which is higher than the $91,578 average annual salary of a project manager.

The top three skills for a development manager include project management, customer service and patients. The most important skills for a project manager are project management, project scope, and customer service.

Development manager vs project manager overview

Development ManagerProject Manager
Yearly salary$110,678$91,578
Hourly rate$53.21$44.03
Growth rate10%8%
Number of jobs111,137167,116
Job satisfaction-4.17
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 72%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age3947
Years of experience10-

What does a development manager do?

A development manager is responsible for assisting existing clients or potential clients of the services they need. A development manager serves as the initial point of contact for the clients to answer their inquiries and concerns before proceeding with a contract. Development managers usually arrange meetings with clients, analyze business opportunities, improve marketing initiatives to attract clients, research the industry's latest trends, create proposals, and assist in training new staff members. A development manager must have excellent communication and leadership skills to handle staff performance and build professional relationships with clients.

What does a project manager do?

Project managers oversee a specific project related to the organization's business. They manage the whole project from inception to evaluation. They initiate planning with involved departments, follow-through on the plans, ensure smooth execution of the plans, and evaluate the project for further improvements should these be needed. In line with this, project managers also ensure that the project is cost-efficient and well within the budget. They also manage the different work teams involved in the project and ensure that things are running smoothly on this aspect as well.

Development manager vs project manager salary

Development managers and project managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Development ManagerProject Manager
Average salary$110,678$91,578
Salary rangeBetween $76,000 And $159,000Between $64,000 And $129,000
Highest paying CityRichmond, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyAkin Gump Strauss Hauer & FeldThe Citadel
Best paying industryTechnologyTechnology

Differences between development manager and project manager education

There are a few differences between a development manager and a project manager in terms of educational background:

Development ManagerProject Manager
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 72%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of GeorgiaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Development manager vs project manager demographics

Here are the differences between development managers' and project managers' demographics:

Development ManagerProject Manager
Average age3947
Gender ratioMale, 60.5% Female, 39.5%Male, 68.9% Female, 31.1%
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, 7.7% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.9% Asian, 9.0% White, 65.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage10%10%

Differences between development manager and project manager duties and responsibilities

Development manager example responsibilities.

  • Thank and recognize donors in an appropriate and timely manner and manage and maintain donor database including updating and managing files.
  • Utilize BizTalk to automate HIPAA standard transactions.
  • Manage the integration of CTIOS to the CRM application.
  • Lead design/development of prototyping of new software for relate revenue streams.
  • Lead the global investment banking development team and corporate SOX application.
  • Manage and chair product design and development using custom J2EE and MVC framework.
  • Show more

Project manager example responsibilities.

  • Schedule and manage the GCP audit process.
  • Define, develop and manage metrics and KPIs systems for new product business group.
  • Manage the application process for the FDA medical device, minority and small business certifications.
  • Manage multiple projects and resources simultaneously while mentoring, coaching and implementing best practices, SOX and HIPAA compliance standards.
  • Lead teams using the Informatica ETL tool for the design and development of multiple financial and risk enterprise data warehouses.
  • Administer and manage Salesforce requirements.
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Development manager vs project manager skills

Common development manager skills
  • Project Management, 7%
  • Customer Service, 6%
  • Patients, 6%
  • Java, 5%
  • Database, 5%
  • Professional Development, 4%
Common project manager skills
  • Project Management, 23%
  • Project Scope, 6%
  • Customer Service, 6%
  • Infrastructure, 5%
  • Status Reports, 4%
  • Risk Management, 3%

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